Kirby Smart is a football player through and through, so it was a fair question for a reporter on Monday to ask if Smart even knew who Dolly Parton was as the Bulldogs prepared for Tennessee. Parton announced Monday morning that she would attend Saturday’s game in Knoxville.
After all, Smart said earlier this season that he didn’t know about the Halloween holiday or pop star Miley Cyrus.
“When is Halloween?” Smart said. “No, I will stay here and work.”
“I don’t know who Miley Cyrus is, what she has to do with the wrecking ball,” Smart said.
“I know who Dolly Parton is, my parents watch the Grand Ole Opry,” Smart said Monday. “I didn’t know she was going to be in the game.”
Smart said that Georgia “focuses on us every week, it has nothing to do with last year’s game.”
“Every time we play Tennessee, it’ll probably be 3:30 on CBS or 7 o’clock on ESPN,” Smart said. “It’s a big game, every year we play Tennessee because they’re a good program, and we’re a good program and the two are going to match up. As far as we’re concerned, our players respect Tennessee, they know how tough they are to play. We had to play them there 2 years ago and it’s tough, it’s tough preparation. “We will concentrate.”