ATHENS — Kirby Smart doesn’t have much experience matching wits against new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer. Saturday will the first time the two matchup at any level.
It’s a stark contrast to Nick Saban, who Smart worked with for 11 years before facing him six times as the head coach at Georgia. Smart went 1-5 against Saban.
But in Smart’s ever-growing coaching tree, he does have a former assistant who is well-versed in what DeBoer does.
That would be former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, who Smart has reached out to to discuss all things DeBoer.
“I didn’t really know who he (DeBoer) was until probably when Lanning went to Oregon, and I followed Dan a lot, and they had the big rivalry with them,” Smart said. “I think that was maybe the year that we had played Dan, and they went on to play Washington, I think once that year and then twice the following year, and that’s when it started popping up on my radar. Washington historically was known for great defense way back when, and he changed that, not that they weren’t good on defense, they were good on defense, but he made them good on offense.”
DeBoer led Washington to last season’s national championship game. He had only been at Washington for two seasons before being tapped to replace the legendary Saban at Alabama.
And while Lanning was able to offer some insights into what playing a DeBoer team is like, Smart quickly pointed out why he can’t rely too much on just Lanning’s opinion.
“We do that with everybody that plays against him,” Smart said. “We do it with Dan, too, but I mean, he didn’t have the most success either. So I mean, he’s had some tough games and some tough decisions against him and has a lot of respect for him, just like we do.”
Lanning went 0-3 against DeBoer, including losing twice last season to the now-Alabama coach.
DeBoer doesn’t have much SEC experience, as his prior stops to Washington were at Fresno State and Indiana. Saturday will be the first SEC game of his Alabama tenure.
Smart, conversely, has won two SEC championships and is 57-9 in regular season SEC games.
That edge in experience doesn’t do much for Smart though in this game. He knows DeBoer is an excellent coach who can win anywhere, especially with a roster as loaded as Alabama’s.
“Everywhere he’s been, he’s been successful,” Smart said. “I think he’s very confident in what he does, in his organizational methods, and I think it takes that in the situation he’s in. In the situation he’s in, you got be pretty confident in your own skin to go in there and do things your way, especially with the record they’ve had. It seems like he’s done that without any issue or problem.”
DeBoer has proven he can beat just about any coach, even one as good as Lanning. Smart hopes that his team will have more success against DeBoer than his pupil did in past seasons.
“As I said, you get these SEC rivalry games, it’s not a motivation issue,” Smart said.
Saturday’s game against Alabama is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET. ABC will broadcast the game.
