ATHENS — When Kirby Smart was asked about Lane Kiffin on Monday, the Georgia head coach didn’t divulge details of their group texts.
There was no reminiscing on their time together at Alabama. Smart was the defensive coordinator while Kiffin was the offensive coordinator during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The duo led Alabama to a national title in their final year together.
On Saturday, the two former Nick Saban assistants will match wits as head coaches for the first time. Smart’s Georgia team welcomes No. 10 Ole Miss into Sanford Stadium.
And Smart has nothing but respect for the Ole Miss coach.
“He does a great job. He’s extremely intelligent,” Smart said. “He doesn’t overthink things. He keeps it simple and doesn’t think that you, you don’t have to overthink things sometimes as a coach. Probably doesn’t get enough credit for that because he wants to beat you with fundamentals. He wants to beat you with his players doing things within their system. It’s just, he does a great job.”
Kiffin has long been one of the top offensive minds in the sport. It’s why Saban brought him in to help modernize Alabama’s offense nearly a decade ago.
Kiffin is now in his fourth season in charge at Ole Miss. The Rebels have had success before under Kiffin, as they made it to the Sugar Bowl in 2021 and started the 2022 season 8-1.
Ole Miss has continued to win in 2023, getting out to an 8-1 start. The lone loss came against Alabama back in September. The Rebels found a way to outscore Ole Miss and are coming off a 38-35 win over Texas A&M last week.
Georgia played a similarly close game against the Missouri Tigers. Georgia needed its defense to make a play late, as Nazir Stackhouse’s fourth-quarter interception helped seal Georgia’s win.
The Georgia defense will need an equal effort against Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. The Rebels rank third in the conference in scoring offense as they average 38.8 points per game.
Dart’s all-around excellence is a big reason why. In addition to his 16 passing touchdowns, Dart also has 7 rushing scores. His legs, along with the play of star running back Quinshon Judkins, give Kiffin plenty of talent to work with in terms of attacking the Georgia defense.
“I think Lane’s quarterbacks take on a personality from him. They have a lot of moxie,” Smart said. “They have a lot of talent. They play really hard. They play with reckless abandon for their body. He runs like a running back. He’s taken some hits this year and shone his toughness, so he’s not going to shy away from contact and toughness and the extra element of run that gives them a competitive advantage over a lot of teams you play.
“They have great backs, but he runs the ball like a back. He throws the ball really well, too, which that’s what makes them really hard to defend when you’ve got a guy that can make all the throws but can also take off and run. He’s proven the ability to do that.”
Georgia will have to try and slow Dart without one of its starting linebackers, as Jamon Dumas-Johnson is expected to miss time due to a forearm injury he suffered in the win over Missouri.
Smart being complimentary of Kiffin is nothing new. He’s been respectful of every team Georgia has played. Smart credited Kiffin and Ole Miss recently with turning him on to the idea of explosive play differentials being a key indicator of who wins games.
The hope for Georgia is that they’ll be able to contain Kiffin’s offense while the Bulldogs hit on enough big plays to give Georgia a key late-season win over the Rebels. A win by Georgia would clinch a berth in the SEC championship game for Georgia. Ole Miss is still alive in the SEC West race, but it needs an Alabama loss coupled with an upset win over Georgia.
Because of that, Smart knows Kiffin is going to empty his bag of tricks on Saturday night.
“He probably doesn’t get enough credit, but it’s not like he’s trying to be scheme of the week,” Smart said. “He does what he does really well. He knows what they do well and he also knows what you don’t do well. He’s looking for a matchup most of the game.”
