NCAA Championship 2018: Kirby Smart Vs Former Boss Nick Saban

ATLANTA, GA — A crowded movie theater somewhere in Atlanta on Sunday is as fine a testament as any to the relationship between the two men whose squads are set to play for a National Championship Monday night in Mercedes Benz Stadium. To hear University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart tell it, he "had to offset by 10 minutes" because his Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide, under head coach Nick Saban, were scheduled to arrive at the exact same theater to watch a pre-game movie at the exact same time.

At the two coaches' last news conference before the national-title game, Smart acknowledged Sunday that the timing was more than a coincidence. "I’m just doing whatever he did," Smart said, referring to his former boss.

When it comes to college football success, Saban, 66, is not a bad choice to emulate. He's got five national titles under his belt and is the only college coach in history to win the championship at two different schools — LSU in 2003 and Alabama in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

The all-SEC National Championship game kicks off at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN and streaming on WatchESPN. So far, Alabama is a 5-point favorite, according to oddsmakers.

College Football Championship: Georgia Vs. Alabama Time, TV, Odds

Smart, it so happens, was there for much of the ride. After stints as an assistant at Georgia, Valdosta State, Florida State and LSU — as well as the NFL's Miami Dolphins — Smart followed Saban to Alabama in 2007 and, the next year, was promoted to defensive coordinator.

Smart's stifling defenses were credited with a good share of Alabama's success during their run together and it wasn't long before his name started being mentioned when other squads were looking for a head coach. But year after year, Smart, now 42, defied expectations and stayed put until, finally, in late 2015, his alma mater came calling.

He took the top job at UGA and, in just his second season at the helm, has his Bulldogs poised for a national title, with a 13-1 record, an SEC Championship and a thrilling win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl already to their name.

To know Saban, whose Crimson Tide has amassed a 12-1 record this year with a win over No. 1 Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, is to not expect feel-good quotes or overly sentimental moments in the public eye. But, even so, the always bristly coach had high praise for his former right-hand man on Sunday.

"Kirby did as good a job as anyone has ever done for us," Saban said.

Considering that 15 Saban assistants have gone on to become head coaches, that's no small thing.

"I don’t really recall getting upset at Kirby," said Saban, who is somewhat notorious for doing just that with his assistants. "I’m sure he can remember a few times that I got on him unjustifiably, and maybe a few times when it was justified."

On Saban, Smart said his mentor leads by example.

"Probably the single greatest thing is just the level of commitment to the organization, holding everybody in the organization to a standard that he kind of embraced himself," Smart said. "He never asked anybody in the organization to work any harder than he did."

So, how does it feel for the two coaches, who worked together so closely for so long, to be competing against each other?

"Well, I'm extremely proud of anyone on our staff who goes on and does a good job," Saban said. "One thing that I've said is I always tell guys — and I told Kirby this when he left — be your own man, be yourself, do it the way you think it ought to be done. Don't try to be somebody else.

"I think he's done a fantastic job of that."

And that would have been plenty of sentimentality in the world of coach-speak and, especially, enough for Saban, who is as apt to bark at reporters whose questions he doesn't like as answer those questions. But, on Sunday, he took it a step further — offering a glimpse into the world of top-tier college coaching, in which staff members spend countless hours working side by side.

"What you all don't understand is, this guy was on our staff for, I don't know, 10 years," Saban said. "(Saban's wife) Terry was there when his babies were born. I mean, you become a part of a family. That's what you do when you're together for a long time.

"I think there's a special appreciation for those people in your family, the contribution they made to the success that you had, and you always want to see them do well when they leave because that's what they worked hard for, and you're glad that they got the opportunity."

All that said, don't expect either coach to go easy on the other Monday night out of some sense of loyalty. Both hate to lose, they noted, even in the lunchtime basketball league they played in together at Alabama. There was, notably, no handshake or hug Sunday when the two finished their joint news conference.

It's a safe bet they didn't share popcorn at that Atlanta movie theater, either.

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TOP PHOTO: Head coach Nick Saban and then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart of the Alabama Crimson Tide look on from the field during the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) BOTTOM PHOTO: University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban (left) and University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart stand with the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy after a Coaches Press Conference on January 7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)