ATLANTA — Alabama coach Nick Saban passed along some timely advice when Kirby Smart took the Georgia job after a national championship run in 2015.
"I told Kirby this when he left," Saban said before a pause during Sunday's joint press conference at the Atlanta Sheraton Hotel. "Be your own man, be yourself. Do it the way you think it ought to be done. Don't try to be somebody else."
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Maybe it's time everybody else does, too. It's easy to pass off Georgia as the next-gen Alabama heading into Monday night's College Football Playoff championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It's easy to compare this all-SEC matchup to the Galactic Empire playing the First Order. It's easy to play off the teacher-student relationship between Saban and Smart, an Alabama assistant for nine years during four of those national championship runs.
It's a lot more difficult to beat Alabama, and that's best illustrated by Saban's 11-0 record against former assistants. That's the trend Smart will try to break on Monday. Smart can build like Alabama. He can recruit like Alabama — which happened in this cycle.
To get a feel for what Smart is building, however, listen closely to one of his star players. Butkus Award winner Roquan Smith was asked about being billed as the next Alabama at Media Day on Saturday.
"We don't think about (it) like that," Smith said. "We're Georgia. We're not caught up in this or that. We are who we are, so we're not worried about anything else."
Smart, however, still had to answer that question one more time. What was the biggest lesson he learned under Saban?
"Probably the single greatest thing is the level of commitment to the organization and holding it to that standard," Smart said. "That's a lost art in some organizations. You see successful business organizations run that way, but you don't always see athletic programs run that way."
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College football hasn't seen anything quite like the Alabama dynasty, which can add a fifth national championship in nine years with a victory against the Bulldogs. Smart, meanwhile, inherited a Georgia program starved for its first national championship since 1980.
A group of senior players led by Smith, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel returned, and Smart has parlayed that into the nation's top recruiting class. That's the biggest indicator that we'll see this matchup in Atlanta a few more times in the SEC championship. Depending on how long Saban stays at Alabama, this could turn into a teacher-student rivalry in the mold of Woody Hayes-Bo Schembechler.
Those two icons engaged in the "Ten-Year War," but they never faced each other in a national championship game. For that kind of thing to take off between Saban and Smart, Georgia must win — much like Michigan did with the legendary 24-12 upset in 1969. That set the tone for a chapter in that rivalry that still resonates today. This doesn't feel like that, at least not yet.
Saban spoke about his wife, Terry, being at the hospital when Smart's children were born. Saban even pulled out a loose reference from "The Godfather."
"It isn't personal when we compete against each other," Saban said. "I'm sure he wants to win for his players, and we certainly want to win for our players, and it's not a personal thing.
"I hate to lose, and I've been around Kirby long enough and he's been on my basketball team long enough that I know he hates to lose, too. I think that has something to do with it."
At that point, Smart laughed.
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Then Saban and Smart talked about their pregame rituals (both teams will see a movie Sunday night) and the usual talking football points (running the football, stopping the run, turnover-free football and special teams). That's how both Alabama and Georgia got here, and in that respect, the Bulldogs have followed the model.
Alabama remains the standard. Saban still answers questions in these press conference settings last, especially against former assistants. He's the tone-setter. That's the trend Smart will try to break. To do that, Smart can't be Saban, and Georgia can't be Alabama.
The Bulldogs have to be better. If you listen closely to Smart, then you can understand why he's on the right track.
"If there's anything I took, it's being in that seat and having to be in command," Smart said. "Make decisions, and make sure that everybody understands the message that comes from the top and the standard you want people to work to."
