ATHENS — Kirby Smart has told many a stories about working with Nick Saban and how the legendary coach helped him over the years.

Smart first worked with Saban while at LSU before also working with him with the Miami Dolphins and famously the Alabama Crimson Tide.

And in a recent story by ESPN’s Chris Low and Harry Lyles Jr., Smart shared some new details on his first interview with Saban.

Smart had been told former LSU coach Lance Thompson that working with Saban was akin to dog years. One year felt more like seven.

So when Smart went over to Saban’s house during an interview, the young, over-confident coach let it slip that someone had said working for Saban was that draining.

“I was comfortable and feeling good about the way it was going, and I just say, ‘I don’t get it. People say working here is like dog years.’ I don’t know why in the hell I said that. Just dumb,” Smart said.

Needless to say, Saban was not happy that stories were being told out of school. Will Muschamp, a long-time friend of Smart’s and a current Georgia analyst, relayed to Smart that Saban was not happy about the dog years comment. Muschamp was Saban’s defensive coordinator at the time.

“Which one of you dumbasses said it’s like dog years working for me? We’re trying to hire the guy, and you tell him that?”

Yet even after the comment, Smart still got the job to coach defensive backs at LSU. He coached safeties with the Dolphins and then defensive backs at Alabama, while also serving as the defensive coordinator from 2008 through 2015.

“I got the whole staff cussed out and somehow still got the job,” Smart said.

That Smart story is one of many in the piece by Low and Lyles Jr. The whole story is well worth a read, as Smart also shares some great memories from playing pick-up basketball with Saban.

Saban retired in January after 17 years at Alabama. In that time, he won six national championships, four of which with Smart on the staff.

“It was unique,” Smart had previously said on first meeting Saban. “Probably wasn’t as intimidated back then as I should have been. It was right after he won the first national title. Lot of respect for him as a coach, as a person and a man. What he and Miss Terry have meant to the game of football, to Tuscaloosa, they’ve been incredible. He’s put a lot of coaches through his coaching factory. He’s really good at what he does, and from what I hear he was still working and coaching up right until the last minute over there. Lot of respect for him. He means a lot to my career.”

Saban was 5-1 against Smart, with the lone loss coming in the 2022 National Championship Game.

Alabama replaced Saban with Washington coach Kalen DeBoer. Georgia did bring Alabama cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson over following Saban’s retirement, as Robinson is now Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Georgia does play Alabama on Sept. 28, with the game set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.