Kirby Smart Walks Back Slamming Player As An ‘Idiot’ Following Shocking Loss

Kirby Smart has apologized for remarks about Jake Pope following a loss to Ole Miss.

The Georgia Bulldogs defensive back caused a bit of controversy after a short video appeared to show him celebrating with Rebels fans after the loss.

Of course, the video hardly captured the entire context of the moment. Pope wasn’t celebrating losing. He ran into some old friends and was simply excited and surprised to see them. 

Yet, that didn’t stop his head coach from calling him an “idiot” for his actions caught on video.

Kirby Smart walks back calling Jake Pope an “idiot.”

Despite being clearly very upset with Pope when speaking with the media Monday, Smart had a very different tone when speaking with reporters Tuesday.

“I should not have called the kid an idiot…You know, I don’t like to comment on the internal stuff going on inside. He did talk to the team and did a great job. You know, I’ll say I should not have called the kid an idiot. That was a mistake by me. But I appreciate Jake. He’s a great kid. He works really hard. He’s a team player. I think he knows it was an emotional mistake. And he told the team that. So, I appreciate the way he handled it,” Smart told the media after practice Tuesday, according to Rivals.

Is a video of Jake Pope jumping up and down with excitement after a loss a bad look? Yeah, it’s a terrible look, but context matters.

The video made it look like he was happy Georgia lost. Of course, anyone with a functioning brain knew that was almost certainly not the case.

As soon as the details came out after Pope released a statement it became obvious the video didn’t actually capture what was going on. Was it still stupid? Yes. Should Smart have publicly flamed him to the media?

I have long argued that in sports and life criticism should happen behind closed doors and the public must see only a unified front. Clearly, Smart was frustrated and let the frustration play out in front of the media. Now, he’s dialed it back and apologized.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart apologized for calling Jake Pope an “idiot” for his actions after losing to Ole Miss. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

At this point, it’s time to put the situation behind everyone involved and move on. Georgia has Tennessee this weekend, and there’s hardly time to waste effort on what Jake Pope did. Learn and move forward. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.