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Georgia football coach Kirby Smart is set to face Alabama for the first time with a coach other than Nick Saban on the opposite sideline.
Smart, a former Alabama defensive coordinator under Saban, who retired after the end of last season, is only 1-5 against Alabama in his career, with his lone win coming in the 2021 national championship. Now, Smart faces Kalen DeBoer, the former Washington coach in his first season after leading the Huskies to a national championship appearance last season.
REQUIRED READING: Georgia football coach Kirby Smart sizes up facing Alabama without Nick Saban
Smart reflected on his career against and with Saban in an ESPN story on Thursday, now that Saban is no longer a coach and is an analyst for ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which will be on site for Alabama-Georgia in Tuscaloosa.
Smart noted it’ll be different not seeing him across the field pregame.
“I feel like he’s still in it, so I don’t really see it as there being a shadow,” Smart told ESPN. “He’s announcing. He’s still involved. He’s still trying to make things right in our game, with Congress or whomever. He ain’t going nowhere. This dude loves it, and he is going to be part of it for a long time.
“The game is better with him in it. I just have so much respect for him. He’s just not coaching anymore, and I don’t get any more chances to beat him.”
Smart, who already has two national championships and has built Georgia into a perennial contender, said he doesn’t want to be compared to Saban, either, despite their connection and year-in, year-out success.
“We’ve been really good the last few years and had a lot of success and I’m certainly thankful for that,” Smart said. “But in no way, shape or form does that put me on the pedestal or the statue that he was on,” Smart said. “I think there’s a group of people out there leading their programs…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kirby-smart-reflects-nick-saban-002853235.html
Author : Athens Banner-Herald
Publish date : 2024-09-27 00:28:53
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