Kirby Smart recalls facing Nick Saban’s wrath while working at Alabama: "Usually when I deserved it"

Nick Saban is known for his passionate coaching style, which is fairly reflected in his unwavering success at Alabama throughout his 17-year tenure with the program. Throughout his career, Saban has contributed to polishing many talented coaches, like Oregon's Dan Lanning, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, and Georgia's Kirby Smart.

All of the coaches have taken the stage at some point in time to share their stories of "a*s chewings," while also appreciating and crediting the seven-time national champ as the reason for their success.

Even Steve Sarkisian took the opportunity to thank Coach Saban for helping him with his career during the 2024 SEC Media Days. In an interview with "On3 Recruits" this week, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart discussed getting in trouble while working under Nick Saban:

"It was usually when I deserved it. That's the key to that, it's like there's a standard of excellence and he doesn't drop that standard for anyone on his staff. You know, he holds people to a high standard and he holds himself to that standard. (11:00)

"So I mean, I don't know one time specifically. But there's, there's there's times when we didn't do what we're supposed to do. Or maybe the attention to detail wasn't at the level we thought, you know. His thing was always if you're not coaching it, then you're letting it happen.

"And he would say that often. If you're not coaching something, you're letting it happen, and it can cause problems on your offense defense or your organization, and he was great about holding that standard." (11:00)

A look at Nick Saban's life post-retirement

After building one of the greatest programs in the country, Nick Saban announced his retirement on January 11, 2024. Since then, Saban has been spending time doing the things he didn't get enough time to do during his tenure as head coach. This includes spending time with his family, playing golf, and also helping Miss Terry with some chores around the house.

Being the work-driven person that he is, fans were thrilled to hear the news of him joining the ESPN College gameday show as an analyst and appreciated his insights during the 2024 NFL draft and the SEC Media Days.

Fans will be interested to hear his analysis of Alabama and other programs in the 2024 college football season as the Crimson Tide team gears up to compete in their first year under Kalen DeBoer.