Georgia coach Kirby Smart, when asked about LSU's Brian Kelly becoming the latest in a long list of coaches who have been fired during the season, didn't mince words.
"It's the world we live in," Smart said. "At this time in the middle of the season, I think there's so much built around the playoffs. It's like everything is boom or bust, and you can't have a normal season."
Smart, who is the second-longest-tenured coach in the SEC, will lead the No. 5 Bulldogs into Saturday's rivalry game against Florida, which fired coach Billy Napier after a disappointing start to the season.
"I know it's high expectations," Smart said of the LSU job. "I coached at LSU, and a guy once told me, 'That office you're in, that's not your office. You're borrowing it.' And I knew right then, if you didn't win, you wouldn't be there long."
Smart was hired to lead the Bulldogs in 2015. He had held various roles up until that point, administrative assistant at Georgia in 1999 and running backs coach in 2005. He also held three jobs on Nick Saban's staffs -- at LSU (2004), with the NFL's Miami Dolphins (2006) and at Alabama (2007-2015).
Kelly led the Tigers to a 34-14 record and took LSU to the 2022 SEC title game, but the Tigers did not qualify for a College Football Playoff game in his three full seasons.
It is the third coaching vacancy in the SEC, along with Florida and Arkansas, which fired Sam Pittman in late September.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.