ATLANTA – Head coach Kirby Smart made a couple of items quite clear Wednesday at SEC Media Days.

One, Tuesday’s comments at the Texas High School Coaches Association were not given in context. Smart is more excited about coaching football for Georgia than ever.

Two, although his contract extension has not been finalized, that’s absolutely the last thing Smart is worried about heading into the start of fall camp.

“I’m not concerned at all about it. They have been tremendous with their communication and I’m completely comfortable with where everything is. Both sides have worked really hard at getting things done and things have been great,” Smart said. “I cannot say more with what they’ve been willing to do and the communication that we’ve had. It’s just not as easy as you think it is.”

So, fear not, Georgia fans. Smart will be the Bulldogs' head coach for some time to come.

In May, Bulldog president Jere Morehead said during the annual UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors Meeting that UGA was close to finalizing a new deal for Smart. Speculation has been the contract will pay the 46-year-old coach in the neighborhood of $10 million per year.

“We’re close to finalizing those arrangements,” Morehead said at the time. “I don’t think anybody will be surprised.”

“It’s just going through the process, taking your time,” said athletic director Josh Brooks, who has been negotiating the deal with Smart’s agent Jimmy Sexton. “This is an important contract for him and for us. It’s just all little details. It’s just typical stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Smart agreed.

“I think people think it’s just a number and a year, but there’s so much more that goes into it,” Smart said. “There’s so much more of a contract that have to be spelled out correctly on both sides and we’re trying to make sure we do that.”

Smart was almost 1,000 miles away in San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday but still managed to make headlines during SEC Media Days.

Speaking at the Texas High School Football Coaches Association Meeting, Smart responded to a question by a coach whether or not a healthy work/life balance existed in college football.

Smart responded “no,” before telling the crowd that he was “ready to step down” due to a frantic June recruiting schedule last summer when potential players would be in town for 28 straight days.

Although Smart’s comments were in the context of a work/life balance, many outlets took it quite literally and reported that Georgia almost lost its coach prior to the 2021 season.

Wednesday, Smart attempted to clear up the situation a little more.

“They asked specifically about that and so when I said it, I said it wore us out. We were all done. So, nothing much meant by it," Smart said. "Just frustrated with how it was, and happy with the way it was this June, because this June I wouldn’t say was much easier, but it was much better. We were much better prepared to handle it because there weren’t as many kids coming.”