Kirby Smart and Will Muschamp are two of the SEC’s brightest head coaches, and similar to a number of college football’s coaches, they both learned from the best, Nick Saban.
The two coaches previously spent time together as teammates in Athens and coaches at Valdosta State and then LSU, where they coached under Saban.
From 2000-04, Saban was head coach of the LSU Tigers. Muschamp was his linebackers coach in 2001 and defensive coordinator from 2002-04. Smart, who is four years younger than Muschamp, was with Saban for one season at LSU, coaching the defensive backs in 2004 before spending a year as running backs coach in Athens in 2005. After his year at Georgia, Smart would spend the next decade coaching under Saban, starting with the Miami Dolphins and then the Alabama job.
While being interviewed by CBS Sports this week, both Smart and Muschamp recalled a hilarious story displaying Saban’s lack of tech skills.
You’re going to love this one:
The Gamecocks’ head man provided a young Smart with key leadership skills in their lone season as Bulldog teammates. Muschamp later hired Smart as a defensive backs coach for Valdosta State, where the two extended a previous friendship.
Now, as both men are set to embark on their fifth seasons as head coaches of two SEC programs, they can only reflect on where they have come from.
