Kirby Smart has revealed why the Georgia football team isn’t going to the White House.
A day after it was announced that the Bulldogs declined Joe Biden’s invitation to the White House after their second straight national championship, the program’s head coach insisted their reasons for not attending were not political.
“Tough deal timeline-wise, it didn’t work,” Smart said Wednesday at the Regions Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament in Alabama, per TMZ.
“Number one time for recruiting for football coaches. When you’ve got 600, 700 kids coming to your campus, you can’t take 200 people to the White House and have no one on campus.
“The time just didn’t work out. Nothing political about it, but I’ve been before. It’s very educational. It’s a great experience.”
Georgia is hosting a football camp on campus from June 6-8, a few days before the proposed June 12 visit to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
The national championship game took place in January, and the White House typically invites winning teams to visit much closer to the game itself.
For comparison, Angel Reese and LSU’s women’s basketball team will be visiting on May 26, despite the fact that their national championship came a full three months later.
The Bulldogs’ invite instead was part of a larger “College Athlete Day” at the White House.
Georgia also had released a statement earlier this week, conveying a similar sentiment.
“Unfortunately, the date suggested is not feasible given the student-athlete calendar and time of year,” the statement read. “However, we are appreciative of the invitation and look forward to other opportunities for Georgia teams moving forward.”
The Bulldogs did not visit the White House in 2022, either, after they won the national championship following the 2021 season.