"I got the whole staff cussed out and somehow still got the job": Kirby Smart recalls hilarious story while interviewing with Nick Saban at LSU 

Kirby Smart's first encounter with Nick Saban was at LSU. The current Georgia head coach served as defensive backs coach under Saban at Baton Rouge for one season. However, his interview for the job was one that got Saban furious with his own coaching staff. In Smart’s words:

"I got the whole staff cussed out and somehow still got the job."

In a recent interview with Saban's former assistant, conducted by ESPN, Smart narrated the story of how he got his first job under the legendary former Alabama coach. It was an experience Smart will never forget and it marked the beginning of his long years with Saban.

Prior to his interview for the job, he had been told by Lance Thompson that working for Saban is like dog years due to the long hours of work he puts his assistants through. In perhaps an awkward move from someone seeking to be employed, Smart would go on to say that to Saban's face:

"I was comfortable and feeling good about the way it was going, and I just say, 'I don't get it. People say working here is like dog years.' I don't know why in the hell I said that. Just dumb," Smart said.

"Think about it. Why would you ever say something like that to an employer you're trying to get a job with? But I did. I guess I wasn't overwhelmed or intimidated. I was too young to know any better."

Kirby Smart's years under Nick Saban

Following his one-year tenure with Nick Saban at LSU in 2004, Smart moved to his alma mater Georgia as a running backs coach in 2005. It did not take long before Smart teamed up with Saban again as he joined him in the NFL as a safety coach for the Miami Dolphins.

Smart would once again serve as Saban's assistant in another destination after making a return to college football in 2007. Nick Saban took the Alabama head coach job after a two-year stint in the NFL in what turned out to be the beginning of something big in the history of college football.

Arriving in Tuscaloosa, Kirby Smart was named assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 2007. He transitioned to the team's defensive coordinator in 2008 and was in the role until 2015, before taking the head coaching job at Georgia.

Saban and Smart's years of working together were a fruitful one, especially at Alabama. They helped relaunch the Crimson Tide as a college football powerhouse, winning four SEC championships and four national titles along the way.