Nick Saban praises how Kirby Smart developed, elevated Georgia into national power

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban knows Georgia coach Kirby Smart as well as just about anybody. Smart worked under Saban as an assistant at Alabama, then faced off against him regularly after Smart accepted the Georgia head coaching job.

Saban, who is now an analyst for ESPN, appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday and praised Smart for his ability to build the Bulldogs into a national power.

“Well, I think Kirby’s done a fantastic job. He’s one of the best coaches we ever had on our staff,” Nick Saban said. “I mean he did a great job with our defense for many, many years. He’s a good recruiter. He’s got great relationships with kids.

“And he’s a really good teacher. And I think the job that he’s done here at Georgia – now he took over a program here at Georgia that wasn’t totally in the tank. But the way he’s been able to elevate that program through really, really good recruiting.”

Recruiting and development has been key to Smart’s success. Georgia brings in good players, coaches them up and Smart is able to retain a large portion of his roster.

According to Saban, it’s hard to win consistently at a high level when players are able to transfer freely, but Kirby Smart has been able to navigate that issue.

“I think one of the things that people don’t really realize, that when you recruit really well in this day and age, sometimes it hurts you. In other words, we did it at Alabama. He’s done that at Georgia. So you recruit really well. You’ve got these high-profile players who are good players. But their expectation is they want to play very quickly,” Saban said. “So if they don’t play very quickly they want to transfer. So maybe they’re the second best guy you’ve got at inside linebacker. Now you’ve got to play the third-best guy, because the second-best guy is gone.

“And how many 2s can you get out of the portal? Because most people in the portal want to go somewhere they can play. So that’s kind of a circumstance that I don’t think many people really grasp, that when you recruit well it actually can hurt you down the road.”

Nick Saban reveals drawback to recruiting success in transfer era

Despite the issue that Nick Saban outlined, Kirby Smart and Georgia have continued to win big. The Bulldogs have won two of the past three national titles and are fighting to get back to the College Football Playoff in 2024.

Smart’s ability to develop players has helped him with roster retention, according to Saban. It can be a detriment to recruit as well as Georgia has, but Smart has navigated the challenges in impressive fashion.

“I think that’s very similar to what we always tried to sell at Alabama, was development. That when you play you’re going to play well and that’s what’s going to create opportunity for you. So don’t worry about playing as a freshman, because you may play too early, and if you’re not ready to play and be productive that can actually hurt you,” Saban said. “So let’s focus on your development. How good can you be? And then when you play you’re ready to take advantage of your opportunity. And then you’re going to get drafted.

“Just like right now we have 61 players in the league, Georgia’s probably next. But that helps you get the next guy, because every one of those guys wants to play in the NFL one day. So that’s a huge selling point in recruiting, and Georgia has done a phenomenal job with that. And probably in the last three years, they’ve had more guys drafted than even Alabama.”