Georgia’s late-night calls right on time to land championship track coach

“When we first started talking about the job in 2021, Coach Caryl and I knew what this program could look like,” Brooks told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“She pours into every person she meets … “

But first things first, Brooks had to pour his track knowledge out to impress Smith-Gilbert after getting permission from USC to talk with her about the Georgia job.

Smith-Gilbert recalls looking down at her phone at the end of long training days and seeing Brooks number pop up.

“Josh was calling at 8 o’clock Pacific Time, so he was staying up pretty late to make that call,” Smith-Gilbert said with a laugh.

“I guess I said the things he needed to hear when we talked,” Smith-Gilbert said. “Maybe the rest of my job interview was what we were doing on the track.”

There was no sit-down interview involved in Smith-Gilbert’s hire, or even a Zoom call, for that matter.

Seeing was believing, and Brooks made sure he was there in person when Gilbert won her second outdoor title at USC in 2021.

“Josh had handed my husband (former Alabama and NFL linebacker Greg Gilbert) a piece of paper with what our score at that meet was going to be,” Smith-Gilbert said. “He did that at the meet we just won, too!

“I remember we won the meet around 5 p.m., and (by 11 p.m.) my husband and I hashed out our decision to take the job.”

Notably, Smith-Gilbert recalled, the USC athletic director was not on hand when she won her second national title with the Trojans.

The hiring process at Georgia was direct, to the extent Smith-Gilbert simply told her agent that she was accepting the UGA offer to return to the SEC.

Smith-Gilbert, a three-time All-American at UCLA, had served as an assistant coach from 2000 to 2007, at Alabama (2000-2002) and Tennessee (2003-2007).

“One of my goals was to be an SEC head coach — you’re among the nation’s most elite coaches,” Smith-Gilbert explained. “It’s the best conference in the country, and Georgia’s brand is so well-known.”

Brooks aims to make sure it stays that way. His affinity for track is no secret; his son, Jackson is an aspiring high school track star.

Smith-Gilbert said Brooks’ knowledge of the sport was another big reason why she bought into plans of the Bulldogs AD, who was making his first hire.

Brooks, who has hired 16 of UGA’s 19 head coaches, said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I am so proud that she was my first head coaching hire at the University of Georgia,” Brooks said. “She’s a remarkable leader, winner, trailblazer and phenomenal human being.”

Georgia’s three collegiate records in this most recent national championship outdoor meet are unprecedented for a school since women’s track became an NCAA sport in the early 1980s.

• Adaejah Hodge, 100 meters

• Adaejah Hodge, 200 meters

• Dejanea Oakley, 400 meters

Smith-Gilbert’s coaching is an obvious attraction to recruits, each of whom is carefully selected and developed.

“You have to have the talent, but you have to develop the talent and know the personalities,” Smith-Gilbert said. “And you have to have a good team culture where they start governing themselves, and then, they have to stay healthy so they can stay in training and get better.”

Brooks knows this, too, and he spares no expense.

“We went out there (to the NCAA championships) on Sunday for the men to run Wednesday and the women to run Thursday, so you have those days to get acclimated,” Smith-Gilbert said. “You’re talking about 50 people in a party, hotel rooms, food, trainers, chiropractors.

“There’s a lot of nuances, and things you have to know, so as a coach you want an AD that loves track and understands the details.”