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Kirby Smart Weighs In as 11-Year-Old Georgia Fan’s ‘Rocky Top’ Refusal Becomes a Viral Rivalry Moment

The Chattanooga fifth-grader, identified as Nolan McGill, drew massive attention after team and media accounts amplified his mom’s video from a school concert.

Overview

  • Georgia coach Kirby Smart joked to On3 that the program is fundraising to put a statue of McGill near the stadium.
  • McGill’s mother, Kelsey, filmed the Rivermont Elementary School performance and posted it to Facebook and then TikTok, where it spread widely.
  • The official Georgia football account and prominent journalists reposted the clip, driving views into the tens of millions by Friday.
  • McGill told The Athletic the song is “just a bad song” and said Georgia is better than Tennessee, and he reiterated in interviews that he wouldn’t sing it.
  • The lighthearted episode tapped into the intense GeorgiaTennessee rivalry, which saw the Bulldogs edge the Vols 44–41 in overtime earlier this season.