Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s father, Sonny, died early Saturday morning from complications from hip surgery he underwent after a fall in New Orleans before the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the school announced. He was 76.

Sonny Smart was a longtime high school football coach at Alabama and Georgia.

In a statement, the University of Georgia said he died at 12:15 p.m. ET on Saturday while surrounded by his wife, Sharon, and their three children, Karl, Kirby and Kendall.

“Sonny fell while walking during the day on New Year’s Eve in New Orleans and broke his hip,” the school said in a statement. “He was taken to hospital and had to undergo hip surgery. Unfortunately, complications arose. He fought bravely but could not overcome his injuries.”

Kirby Smart spent part of New Year’s Day in the hospital with his father after the Sugar Bowl was postponed a day because of a terrorist attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.

The Georgia coach returned to the hospital shortly after the Bulldogs’ 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinals on Thursday.

In the statement, the Smart family thanked the staff at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. “In addition, they ask you for continued prayers for the people affected by the tragic events in the early hours of New Year’s Day,” the statement said. “The Smart family appreciates everyone’s thoughts and prayers and prays now for God’s comfort, strength and guidance.”

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer expressed his condolences to X and said his heart aches for the Smart family.

Sonny Smart played football at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He was the football coach at Holtville High School in Alabama and also led the baseball team to the 1982 state championship. He later coached at Bainbridge High in Georgia, where Kirby Smart played safety for him, and at Rabun County High in north Georgia.

“He taught me so much about how to deal with things, right and wrong,” Kirby Smart said of his father in January 2023. “Control the controllable things. The moment is never too big if you are prepared. And.” I always watched how he prepared our teams and our staff in high school.

“He was a very wise man, a man of few words. I tried to follow his mantra as a coach. I certainly grew from coaching other people, but a lot of my core beliefs came from the way he ran our programs in high school.