The sweet, sweet success that Kirby Smart and Co. unlocked when they won their last National Championship in 2022, and the year before that was unparalleled. So is the recipe that got them there: Negative plays. For the last 2 seasons, Kirby Smart was struggling to make it to the top again since the heavyweights in the head coaching mix, like Nick Saban, were dominating the CFB landscape. (More on the best part in the cold tussle between Smart and his former rival (and mentor) Nick Saban in a minute)

Now that Saban, aka the ‘best head coach in the history of CFB‘ is out of the equation, Smart can finally cement himself once again as the National Championship winning coach. This season is his perfect opportunity too. SEC preseason rankings rated Georgia as the most likely team to win the SEC championship and ESPN has ranked Kirby Smart the No.1 head coach and for all the fiar reasons. Now that they’re at the top, Kirby Smart is not taking any chances and implementing a tried and tested recipe to use.

Remember the 2021 season, one where Kirby Smart and Co. won their last National Championship? It was in the same season that Smart set an example for the CFB world. Georgia’s exemplary defense proved that proper negative plays hold the immense potential to make you a winning team. While Georgia managed to score 38.60 points per game, their opponents could barely keep up with their 10.20 points per game. This is precisely why Kirby Smart is sticking to what he knows best defensively, negative plays, as their foundation for his D-line this season.

Kirby Smart made it clear during his speech in Dallas on the SEC media days, which took place about 2 weeks ago. “You’re always adapting. You have to adjust to them but you have to dictate to them as well if you sit back nowadays and let offenses dictate to you they can do enough things to drive down the field,” Smart stated, iterating how frustrating it gets. And for this Smart emphasized on “creating negative plays,” giving due credit to their DC Glenn Schumann. While this strategy is pretty solid as it comes, the best part about it is its beautiful, no-nonsense way of countering Nick Saban’s attack, as Dawg Nation’s Brandon Adams pointed out. 

Nick Saban’s attack on Kirby Smart’s defense

Alabama and Georgia’s rivalries have gone down as one of the finest in the books. But that is not the only reason why Kirby Smart and Nick Saban are in this tussle. The two shared a fairly amicable relationship when Smart worked at Tuscaloosa. However, the rivalry (as head coaches, of course) sprouted between them the moment Smart became Georgia’s head coach. Since then, the subtle digs in interviews have not been any less entertaining.

Now, even after Nick Saban has bid his goodbye to Alabama, the digs continue. It was only on July 25 that Nick Saban, the now ESPN analyst, gave his unfiltered verdict on Smart’s team. Saban pointed out all the best parts about Smart’s structure, which were mainly and heavily centered around their offense. Saban believed that Smart “does a good job on that.” However, his real concern laid in their defense.

“Do they have the kind of playmakers up front? They have big guys who can play gaps and hold the point. They are not going to get pushed around. But can they rush the passer? Can they create a lot of negative plays with the people that they have up front?” Saban questioned upfront, presenting a pressing matter to-be addressed by Georgia’s head coach.  Precisely why, as Dwag Nation’s Brandon Adams expressed, Kirby Smart’s statement during SEC media days was a fitting (and biting) response to Nick Saban.