'Be who you are': Saban, Smart prepare for championship showdown
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A house divided: Ridley brothers ready to square off for national title
ATLANTA— When Georgia hired coach Kirby Smart just over two years ago, the Bulldogs were hoping they could emulate some of the success that was so prevalent in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
There Smart helped Alabama coach Nick Saban bring home four Southeastern Championships and four National Championships in from 2008 to 2015.
Two years in, Smart has already won the conference and on Monday he’ll attempt to guide his team to the program’s first national championship since 1980. All he has to do is beat-Saban.
“I like my chances playing against him in pickup basketball sometimes better than I would in a game possibly because I know who he is, I know what he does,” Smart said.
What Saban does so well is win football games, especially national title games (in which Saban is currently 5-1) and especially against former assistants (Saban is currently 11-0 in such games).
Both Saban and Smart dismissed the idea that the Alabama coach’s dominance over former assistants suggests anything about this game. Familiarity is a two-way street after all, and Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt said it could lead the Crimson Tide to overthink the game plan if emphasized too much.
For Saban, it was simpler than that anyway. He had the better players in those 11 games- end of story.
Speaking of the players, the older members of the Crimson Tide’s defense have fond memories of Smart’s tenure in Tuscaloosa. For many, it was the passion the former defensive coordinator showed both on the field and in his preparation that stuck out.
"I would say they're very similar," Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said of Smart and Saban. "They're both very passionate. They're both very thorough in what they do in their game plan. And they challenge their players. They challenge them to be great and to really do what they're supposed to do."
While Smart's program, from the outside, does appear incredibly similar to Alabama's, the more subtle differences aren't lost on his old employer.
“One of the things that I always say to them when they get the opportunity (to be head coaches) is, be who you are, and do things like you believe,” Saban said. “And I think Kirby has done that, and I think he's done it extremely well.”
If game 12 breaks from tradition, then yes Smart will have broken the streak, but more importantly he might also finally begin making his way out from Saban’s lengthy shadow.
Because if this truly is the beginning of some championship run, as the folks around Athens believe, then Smart would like people to remember he is at the helm of the University of Georgia, not Alabama East.
“I'm not trying to be Nick Saban, I'll be honest with you,” Smart said. “Our personalities for the people that know us are not the same. Nick is incredible at what he does. I'm a different person than Nick. I'm different than Nick in recruiting.”