During the 2014 and 2015 college football seasons, Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart were Alabama’s offensive and defensive coordinators who repeatedly took their players into practice showdowns that ultimately molded Southeastern Conference championship teams under Nick Saban.
The 2015 Crimson Tide won the national championship as well.
This Saturday night, the two will be on opposite sidelines when Smart’s No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs host Kiffin’s No. 10 Ole Miss Rebels in one of the SEC’s biggest games of the season. Georgia could clinch a sixth Eastern Division title in seven seasons with a triumph, while Ole Miss is seeking to remain on Alabama’s heels in the West race.
As for the first Kiffin-Smart encounter since serving on the same staff?
“We’re not going to build it up to be something it’s not,” Smart said Monday during his weekly news conference. “I mean, every win in the SEC is critical. It’s critical for them. They’re in the hunt for the West. They’re in the hunt for the playoffs. They’re in the hunt for all the goals and aspirations they have, so it’s not about he and I.