Kirby Smart explains why the 2021 season was Nick Saban's best coaching job at Alabama

If anyone knows how great of a coach Nick Saban is, it’s Kirby Smart. After all, the two worked together for years until Smart took Georgia’s head coaching job in 2016.

That’s why when Smart declared 2021 to be Saban’s best coaching job at Alabama, it shows just how impressive it was.

“But to do what he did this year, with that team, I told him after the game, I said I really believe that this was probably the best job you’ve ever done,” Smart said after the game. “And people don’t understand that. Media don’t respect that because they didn’t win the national championship. But the job he did, with that team? Incredible.”

This year, Saban had a new quarterback, a younger team and a potential championship hangover from last season. That’s a lot to overcome, yet the Crimson Tide still made it to the national championship — and led at halftime.

Smart understands how big it was to beat Saban in a national championship. After all, the two combined to win four of them together when Smart worked under Saban.

“[I have a] tremendous respect for what they do [at Alabama],” Smart said. “Let’s be honest – they’ve been the measuring stick. And I was a part of it for nine years and saw it. And I know the preparation that goes into national championship games.

“I mean, he doesn’t lose many national championship games when he has that time to prepare. And he does a really good job. So to do it and beat them, that’s special. But also I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, the way he runs his program. And really probably one of the best jobs he’s ever done with his team, because they were really young at some positions. And I think they’ve got the best player in college football in Bryce Young, and I saw it firsthand on the field in the SEC Championship.”

Nick Saban discusses losing national championship to former assistant in Kirby Smart

Nick Saban entered the 2021 season having never lost to one of his former assistant coaches, but thanks to Jimbo Fisher and Kirby Smart, he’ll enter the 2022 season with two — including one critical national championship loss to Georgia.

Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs, previously ranked No. 1 after a perfect regular-season record, entered the SEC Championship game against the same Alabama team as 6.5-point underdogs. However, Georgia fell short in the SEC Championship, as Alabama had its way in a 41-24 win.

The script was flipped on Monday night, and while Saban failed to win his seventh national title with the Crimson Tide, he’s glad that it was a former assistant coach — one that did so much to help the Alabama program — that managed to pull it off.

“I love Kirby,” Saban said in the postgame press conference. “I think Kirby has a lot of respect for us.”