Smith: Olivadotti grew up in coaching

When Kirk Olivadotti was 10 years old, he gained access to the sideline in the Orange Bowl when the Miami Hurricanes upset Nebraska - a team some had suggested pre-game was the greatest team of all time - to capture the national championship.

Coming into that game, Miami was ranked No. 5, and while the Hurricanes had a fine football team, they needed help and got the much-needed assist when Georgia, where he is now a linebacker coach, upset No. 2 Texas 10-9 in the Cotton Bowl.

As a boy, the excitement of that game was impressionable and may have, at least subconsciously, stimulated his interest in becoming a football coach.

His dad, Tom Olivadotti, was the defensive coordinator for Miami at the time, but once told his son jokingly that if he chose to become a coach, he would "punch him in the face." His dad knew that to succeed in coaching, the family had to make a sacrifice. The head of the house was always at work, and so often it was a gypsy stile life - here today and gone tomorrow. The senior Olivadotti knew his son was a bright kid and wanted him to know the challenge brought on by an assistant coach's lifestyle.

When Tom realized Kirk was serious, he smiled broadly and said: "If that is what you want, I will support you."

Since he has been in Athens, Kirk has thought often about that night in the Orange Bowl when Miami defeated the Cornhuskers, but he wasn't tuned in at that age exactly to what impact Georgia's afternoon victory in Dallas had for Miami.

"I certainly learned to appreciate the Bulldogs' upset of Texas more as I grew older," he said.

A Texas victory would surely have meant that, even by defeating Nebraska, Miami would not have won the title.

Kirk remembers that the Hurricanes led 31-17 at the start of the fourth quarter, but barely found a way to win 31-30. "It all came down to a two-point conversion. Miami came with an al

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