Kirby Smart’s journey to becoming a back-to-back national championship head coach started during his time at Alabama.
He came in as a young, fiery personality, but Smart absorbed everything from Nick Saban. In nine years (2007-15), he documented the blueprint for how to win in college football.
RELATED: Nick Saban comments on Jalen Hurts’ historic contract extension
He took the physical offensive line, power running game, stifling defense, and leadership quarterback mentality to the University of Georgia in 2016. Smart surrounded himself with ace-level assistant coaches such as Will Muschamp, Dan Lanning, Glenn Schumann, Todd Monken, and Scott Cochran. The right coaches and players have given Smart the culture at Georgia that was once at Alabama. Saban sees Smart’s success, but his competitiveness will not allow him to be happy with it. National media has crowned the Bulldogs as the ‘new standard’ of college football. Saban got featured on The Next Round show Wednesday via WJOX 94.5 FM in Birmingham, Ala. He has been reading a book about building cultures, but Saban is ready to take Alabama’s ‘winning culture’ back from Georgia.
Nick Saban is reading a book about building cultures and how when you develop one, someone will try to take it from you.
“The last couple years somebody has been successful…so we need to try to take it back”
Full Nick Saban Interview: https://t.co/mEJrCts9DY@AlabamaFTBL… pic.twitter.com/tuYIz2YJCL
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) April 19, 2023
“That has been the case for a while now,” Saban said about how other teams have tried to take Alabama’s winning culture. “The last couple of years somebody has been successful….so we need to try to take it back.”
Georgia is the somebody Saban is referring to.
Teams are no longer afraid of Alabama, but they are scared of Georgia. Opposing coaches do not fear playing Alabama, but they scream for help when Georgia is on the schedule. The Crimson Tide must return to dominating teams, and it has to start in the coming fall. Saban has never let three years in a row go by without Alabama winning a national championship.
We will see if that track record can continue to hold serve.
Click here to follow the Bama Elite Podcast
*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber-only content!*
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
