ATLANTA – Kirby Smart did not follow the lead of Alabama head coach Nick Saban when asked how much money his players made through NIL a season ago.

Tuesday, Saban revealed Crimson Tide players made over $3 million. Smart, however, declined to offer any specifics.

"I'll be honest with you, I really don't even want to do that, because I feel like that'd be copy- catting and carrying over,” Smart said. “Trust me, there's a lot there.”

Although Smart did not reveal a total, he did reveal that 95 of his players from last year benefited in some fashion from NIL, including three players who made out as well, if not better, than anyone in the country.

“We arguably had the highest paid defensive lineman (Jordan Davis), highest paid tight end (Brock Bowers), and highest paid cornerback (Kelee Ringo) in the NIL market,” Smart said. “Because after the national championship, those three guys exploded, one talking about Jordan Davis and the other two are obvious. When you look at that, it's pretty substantial that we have depth in our NIL market.”

Players have benefited in other ways.

During a session with beat writers, Smart mentioned walk-on safety Dan Jackson, who is not on scholarship, being able to use NIL to pay for his college education. There’s also the case of offensive lineman Micah Morris, who is able send money back home for his father who is on dialysis.

“There's countless stories like that. I would rival anybody in the country with 95 NIL deals coming off a National Championship and pretty gaudy number total that we've been able to give out,” Smart said. “But I don't think it's about marketing that and selling that. It's more about the depth of our deals than the total amount."

For other players like Stetson Bennett, the senior quarterback said being able to put a little money away is obviously nice for those involved.

“I don’t know, I try to do what I can without it getting in the way. It definitely helps out. With all the time, you don’t have time to spend that money too so you can just say, hopefully spend it well down the road,” Bennett said. “That’s what I’m trying to learn now. But I think it’s a really nice touch for everybody to be able to make money.”

Outside linebacker Nolan Smith had a message for recruits who might be using NIL as the reason for signing with a respective school.

Don’t be fooled.

“I tell them don’t take away from the main thing. The main thing is to come to college and play football to get to the next level,” Smith said. “You hear Coach Smart talk all the time about keeping the main thing the main thing, and I tell kids all the time don’t take away the goal of what you want because the ultimate goal is playing in the NFL and make multi-millions instead of a $1,000 or so every year, signing a couple of cards.”

Smith touched on Smart’s biggest concern. The biggest worry Smart and other coaches have is schools using NIL as an enticement to come their way.

“It's not good for college football, what's out there,” Smart said. “NIL is a good thing, but to use it as inducement to get a young man to go to your school is not good for anybody or the game. I don't have the answer for how to guardrail that, but NIL has been good to Georgia, and it's been good to our players, and it will continue to be.”

Smart credits current Classic City Collective program for that.

“The NIL program we have in place, we have a Classic City Collective run by Matt Hibbs who does a tremendous job. It's built on being sustainable,” Smart said. “I don't think what's going on in college football right now at some places is sustainable, meaning, can you do that year in and year out and repeat that? Can you honor the commitment that some people are trying to make to kids to get them to go to their school?”