The Georgia Bulldogs are finally national champions, now what?

Life will never be the same for the Georgia football family after winning a national title.

The Georgia football program is coming off its greatest season ever.

41 years since Herschel Walker was a freshman, 1980 had been an ever-present reminder to Dawg Nation of what is and what should never be. Good, but never great. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. No matter the redundant cliche being used, one thing was certain: Georgia was always going to find a way to disappoint its entire fanbase and lose in the most inopportune time.

And then it stopped…

No longer the victim of a cruel sports joke, the Dawgs finally had their day in the sun as the victors. Not until freshman Kelee Ringo pick-sixed Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young did it look like it was going to happen. There was no Second-and-26 coming. There was no Aaron Murray tipped red-zone pass. There was no fake punt with a backup quarter who left you. Only sweet victory.

Though everybody understands how difficult it is to repeat, what comes next for Georgia football?

Georgia football: The future is now and the past is simply yesterday’s news

When you have the right head coach at a blue-blood program, what we saw on Monday night can happen. It usually presents itself sometime in year two, if that is the case. Clearly, that was the case in Kirby Smart’s second year on the job. The 2017 Georgia team not only made the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history, but were … Second-and-26 away from a chip.

That team arrived a year early, but it was too late in 2018. Meeting Alabama in Atlanta again only this time Jalen Hurts flipped the script and filled in for an ineffective Tua Tagovailoa to perfection. There are head games, and there is whatever the hell that game was for Smart. His worst moment as a head coach was only exacerbated with Texas almost being back in that Sugar Bowl disaster.

My oh, my how things have changed…

Sure, Sugar Bowl redemption was sweet over Baylor and beating Cincinnati in Atlanta was peachy, but there wasn’t time to stop and smell the roses like after the Oklahoma Pasadena Shootout. There was work to be done. And where was that work done? On the recruiting trails, precisely.

“You’re either elite or you’re not,” best personified this season for Coach Smart. It was him challenging his players to be consistently outstanding and excellent in the face of adversity. In most cases, the Dawgs turned quality SEC teams into Dawg food, and they let that Big Dawg eat. From Jordan Davis, to Nakobe Dean, to newcomer Derion Kendrick, that defense stayed hungry.

For a minute there, it felt like Dawg Nation was part of one of those awesome montages where the sports team wins every game imaginable set to the tune of three-and-a-half minutes of pop perfection. While we remembered the titans and saw angels in the outfield, the Dawgs still had to beat Louisiana in the Bourbon Bowl. Turns out, their Bobby Boucher was some kind of Mailman.

Stetson Bennett delivered the game of his life when his team needed him the most. The man will never have to buy a drink in the state of Georgia again. Someone will commission a statue of him. He can put it where he wants in Athens. College football’s Kurt Warner had to be the one to slay the dragon, the one to kill the narrative that Georgia was always going to Georgia in perpetuity.

As the Red and Black confetti settles and that hard-earned brown-liquor hangover wears off, where do the Dawgs go from here?

It’s simple really. Only up. Dawg Nation has no reason to apologize to anyone whatsoever for it.

Georgia football: Kirby Smart is about to go on a freaking run, y’all

Gone are the days of false humility. Not all of Dawg Nation embodied that, as drunk, obnoxious Georgia fans tend to be, well, drunk, obnoxious Georgia fans. However, there is no more woe-is-me card to be played. Georgia should go into every season expecting to kick everyone’s ass. They recruit like nobody else so they can play like nobody else. It is the compound interest of five-stars.

When it comes to their three biggest rivals, they can tell the safety school to go toss some Charmin in one of their fake plastic trees, the Bumblebees to enjoy their split national title they share with the Colorado Buffaloes and those jort-lovers who hate them like no other to go chomp on this national championship trophy. It’s shiny and new, and y’all don’t got one. That’s too bad.

From this day on, Georgia can conduct itself as a champion because it is one. Yes, you are the prettiest girl in the bar everyone is looking at. You are the belle of the ball and the apple of everyone’s eye. People want to be you and people want to be with you. With all that Atlanta-area talent, the next bountiful harvest has just been sewn. Smart is in position to win so many natties.

All it took was one. Monday night was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The levee broke and ding dong, the witch is dead. Georgia was everyone’s champion on Monday night. Outside of Alabama and their rival schools, seemingly everyone was happy for Dawg Nation. Unfortunately, that narrative could soon be changing. If you are built like Bama, you will be treated like Bama.

Georgia football: Are the Dawgs ready to wear the Red and Black hat?

And this will be the final test. How is Georgia going to handle being hated? Oh, plenty of people hate Georgia already and those people wear orange on Saturdays. But outside of that, the target is now on your back from a national perspective. From Los Angeles, to Oklahoma City, to Columbus, to Chicago, big metro areas home to other big fanbases are going to want to see you fail big time.

No, not like before, but like Alabama just now. You are going to get everybody’s best effort, even if that effort couldn’t fight its way out of a wet paper bag. Regardless, you are the hero only long enough before you become the villain. A couple more championships and playoff appearances should do the trick. But if you’re built for this, then you can handle it. You have the blueprint now.

Nick Saban’s greatest disciple is about to create Tuscaloosa East — if he hasn’t already. Smart is only in his mid-40s and will be coaching at his alma mater until he can collect Social Security. It’s not going to be an easy road being hated, but it is the road less traveled, the road of a champion. As they say, it’s lonely at the top. The climb never gets easier, but the journey up makes it worthwhile.

Forecasting a bit, by the end of the decade, Smart might have two, three, even four more championships under his belt. Odds are, he will have cemented his place in college football immortality right around his 50th birthday. He will be loved, he will be hated, he will be feared, but he will be respected. Saban’s proudest pupil will carry on his legacy, albeit at a different institution.

Georgia football: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have procured the Elder Wand

So what comes next, Buhler? What in the hell are you trying to tell me? Get on with it, dude!

Alright, y’all want to know what comes next?

Who’s that coming down the track? It’s the mean machine in Red and Black!

You think you can stop a train? Me neither. So good luck with that.

I’ll try not to be a drunk, obnoxious Georgia fan all the time, I promise, but it’s in my blood, gang.

Cheers, Dawg Nation! Our coronation has arrived.

Buhler out.

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