ATHENS — Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, junior inside linebacker Roquan Smith and true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm have all earned Southeastern Conference Coaches individual awards, according to a league announcement.
Smart, who was named the Associated Press SEC Coach of the Year earlier this week, was also voted by the coaches as the conference’s Coach of the Year. This is the first honor of this kind for the Bulldogs since Mark Richt earned the accolade in 2005. Georgia’s head coaches have earned this honor 12 times, including five times by College Football Hall of Famer Vince Dooley.
Smith, a native of Montezuma, Ga., gave Georgia its first SEC Defensive Player of the Year since David Pollack garnered the only other award of its kind for Georgia in 2004. Smith, who became Georgia’s first Butkus Award winner over the weekend as the nation’s top linebacker, is also a finalist for the Bednarik Award and that winner will be announced at the ESPN College Football Awards ceremony on Thursday night.
Fromm, a native of Warner Robins, Ga., becomes UGA’s first Freshman of the Year since Nick Chubb accomplished the feat in 2014. Fromm becomes the ninth Bulldog in history to be voted the league’s top freshman (Garrison Hearst, 1990; Eric Zeier, 1991; Randall Godfrey, 1992; Quincy Carter, 1998; David Greene, 2001; Knowshon Moreno, 2007; A.J. Greene, 2008; Chubb, 2014).
Smith was also the AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year while Fromm was the group’s Newcomer of the Year.
