Nick Saban vs. Kirby Smart more than teacher vs. student

May 2024 · 3 minute read

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ATLANTA — Perhaps you’ve heard of “The Process.”

Spend enough seconds with Nick Saban, and you’ll be reminded he only thinks one day, and one play, at a time.

Early in his 11 years working with Kirby Smart — Saban’s assistant at LSU, and the Miami Dolphins, before concluding with eight seasons as Alabama’s defensive coordinator — the legendary coach knew his protégé could be a great head coach someday.

But in that future, Saban never considered Smart would be looking at him from across the field, standing between the Alabama coach and a record-tying sixth national championship Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“I never imagined it, never thought of it that way,” Saban said at Saturday’s media day. “I’m proud of the fact that Kirby has done a great job. He’s a done a fantastic job to get them to this level. … He did a fabulous job for us for the years that he was with us.

“It’s certainly a challenge to play against someone who does such a good job.”

Perhaps no coach has ever done as good of a job as Saban, but for the first time since arriving at Alabama, the 66-year-old will have to win a national championship without Smart.

The pair still golf with each other in the offseason. Their wives remain even closer friends. Never has one’s success meant the other’s failure.

But to lead his alma mater to its first national championship since 1980, Smart, 42, will have to become Saban’s first former assistant to defeat his old boss (0-11), and defeat a dynasty he helped build.

“I’m close to a lot of those guys, but the game is not between Coach Saban and I,” Smart said. “I know who he is, I know what he does. He knows everything that I do and that we do. There’s a lot of similarities between the two programs. We’re trying to be Georgia, and they’re trying to be Alabama. That’s the bottom line. It’s not really about he and I. I have tremendous respect for him and everything he stands for, and he’s been a great asset to my career.

“I watch those guys when I’m not playing them, from afar, watching a game. I’m cheering and rooting for every kid I signed. There’s a lot of guys that are seniors and juniors on that defense, that team, that I know their families and they’ve sent me congratulatory texts, but I know where my focus and concentration is. It’s on giving our team the best chance they’ve got. I can’t be thinking about personal relationships to do that.”

Alabama’s staff is just as familiar with its opponent.

When Smart left for Georgia two years ago, he was replaced at Alabama by Jeremy Pruitt — Georgia’s defensive coordinator (2014-15) — who game-planned with Smart before the Crimson Tide’s title game win over Clemson.

“Everybody’s worked together so much, we kind of know what each other wants to do in certain situations, so it’s gonna be about the players going in to execute,” said Pruitt, who recently was named Tennessee’s new coach. “There’s probably some advantages both ways, but at the same time you can possibly have too much information.

“It’s definitely interesting.”

Especially for the Alabama players, who saw so much of Saban in Smart.

“They’re very similar,” Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “They’re both very passionate, both very thorough in what they do in their gameplans. They challenge their players to do what they’re supposed to do.”

If everyone knows what is coming, what comes next?

“[Smart] knows what we do, but I think Coach Saban knows a little bit better what he’s going to do,” Alabama running back Damien Harris said, “considering he learned it all from Coach Saban.”

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