What would Kirby Smart do if he were king of the college football world?

For one, the NCAA transfer portal would be stricter than what it currently is, especially as it pertains to freshmen players just getting their college careers underway.

“I would say that players can’t transfer unless they’ve been there two calendar years and had two residencies at the school for two years, then they can transfer without penalty,” Smart said during a recent interview at the recent Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge at Lake Oconee.

The interview was provided to the media by Peach Bowl, Inc.

“They can transfer prior to that, but they’ve got to sit a year to make kids commit for being out of school for two years, get a base of academics, and know there’s a two-year commitment window, just 24 months. Most kids are mid-year enrollees anyway, so it would be January to 24 months.”

Last December, the portal window ran from Dec. 4 to Jan. 2 for football student-athletes to place their names in the NCAA transfer portal with another 15-day window that ran from April 16-30.

To transfer intraconference and be eligible for the following year, SEC rules currently state football student-athletes must announce their intentions by Feb. 1.

“I think more kids would stick around if they’d been there two years, and I think kids would have been more successful if they’d done that,” Smart said. “They can still transfer if they have to, but they’d have to sit a year. After that, they’d be free to transfer.”

During the interview, Smart was also asked about two of the biggest misconceptions about college football coaches today.

“I think that it’s that they don’t enjoy the profession, they dislike it, and they just do it for the money,” he said. “I still do what I do every day for the relationships.”

Another misconception is that coaches hate NIL.

“That’s not accurate. I’m very happy and satisfied that players get rewarded with revenue for their performance and their ability to help their programs and see their families get to travel and see their games, and do things they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do,” Smart said. “I think there’s a misconception that people don’t like that. People like that. It’s the combination of being able to transfer and the ability to go anywhere that causes a lot more discomfort than it is the players making money.”