The similarities of these two Sugar Bowl head coaches are many. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart’s dad was a high school football coach. So is Ole Miss coach Pete Golding’s daddy.
Smart played defensive back, safety to be exact. So did Golding.
When both Smart and Golding finished their playing days, they hired on as graduate assistant coaches at their alma maters.
Following those apprenticeships both Smart and Golding cut their coaching teeth in the Division II Gulf South Conference, Kirby at Valdosta State and Pete at his alma mater, Delta State.