Who’s Next: Is Kirby Smart's championship window closing?
Alabama hasn’t lost a regular-season game against a non-conference opponent since 2007. Yet the Crimson Tide has lost at least once in SEC play in nine of Alabama coach Nick Saban’s 13 seasons.
For that reason, BamaInsider decided to skip straight to the games that matter most when it comes to previewing the coaches Alabama will face in 2020. Today we start things off with Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
Performance against Saban
Record: 0-2
Total Score: 51-41 Alabama
Next Meeting: Sept. 19 @ Alabama
Accomplishments
-Overall record: 44-12
-College Football Playoff berth (2017)
-SEC Championship (2017)
-SEC East Champions (3x, 2017-Present)
-Coach of the Year [Maxwell Football Club] (2017)
-SEC Coach of the Year [Associated Press and SEC coaches] (2017)
Story lines
Smart coached under Saban for 11 total seasons, including nine in Tuscaloosa. He served as the program’s defensive coordinator from 2009-2015. The Crimson Tide secured four national championships during those seven years and has only won one since he left.
All that time with Saban certainly seems to have paid off. Smart is the only former Saban assistant that has proven himself a worthy adversary both on the field and in the race for championships.
The Bulldogs seemed destined to win the 2017 National Championship Game, but former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa found receiver DeVonta Smith on second-and-26 to complete the comeback.
The very next season, another storybook ending sent Smart home empty-handed when quarterback Jalen Hurts came off the bench in relief of an injured Tagovailoa to lead the Crimson Tide back from a 14-point deficit late in the third quarter.
What's on the line
Name five coaches better than Smart. I’ll wait. You can argue over where exactly he ranks, but Smart has already earned a place amongst the best in the business.
That said, Georgia has stumbled twice now against the Crimson Tide. If he can’t beat Saban this season, his perception may take a hit fair or not.
Georgia isn’t going to fire him (this season anyway) just because he loses to the Crimson Tide again. Still, some recruits may choose to go elsewhere if the program seems incapable of toppling Alabama.
Once that cycle begins it could very well continue to grow. It's unlikely Smart's team fades into obscurity, but it might not take that much for the Bulldogs to find themselves grouped with teams like Florida, Wisconsin and Penn State.
All three have come close more than once recently, but none of them seem to have quite what it takes to crack the top four.
Plus, Alabama and Georgia may meet again in Atlanta next season, but the week three loser won’t have any margin for error if they hope to make the SEC Championship much less the College Football Playoff.
Recruiting battles
Smart signed the top recruiting class in the country each of the last three years.
The only time he didn't finish ahead of Saban in the final rankings was in 2017 when he signed the No. 3 class.
Both Georgia and Alabama's 2021 classes rank outside the top 15 at the moment, but each school seems poised to surge up the rankings once the top guys announce.
In fact, if you sort the rankings based on average stars, instead of total points, Georgia is one of only two programs ahead of Alabama.
The following three matchups currently appear to be tossups between both the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs. Signing two of three could decide which team ultimately comes out on top this time around.
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Andrew Bone, of BamaInsider.com, is a real estate broker in the state of Alabama.
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