Kirby & Mary Beth Smart Are Georgia’s Ultimate Power Couple

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is a “Damn Good Dawg.” So is his wife Mary Beth Smart. Separately, they are a couple of local Athens legends. Together, they are a Bulldogs power couple for the ages.

Before Smart led UGA to SEC Championship Games and College Football Playoff berths, he suited up as a defensive back for the Georgia Bulldogs in the 1990s. A few years later, Mary Beth Lycett dominated on the hardwood for the Lady Bulldogs.

A twist of fate put the two together. Today, they are back home with three children and loving life.

A native of Morrow, Georgia, Mary Beth Lycett was the 1999 Miss Georgia Basketball at Morrow High School. She was a lifelong UGA fan growing up and signed to play for legendary head coach Andy Landers.

It took her a while to see a lot of playing time with future WNBA players Kelly Miller, Coco Miller, Deanna “Tweety” Nolan, and Keisha Brown, but she shined during her junior and senior seasons.

Lycett started 51 of 61 games in her final two years and averaged 29.8 minutes, 8.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals during that span. She was the only senior on the roster in the 2002-03 seasons, which ended in a heartbreaking Sweet 16 loss to Duke.

Today, she is the director of the Kirby Smart Family Foundation and can be seen at Sanford Stadium on Saturdays in the fall.

The story of how Kirby and Mary Beth met in 2005 is straight out of a movie. He was working as the defensive backs coach for LSU at the time and she was working in the athletic association’s business office.

Kirby was looking to land the running backs coach job at his alma mater and he had to call Mary Beth to arrange his travel back to Athens for the interview, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They were married the following year and have been together ever since.

After their wedding, Kirby Smart took a job in the NFL as a safeties coach for the Miami Dolphins. He stayed there for only one season, however, because Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban came calling with a can’t-miss opportunity.

Kirby and Mary Beth Smart moved to Tuscaloosa, where the football coach became the defensive coordinator after one season, and started their family. They currently have three children — twins Julia and Weston, and Andrew.

When the University of Georgia football job became open after Mark Richt was dismissed, Smart jumped at the opportunity to go back home. He landed the job and the rest is history.

The Smart family now lives in a 1920s cottage outside of Athens, and the entire crew is usually on hand to watch Georgia coach Kirby Smart and their favorite football team win SEC East titles and games against Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and Texas A&M between the hedges.

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