DALLAS — As Kirby Smart made his opening remarks on Tuesday to a room full of reporters, one individual listened more intently than most.
Smart’s former boss, Nick Saban, sitting at the ESPN desk seemed to hang on every word Smart spoke. Eager to hear what Smart said.
But perhaps more importantly, how Saban watched how Smart filled the crown previously he wore.
“Couple words I want to say to Coach Saban, who meant so much to me in my career,” Smart said. “First of all, the words he shared at the ESPYs the other night were incredible, very touching, very moving. What he’s meant to myself, my family, as a mentor, as a friend, as a competitor, that drives to you get better.
“There was never a day in 11 years I worked for him that we didn’t share a room in some sort. Whether that was the defensive room, defensive back room, staff room, and I think it made me who I am today.”
Smart is the only active SEC head coach to have won a national championship. That became the case when Saban announced his retirement from coaching back in January. He’ll still be around the game of football, working with ESPN and lingering around the Alabama program in an advisory role.
But as far as speaking at media days and addressing the conference as a whole, Saban no longer has the same responsibilities as Smart. When he’s asked for his opinion on certain topics, he now has to be forthcoming and sometimes even critical of players.
“I know Carson Beck well. I hate it, but he was committed to us,” Saban said. “Somebody else committed to us, and he went to Georgia. So, I’ve always watched these guys that you have relationships with and you’re really proud of how they do and how they develop. But I think there’s more guys at this position that need to stay put and develop in the system that they’re in because I think in the long run, that’ll help them the most.”
Smart still gets to coach, shape and mold his team. Of course, he also won’t hesitate to take a shot at Saban as he did on Tuesday. When Saban showed up on Monday, he didn’t have his credentials with him and was briefly denied entry.
As a head coach, Smart doesn’t need those same credentials.
“He has started responding to texts,” Smart said. “I told people the other day, that’s the first time ever. Either somebody has his phone or he learned how to text. That makes all of us in his circle of friends proud because we get to reach out to him.”
Even with Saban no longer around, his presence over the league still looms large. Smart, for all his success as a head coach, went 1-5 against Saban. The last defeat was a 27-24 loss in last year’s SEC championship game. That defeat prevented Georgia from winning a third straight national championship.
With Saban no longer coaching and the Alabama program experiencing significant roster turnover, it’s now Georgia who is viewed as the top program in the league. Smart will have his team preped and ready to step into that role, much like Saban played an integral role in developing Smart as a coach.
“I kind of always felt like that. Nick Saban retiring, I’m not going to say that’s cool but that really don’t affect us,” Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams said. “We’re still going to be Georgia and do what we do at the end of the day.”
Georgia players routinely bring up “The Standard” when discussing the program. As it stands right now, the Bulldogs standard is the high-water mark that the rest of the college football world has to meet. Georgia has won two of the last three national championships and is 50-4 over the previous four seasons. Three of those four losses came against Saban.
And for all Smart has built on his own, he’s quick to credit Saban for helping set his own internal and impossibly high standard.
“Because the demand for excellence is met by none other than him,” Smart said. “So that standard that he set for me, day in and day out, he met himself. Every coach that ever worked with him or for him will tell that you he does it all himself as well.
“He doesn’t hold you to any different standard than himself. So a lot of the success I’ve had I give credit to him and thanks. I know he’ll being critiquing me today, so I am looking forward to that as well.”
As Smart finished making the rounds in the big room of reporters, Smart got a chance to chit chat with Saban just off the side of the ESPN desk. Even in a room full of reporters, the two spoke of it were only the two of them.
Saban was sitting in his chair, which was on an elevated platform. Smart was looking at up Saban while the latter spoke, almost representative of how Smart, for all he’s accomplished, still have another level to go to reach Saban’s level.
