Kirby Smart's thoughts on Nick Saban's retirement
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Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said he was somewhat surprised to learn that Nick Saban was stepping down at Alabama.
But not entirely.
“Yeah and no,” Smart said during an interview Thursday morning on Atlanta radio station 92.9. “I was a little shocked when it came about but it’s one of those things that’s inevitable for all of us. We all walk away. Sometimes we walk away on our own terms and sometimes we don’t. I think it’s pretty cool that he got to walk away under his own terms.”
Smart, who coached under Saban at three stops, credits Saban for helping to make him the coach he is today.
“I have a lot of respect for him as a coach and a man. What he and Ms. Terry have meant, not only to the game of football but to Tuscaloosa, has been incredible,” Smart said. “He’s put a lot of coaches through his coaching factory. I can assure you of that, and from what I hear, was still working and coaching to the last minute it sounds like over there yesterday, so a lot of respect for him and what he’s done for my career.”
Prior to December’s SEC Championship, Smart and Saban spoke on the field at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
TV cameras caught the conversation, which Smart said was actually more extensive than what it showed.
“The moment, the clip I see is actually one they cut up. They cut it up how they want to. The actual footage is longer than that, they shape it up the way they want, they can make the narrative in how they cut it up and go in and out of that,” Smart said. “There’s a lot of respect both ways between he and I, and I’ve told him that. I make it a point to tell him how much I appreciate how much he’s done for the game, and for other coaches, not just me. He’s done a lot for the game of football.
"That pregame deal for me is just a matter of respect for what he’s done and how he’s gone about his business. Nobody works as hard as he does. He commands a lot of his staff, but he does it himself, and I’ve got respect for that because I know how hard it is to do it at that level for a long time, and he’s accomplished that.”
