Football, Lies (?) And Videotape: Kirby Smart Denies, Assistants Laugh Off Rumor That Georgia Filmed Ohio State Practice

ATLANTA - Georgia football coach Kirby Smart looked legitimately shocked at the question during the College Football Playoff semifinal Media Day Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame.

"Do you have any reaction to the rumor that Georgia filmed an Ohio State practice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium?"

Smart paused to take it in.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Smart told OutKick while sitting at a small table with just a few other reporters around. "I mean, that's ludicrous to me."

Freelance writer Jeff Snook wrote Thursday that, "Rumors are flying that Ohio State found a hidden camera aimed at their practices in Mercedes-Benz Stadium during their closed practices. If true, this would not surprise me from Georgia coach Kirby Smart."

Georgia Plays Ohio State In College Football Playoff Semifinal

The No. 1 defending national champion Bulldogs (13-0) and No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) play in a CFP semifinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium here Saturday (8 p.m., ESPN).

OHIO STATE AVOIDS THE "M" WORD

"Somebody give them (Ohio State practice films) to me," Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp joked at another table with two reporters. "I ain't seen 'em."

Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken joined in the fun at another table.

"God, I hope that's true," he said laughing. Then he added, "I hope we've been in their practices. I hope we're logged into their computers."

Then he qualified his comment.

"That's a joke," Monken said. "They've seen our game film. We've seen their game film. They know what we run. We know what they run. It is what it is. We’re the same way. We’re paranoid at our hotel. They're paranoid at their hotel. Whether they have what we call or not, we have to execute."

As a former SEC basketball coach once said on the golf course, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying," as he improved his ball placement in the fairway.

Written by
Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.