Yes, There is a Deep State in College Football, and It's Coming for Kirby Smart
While everyone talks about the political “deep state” and how they spy on us all the time and how they overthrow governments in 3rd world countries and how they undermined Donald Trump and how Putin claims they overruled US presidents on Russia policy and how they entrapped protesters on January 6 and how they probably killed JFK and all the other stuff they’ve done since the creation of the massive, unchecked federal bureaucracy, there is a truly sinister deep state undermining the very foundation of this country, which is, of course, college football. It’s been there for years, lurking in the shadows, trying to pick winners and losers and trying to turn the sport into something it’s not. It’s made up of crooked lamestream sports media members and athletic directors and “anonymous” coaches and even the conferences themselves. It is THE College Football Deep State, and they are, once again, coming for the University of Georgia.
Is the anti-UGA Deep State necessarily a group of influential people with a deep personal hatred towards the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, and Bulldog Nation itself? Maybe in some cases, as Pat McAfee was certainly open about hating our fans for taking out on him their anger for David Pollack’s firing by ESPN. I think, in actuality, the money men and college football Member Berries media members are grateful that the “Saban is the GOAT” era has ended because they believe parity may return to the sport, and the USCs and Nebraskas and Notre Dames and Ohio States and Oklahomas and Texases and Michigans and the occasional Cinderella story teams can share championships again.
They don’t want a new GOAT to emerge who destroys top-4 teams by 9 TDs in National Championship games. They don’t want a team that hasn’t lost a non-conference game in 5 seasons. They don’t want a team that wins 29 straight games and would have kept going if not for Saban-privilege SEC officiating to help the retiring Nick Saban into the playoff as a retirement gift. No, they want the dynasty era to be over, and Kirk Herbstreit and Boo Corrigan and Burke Magnus and the CFP Board of Managers and other influential media and business interests in the college football world are dying for college football to be a national sport again. They don’t want the college football National Champion slate to look like it has over the past 15 years:
2009 Bama
2010 Auburn
2011 Bama
2012 Bama
2013 FSU
2014 Ohio State
2015 Bama
2016 Clemson
2017 Bama* (Tyler Simmons was onside)
2018 Clemson
2019 LSU
2020 Bama* (the COVID season literally didn’t count)
2021 Georgia
2022 Georgia
2023 Georgia* (the anti-UGA Deep State protected cheating Michigan from Georgia for the very reason I am writing this)
No, the powers that be want the list of college football National Champions to look like it did for the 15 years prior to the Saban Era:
1994 Nebraska
1995 Nebraska
1996 Florida
1997 Michigan
1998 Tennessee
1999 FSU
2000 Oklahoma
2001 Miami
2002 Ohio State
2003 LSU
2004 USC
2005 Texas
2006 Florida
2007 LSU
2008 Florida
Eleven different teams winning Natties from all 5 power conferences in 15 seasons looks far better for parity than 7 (ok, 8) different teams from 3 different power conferences in 15 seasons winning Natties. Hilariously, though, it was the college football powers who created this problem in the first place. The transfer portal, NIL, and College Football Playoff have made the sport more top heavy than ever. The same big brands with big money are at the top of the high school recruiting rankings every year, and also recruit the best talent out of the portal. This leads the big brands to get the most screen time because they make the playoff every year, which brings those brands more money and clout with recruits. On top of that, the best college football coaches are leaving the sport for the NFL or are fired or are retired or are rejecting this new version of college football completely and their programs are suffering for it (looking at you, Dabo). So, now that the college football powers have screwed up the balance of the sport, who has to pay for it? Apparently, the University of Georgia does.
Right now, there are only two active head coaches who have ever beaten Kirby Smart—Gus Malzahn at UCF & Hugh Freeze at Auburn. That’s it, and those losses were 7 and 8 seasons ago, respectively. There are only two active head coaches who have won national championships, period (as head coaches)—hot seat Dabo Swinney and Kirby Smart. That’s it. If parity is supposed to return to the sport, how on Earth do you stop Kirby Smart? That’s where the Deep State comes in. They’ve already been effective enough at slowing down Georgia against Alabama to protect the “GOAT.” Don’t get me started on SEC officiating putting their fingers on the scales whenever Georgia played Bama, especially under Kirby Smart, when Georgia had Bama on the ropes. And never forget how the Playoff Committee kept a dominant, 1-loss Georgia out of the 2023 College Football Playoff despite Georgia being a hypothetical point spread favorite against every team in the top 4, including against Alabama in a rematch. If only Georgia was a traditionally large brand like Alabama or Ohio State, they would have been squeezed into the playoffs by default. Never has a one-loss Alabama been left out of the College Football Playoff. Never. How about that? At least the new playoff format has some auto-bids, so it’s not entirely dependent on crooked bureaucrats. However, that won’t stop the Deep State from finding every excuse to give Georgia the toughest road possible to the Natty, if there were to be a path at all. Officiating is going to be terrible. Seeding will be tough. Scheduling will be tough. Prominent voices will negative recruit against Georgia in favor of other schools (ahem, Herbstreit). I do not expect it to be long before the governing bodies of the sport come after Georgia and try to find violations. Think that’s impossible? Tampering is never impossible. Look at Todd Gurley’s suspension in 2014 that cost him the Heisman. Who entrapped him in the pay-for-autographs scheme? A Gator fan running a memorabilia company. When was the suspension upheld? Right before the Florida game. Things that make you go, “Hmmm.”
If you made it this far and are not a UGA fan, I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘Boo-hoo, poor baby, your team is good, stop whining.’ Well, I think every program and fan base deserves a fair shot to enjoy their golden era while they’re in it, because there will be a day in the future when it’s all gone. There will be a day when Kirby Smart burns himself out, retires, and someone else takes the reins of college football and Georgia fans will have to reminisce about the good old days, the same way Alabama fans are about to have to face the music. Heck, look at Georgia football. It took legend Vince Dooley over 10 years to finally compete for 3 national championships, winning just 1, and that era’s Georgia fans thought they were in the golden era of Georgia football. After Dooley retired, Georgia football was almost completely off the map for the next 10 years before Mark Richt rebuilt the program and, for 15 years himself, paved the way for Kirby to come in and make us a championship machine, which took Kirby another 5 seasons to make happen. It took a long time to get back here, so of course I’m going to do everything I can to protect my team’s golden era while I still have the chance. Ask any fan of any team—the good old days never last long enough.