Even though they are now battling for recruits and national titles with one another on an annual basis, the respect between Nick Saban and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart runs deep. Smart spent one year with Saban on his LSU staff as the defensive backs coach and nine years at Alabama as an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.
Smart was a massive piece in the early part of the Tide’s dynasty having worked with some of those all-time defenses from 2007 to 2015. Smart was the best coordinator Saban has had on either side of the ball during his tenure, and his departure for Georgia was a tough one. Jeremy Pruitt did a fine job succeeding Smart, but the Alabama defense has never been the same since Kirby left town.
Kirby’s current status as one of the top coaches in the nation didn’t happen overnight. His time in Tuscaloosa was spent fine-tuning his craft to get to where he is now. One source told ESPN’s Alex Scarborough that “Kirby [Smart] got dog-cussed constantly.”
Perhaps Saban’s antics and discipline rubbed off on Kirby, as he is now successfully leading the Bulldogs into what some would consider the start of a dynasty.
Despite Georgia’s recent success and the closer relationship held by the coaches, there’s still some very healthy ongoing competition as they lead the two strongest programs in the strongest conference in collegiate athletics.
The two sides have played head-to-head in the national title twice since Smart took over the reins of the UGA program, but despite this, the two still hold a very close relationship. Saban always speaks very positively of Kirby and shares his appreciation for the time they had together. So, it is very cool to see Smart return the favor and share high praises for Saban.
The SEC has cemented itself as the best conference in college football for some time now, and a large part of that is because of Saban according to Kirby. On the Paul Finebaum show Smart said,
“Nick has been tremendous for our sport. Nobody has moved the college football game more than he has…the SEC is the premier place primarily because he started bringing national championships there when he came to LSU. He has done a lot for this game.”
It is likely that the two sides will meet in 2023 in either the SEC Championship or College Football Playoffs, so it is interesting to hear how much they truly admire one another. Because without each other, neither of these guys would have reached the same levels of success.
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