Not enough hours in the day for new Georgia coach Kirby Smart

Tide assistant hopes for title before exit

DALLAS — Alabama defensive coordinator and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart — and, yes, he is both right now — could use a couple more hours in his day.

Smart, a former Georgia football player, was hired to be the Bulldogs’ head coach the day after Alabama won the SEC championship. While laying the groundwork for his own program, recruiting and hiring coaches, he has also been preparing the Crimson Tide to face Michigan State in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl on Thursday.

Smart said Monday the key to juggling jobs has been to compartmentalize. He said he has to be all-in with Alabama when it’s time to be with the Crimson Tide and to be all-in with Georgia when it’s time to work on building the Bulldogs.

“It’s really been a timing issue because, I mean, there’s a week where I was on the road recruiting, obviously, for the University of Georgia,” Smart said. “There’s a lot of focus there. And then we got to come back to Tuscaloosa and really focus on the Michigan State game during this recruiting dead period.

“It’s a time-management challenge. There’s only 24 hours in the day. There’s only so much you can do each day. And once you accept that and know that you’ve got to focus on the task at hand — which the task at hand is get ready for Michigan State — that’s what we’re focused on here.”

Alabama All-America linebacker Reggie Ragland said he was confident Smart would stick with the Tide through its latest attempt to win a fourth national championship under coach Nick Saban. If Smart is distracted and worn down, Ragland hasn’t seen it.

“If anything, he’s coaching harder,” Ragland said.

CLEMSON: Hall of Famer Dan Marino stopped by Nova Southeastern University to visit with the Tigers, who held their next-to-last workout before facing Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31.

“He’s one of the best to ever lace ’em up. Really neat to spend a little time with him,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

Marino retired in 2000 after 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

MIAMI: Defensive back Artie Burns, who had six interceptions this season, cited family as the reason he will skip his senior season and turn pro.

“Due to my mom’s sudden passing and my father being incarcerated, I now have custody of my two younger brothers and my son to raise,” Burns said in a statement distributed through the school.

OHIO STATE: A university spokesman said running back Ezekiel Elliott’s status for Friday’s Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame will not be affected after he was at fault during a Sunday afternoon car crash.

Police told the Columbus Dispatch the junior was cited for driving under suspension, operating without a license and failure to control. According to the Dispatch, Elliott told police his car hit a puddle and hydroplaned before colliding with a vehicle carrying two people.