Kirby Smart is one of the most talked-about figures in the college football world.
And for good reason. Smart has been the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs since 2015 and led the team to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. Currently ranked No. 6, Georgia holds a 2-0 record after the Bulldogs’ 2024-25 season start. Georgia is gearing up for a top-20 matchup against No. 15 Tennessee for Week 3 of the year.
Ahead of Smart’s game against Tennessee, former coaching legend and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban spoke of his former assistant coach.
Nick Saban Reveals Similarities in Coaching Styles with Kirby Smart
In eight seasons under Smart, Georgia has won two national titles, played for a third, and won 13 or more games in the past three seasons.
Smart’s coaching history includes coaching under Saban as the defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2007 to 2015. In an interview with ESPN, on Friday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show,” Saban said Smart holds similar coaching philosophies to what he used to practice and still believes in, despite some negative repercussions.
“Kirby believes like I believe in terms of recruiting well and developing players. In this day and age, if you recruit well, you’re going to lose some of those players because they’re all not going to play early, which is going to hurt you, and then, just complement your team with the portal.” Saban said.
He continued. “I think that’s the way Kirby goes about it. That’s the way I always went about it, and I would still do it that way. And I think he’s going to be successful consistently because of that.”
In total, Smart coached under Saban for 11 seasons. He first served under the seven-time national championship coach at LSU in 2004 as a defensive backs coach before Saban had his stint in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. Smart eventually followed Saban to Miami as a safety coach and then returned to the CFB field in 2007 with Saban at Alabama.
Read More: Kirby Smart Would ‘Love to Silence’ Knoxville But Doesn’t See It Happening for One Reason
Smart and Saban’s coaching relationship thrived with the Crimson Tide. Smart started as an assistant head coach while also serving as a defensive backs coach. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2008 before leaving to become Georgia’s head coach in 2015.
9 years ago today, Kirby Smart coached his first game for UGA as a Head Coach.
Defeating UNC 33-24
Nick Chubb had 222 yards rushing and 2 TDs pic.twitter.com/GPQTVNXt5j
— Evil UGA Dynasty (@EvilUGADynasty) September 3, 2025
Georgia’s game against the Volunteers is slated for a Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST kick-off at Neyland Stadium.
