Kirby Smart was like the rest of us when he learned that Alabama head coach Nick Saban would be retiring.
“Little shocked when it came about, but it’s one of those things that’s inevitable for all of us,” Smart said on a radio appearance with 92.9 The Game in Atlanta. “We’ll all walk away, and sometimes you walk away on your own terms and sometimes you don’t. I thought it was pretty cool he got to walk away on his own terms.”
Smart worked with Saban at LSU, Alabama and with the Miami Dolphins. Prior to becoming Georgia’s head coach, Smart served as Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008 through 2015. The two combined to win four national championships in that time.
The now Georgia head coach recounted his first time meeting Saban, which came just after the 2003 season. The two met in Mobile, Ala., with Smart interviewing for the defensive backs job at LSU.
“Probably wasn’t as intimidated back then as I should have been. It was right after he had won the first national title,” Smart said. “But a lot of respect for him as a coach and a person and a man. What he and Mrs. Terry have meant to really the game of football but especially to Tuscaloosa.
“They’ve been incredible. I mean, he’s put a lot of coaches through his coaching factory. I can assure you of that. He’s really good at what he does and from what I hear he was still working and coaching right up to the last minute, it sounds like, over there, yesterday. So a lot of respect for him and he meant a lot to my career.”
Smart was 1-5 in his career against Saban, with the lone win coming in the 2022 National Championship Game.
Before the two met in the 2023 SEC Championship Game, Saban spoke highly of Smart and how he has elevated the Georgia football program.
“I have a lot of respect for Kirby,” Saban said. “We don’t jostle about winning and losing, dog each other about it. I think I have respect for what he’s been able to accomplish. He did a great job for us when he was here. I just appreciate him a lot for the kind of person he is, kind of coach he is, kind of job he’s done.”
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