ATLANTA — When you think of Georgia and Alabama, your mind might wander to the budding rivalry between the two programs and the passionate fan base wanting nothing more than to beat the other.
But when it comes to each school's respective football programs, its two head coaches have nothing but love, admiration and respect for each other. After all, Smart served as an assistant coach with the Crimson Tide from 2007 to 2015, with eight of those seasons spent as defensive coordinator.
Those characteristics were shown in full Friday night, just hours before the SEC Championship game, as Kirby Smart and Nick Saban sat down with ESPN's Laura Rutledge for a tandem interview on SEC Network.
At one point in the interview, Rutledge asked Smart what the nicest thing Coach Saban ever said to him was. Smart responded by saying, "He has said a lot of nice things to me. I mean, we had a lot of great times together," and then expanded by explaining how Saban, no matter the outcome of the game, congratulates the players and coaching staff once it's over. Smart explained how it's something he learned from his mentor and does himself to this day.
Smart then jokes that Saban "texted me back for the first time ever this year." Smart explained their exchange was about how hard it was to be successful and consistent in college football.
Saban chimes in after joking that he "learned how to text simple" using three words and zero punctuation, to which Smart and Rutledge laughed.
After the joke, Saban delivered heartfelt words about his former defensive coordinator at Alabama.
"But I got to tell you. Kirby managed his time with me better than any coach we've ever had," Saban said.
Saban then goes on to tell a magnificent story about how he would sneak out in the spring to go play golf with a few of his friends and that Smart would have the contact information of the guys Saban played with and would reach out to them to see which course the Alabama head coach was playing at, only so Smart and several other coaches could go to the opposite course.
"I learned early on in my career you got to figure out who's best friends with the coach so you know where he's headed so you can head opposite," Smart said, laughing. "It was always important."
