Kirby Smart has won a lot of football games in recent years at Georgia, but he’s famously been unable to beat Alabama.
Smart carries a 1-5 record vs. the Crimson Tide into tonight’s showdown in Tuscaloosa. The Bulldogs have won 49 of their last 51 games, with both losses to Alabama.
But as Paul Finebaum reminded viewers on SEC Nation Saturday, not many people had much success against Nick Saban’s Alabama program. With Saban retired and Kalen DeBoer now coaching the Crimson Tide, Smart has a chance to reverse that trend.
The question remains — does Kirby Smart have an Alabama problem or did he have a Nick Saban problem?
“I think he will answer that question tonight because if Georgia loses, they’ve got a serious Alabama problem,” Finebaum said. “I mean, everyone had a Saban problem. Except there was one moment in 2014 and 2015, (Hugh) Freeze did not have a Saban problem — but he had other problems.
“I know Kirby Smart has a lot of pressure on him. … If Kirby Smart walks off the field tonight a loser, we start to look at him a little different. You got the break of your career, you got rid of Nick Saban and you’re still losing to Alabama.”
Fellow SEC Nation panelist Tim Tebow pushed back a bit, noting that regardless of Saturday’s outcome, Smart is still arguably the best coach in college football and one of the best in the SEC in the last several decades. However, Roman Harper noted that some of the luster on Smart’s program might be lost if he still unable to beat Alabama.
“I agree with Paul that it’s just not as nice of a shiny toy when it gets dirty for the first time,” Harper said. “… Nick Saban is no longer there. Georgia is supposed to be better and Georgia is supposed to be on top and nobody expected Alabama, (for) this transition to be as smooth as it has been.”
