"He's like the guy that hits the backboard and basketball and uses the glass": Kirby Smart calls Nick Saban 'old school' while comparing dance styles

In an exclusive interview with On3sports and On3recruits' Phillip Dukes, Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart discussed some topics ahead of the 2024-25 college football season.

In the interview, Smart was asked about Alabama Crimson Tide legendary coach Nick Saban's dance moves, to which Smart replied:

(from 12:20 mark onwards)

“Our dance styles are completely different. He's [Saban] old school. He's like the guy that hits the backboard and basketball and uses the glass. I'm not a bank player. I'm trying to strip the net and go slanting and dance and he's, he's old school.

"He's got a patented dance that he can do. And he does a great job of that, and I think Miss Terry probably taught him. But myself, it's sometimes a little more kind of fly by the bat, fly off the handle a little bit to do what comes to me," he added.

Kirby Smart and Nick Saban go way back

Kirby Smart and Nick Saban first crossed paths in 2004 when Saban was the coach of the LSU Tigers. Saban employed Smart as the team's defensive backs coach for a season before he departed to join the Georgia Bulldogs as a running backs coach.

However, the pair were soon reunited as Saban recruited Smart to serve as the Miami Dolphins' safeties coach for the 2006 NFL season. Following Saban's departure from Miami, he took Smart with him to Tuscaloosa as an assistant coach in 2007.

At Alabama, the pair was an unstoppable force, combining to win three BCS National Championships, one CFP National Title, three SEC Championships and six SEC Western Division titles. The Alabama Crimson Tide was the dominant force in collegiate football during that time. Smart later left the Crimson Tide in 2015 to rejoin the Georgia Bulldogs. Both coaches have maintained a close friendship over the years.

Kirby Smart is preparing to enter his eighth season as Georgia Bulldogs coach, aiming to win his third national championship with the program – after winning back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022 – while Nick Saban enters his first year away from the sidelines after announcing his retirement in January 2024.

Saban will continue to be around the game though, covering SEC games this season as a college football analyst for ESPN, so fans can expect to see the duo cross paths once again.

Do you think either Alabama or Georgia can win the national championship next season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.