Kirby Smart to Georgia, Mark Richt to Miami: the coaches apparently returning to their alma maters reminds me of how intriguing it can be to survey the playing careers of collegiate athletes-turned-coaches. Dave does an excellent job of detailing Smart’s playing career for the Bulldogs from 1995 through 1998—a noteworthy career, especially when you consider he was not even one of the top-50 prospects coming out of Georgia in 1994.
I want to emphasize that Smart was a starter for only two seasons at Georgia, yet he remains ranked in the school’s top 10 in career interceptions (13) and passes broken up (22). Also, he earned All-SEC recognition for each of those two seasons, and was a team captain as a senior in 1998.
Of Georgia’s 12 head coaches the last century, Smart would be only the fourth who played football for the Bulldogs, and the only head coach in Georgia’s entire history who did not play on the offensive side of the ball as a collegiate player. Still, beginning with the first esteemed Georgia player who would eventually be a head football coach at the school—“Kid” Woodruff”—Smart and all but one of his nine predecessors interestingly do have one thing in common: a distinguished collegiate playing career.
1923—1927- George Woodruff (Georgia): Nicknamed “Kid” because of his diminutive 5-foot-8, 138-pound frame, Woodruff immediately impressed the Red and Black faithful as a newcomer, demonstrating a tough-as-nails persona, and an ability to play hurt even when considerably injured. Against Mercer in 1908, he was attacked by the opponent’s mascot, a bulldog, and its handler. With the handler swinging at his upper body, and the bulldog biting at his legs, Woodruff somehow managed to fend off the pair. Despite sharing the backfield with the legendary Bob McWhorter in 1910, Woodruff scored five touchdowns in Georgia’s first four games of the season. Moving to quarterback in 1911, he led the Red and Black to a 7-1-1 record while serving as team captain.
1928—1937- Harry Mehre (Notre Dame): Playing for the Fighting Irish in 1919 and 1920 under coach Knute Rockne, and while blocking for the immortal George Gipp, Mehre was a top reserve lineman. In his final season of 1921 as the team’s starting center, Mehre was considered one of Notre Dame’s most outstanding players during a 10-1 campaign.
1938- Joel Hunt (Texas A&M): As brief and unsatisfactory as Hunt’s Georgia coaching career (one season), his playing career was as illustrious—even more so. The only Georgia head coach inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame based solely on playing career, Hunt scored 30 career touchdowns—a school record until 1990—five field goals, and 29 extra points in 27 games from 1925 to 1927, totaling 224 career points—an Aggie record until 1978. On Texas A&M’s undefeated team of 1927, which was declared national champions by the Sagarin Ratings, Hunt scored 19 touchdowns—a single-season school record until 2006.
1939—1960- Wally Butts (Mercer): Although somewhat small for a lineman when at Mercer from 1925-1927, Butts was considered one of the Bears’ greatest players during the school’s first era of playing football (1892-1941). As a sophomore in 1925 for the season finale in Milwaukee, Butts was reportedly Mercer’s lone bright spot in a 30-0 loss at Marquette. He was named captain of the team in 1927.
1961—1963- Johnny Griffith (Georgia, South Georgia College): Prior to transferring to South Georgia College in Douglas, where he was an excellent running back for the now-defunct Tigers program, Griffith played in just one season for the Bulldogs (1946), where he carried the ball on only one occasion. But, the future head Bulldog’s lone run was a thing of beauty. Despite suffering with a bad knee against Furman, the injured newcomer streaked 89 yards for a touchdown, or what remains tied for the longest scoring run in Georgia football history, along with perhaps the program's greatest one-play wonder.
1964—1988- Vince Dooley (Auburn): Dooley, a quarterback, safety, and holder on kicks, was often injured throughout his career at Auburn from 1951 to 1953. Still, he managed to complete nearly half his passes for 699 yards, rush for 340 yards, and was responsible for six touchdowns (including three against Georgia in three games). More so, Dooley was team captain as a senior for the 1953 season, whereupon he capped his collegiate career by being named MVP of the Gator Bowl.
1989—1995- Ray Goff (Georgia): During Goff's time quarterbacking the Bulldogs from 1974 to 1976, it was said that there was no better Veer signal caller in college football. His 1,434 career rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns both rank second all time among quarterbacks at Georgia. And, when Goff needed to pass, which wasn’t often (just 74 times his entire career), he could, registering a passing efficiency rating of nearly 140.0. As a senior and team captain in 1976, Goff earned All-SEC recognition, while finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting.
1996—2000- Jim Donnan (NC State): After playing a reserve role as a sophomore, Donnan was the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback in 1966 and 1967. As a senior, in leading NC State to a school-record-tying nine victories, Donnan was recognized by Coach and Athlete Magazine as the ACC’s Player of the Year and was named the Liberty Bowl’s MVP in a win over Georgia. For his Wolfpack career, Donnan completed 49 percent of his passes for 1,862 yards and 11 touchdowns.
2001—2015- Mark Richt (Miami, Fla.): A fairly highly-touted quarterback coming out of high school, Richt began his true freshman season of 1978 as Miami’s No. 2 signal caller, and threw a touchdown pass in his first game—the Hurricane’s only touchdown in a 17-7 loss at Colorado. However, going forward while dealing with injuries and being stuck behind future hall-of-famer Jim Kelly, Richt primarily saw the field from 1979 through 1982 only when Kelly was injured. For his Miami career, Richt completed 45 percent of his passes for 1,431 yards, nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
I want to emphasize that Smart was a starter for only two seasons at Georgia, yet he remains ranked in the school’s top 10 in career interceptions (13) and passes broken up (22). Also, he earned All-SEC recognition for each of those two seasons, and was a team captain as a senior in 1998.
Of Georgia’s 12 head coaches the last century, Smart would be only the fourth who played football for the Bulldogs, and the only head coach in Georgia’s entire history who did not play on the offensive side of the ball as a collegiate player. Still, beginning with the first esteemed Georgia player who would eventually be a head football coach at the school—“Kid” Woodruff”—Smart and all but one of his nine predecessors interestingly do have one thing in common: a distinguished collegiate playing career.
1923—1927- George Woodruff (Georgia): Nicknamed “Kid” because of his diminutive 5-foot-8, 138-pound frame, Woodruff immediately impressed the Red and Black faithful as a newcomer, demonstrating a tough-as-nails persona, and an ability to play hurt even when considerably injured. Against Mercer in 1908, he was attacked by the opponent’s mascot, a bulldog, and its handler. With the handler swinging at his upper body, and the bulldog biting at his legs, Woodruff somehow managed to fend off the pair. Despite sharing the backfield with the legendary Bob McWhorter in 1910, Woodruff scored five touchdowns in Georgia’s first four games of the season. Moving to quarterback in 1911, he led the Red and Black to a 7-1-1 record while serving as team captain.
1928—1937- Harry Mehre (Notre Dame): Playing for the Fighting Irish in 1919 and 1920 under coach Knute Rockne, and while blocking for the immortal George Gipp, Mehre was a top reserve lineman. In his final season of 1921 as the team’s starting center, Mehre was considered one of Notre Dame’s most outstanding players during a 10-1 campaign.
1938- Joel Hunt (Texas A&M): As brief and unsatisfactory as Hunt’s Georgia coaching career (one season), his playing career was as illustrious—even more so. The only Georgia head coach inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame based solely on playing career, Hunt scored 30 career touchdowns—a school record until 1990—five field goals, and 29 extra points in 27 games from 1925 to 1927, totaling 224 career points—an Aggie record until 1978. On Texas A&M’s undefeated team of 1927, which was declared national champions by the Sagarin Ratings, Hunt scored 19 touchdowns—a single-season school record until 2006.
1939—1960- Wally Butts (Mercer): Although somewhat small for a lineman when at Mercer from 1925-1927, Butts was considered one of the Bears’ greatest players during the school’s first era of playing football (1892-1941). As a sophomore in 1925 for the season finale in Milwaukee, Butts was reportedly Mercer’s lone bright spot in a 30-0 loss at Marquette. He was named captain of the team in 1927.
1961—1963- Johnny Griffith (Georgia, South Georgia College): Prior to transferring to South Georgia College in Douglas, where he was an excellent running back for the now-defunct Tigers program, Griffith played in just one season for the Bulldogs (1946), where he carried the ball on only one occasion. But, the future head Bulldog’s lone run was a thing of beauty. Despite suffering with a bad knee against Furman, the injured newcomer streaked 89 yards for a touchdown, or what remains tied for the longest scoring run in Georgia football history, along with perhaps the program's greatest one-play wonder.
1964—1988- Vince Dooley (Auburn): Dooley, a quarterback, safety, and holder on kicks, was often injured throughout his career at Auburn from 1951 to 1953. Still, he managed to complete nearly half his passes for 699 yards, rush for 340 yards, and was responsible for six touchdowns (including three against Georgia in three games). More so, Dooley was team captain as a senior for the 1953 season, whereupon he capped his collegiate career by being named MVP of the Gator Bowl.
1989—1995- Ray Goff (Georgia): During Goff's time quarterbacking the Bulldogs from 1974 to 1976, it was said that there was no better Veer signal caller in college football. His 1,434 career rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns both rank second all time among quarterbacks at Georgia. And, when Goff needed to pass, which wasn’t often (just 74 times his entire career), he could, registering a passing efficiency rating of nearly 140.0. As a senior and team captain in 1976, Goff earned All-SEC recognition, while finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting.
1996—2000- Jim Donnan (NC State): After playing a reserve role as a sophomore, Donnan was the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback in 1966 and 1967. As a senior, in leading NC State to a school-record-tying nine victories, Donnan was recognized by Coach and Athlete Magazine as the ACC’s Player of the Year and was named the Liberty Bowl’s MVP in a win over Georgia. For his Wolfpack career, Donnan completed 49 percent of his passes for 1,862 yards and 11 touchdowns.
2001—2015- Mark Richt (Miami, Fla.): A fairly highly-touted quarterback coming out of high school, Richt began his true freshman season of 1978 as Miami’s No. 2 signal caller, and threw a touchdown pass in his first game—the Hurricane’s only touchdown in a 17-7 loss at Colorado. However, going forward while dealing with injuries and being stuck behind future hall-of-famer Jim Kelly, Richt primarily saw the field from 1979 through 1982 only when Kelly was injured. For his Miami career, Richt completed 45 percent of his passes for 1,431 yards, nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions.