I’M GLAD HE’S GONE: Georgia Bulldogs Head coach Kirby Smart announce the leaving of..

A year ago as Georgia football prepared for the SEC championship game, Syracuse turned to Bulldogs defensive backs coach Fran Brown to be its head coach in what was considered an out of the box move.

That looks like a home run hire now considering the Orange are now a top 25 ranked team and ended the regular season with a 42-38-upset of Miami.

Brown gave a shout out to Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart on the field after his team’s win Saturday that moved their record to 9-3.

“Hey, Kirby Smart,” Brown said into the camera. “Thank you for that message earlier, Kirby. It means so much to me, Coach Smart. I appreciate you. I love you. Thank you.”

Smart said his message — sent the morning after Georgia’s eight overtime win over Georgia Tech — was simply congratulations on a great season and that he wished him luck on the game.

Brown spent two seasons working under Smart and veteran defensive coordinator Will Muschamp including the 2022 national championship team.

“Fran’s done a great job,” Smart said Monday as his team readies for Saturday’s SEC championship game with Texas. “Fran made me a better coach. Fran thanks me all the time for what Will and I did for his career and spent time with him, but Fran did more for us then we did for him. He’s a great recruiter, great person. He taught me a lot about managing players, talking to players, coaching players. And he learned a lot of scheme here.”

Like offensive line coach Sam Pittman when he was hired by Arkansas, Brown went from position coach to head coach.

“He’s been around a lot of good coaches,” Smart said. “It’s not like this is his first place around good coaches. He’s been a great man, father, husband but also a great coach. I knew he’d make a great head coach. He said that was his goal when he came, I want to be a head coach. I said we’ll work together. You help me and I’ll help you. Both of us held up our end of the deal.”