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| If you want to understand what the relationship was like between Nick Saban and Kirby Smart as they teamed with Jim McElwain at the launch of Alabamas 21st-century dynasty, theres an obvious person to ask. Theres only one problem with pursuing that course.I dont know, McElwain said. I was never a good enough golfer to be in their foursome.McElwain was the offensive coordinator as Alabama, in 2009, won the first of six national championships in a 12-year period. Smart was the defensive coordinator. Saban, then as now, was the head coach whose eye for talent and genius for organization put the Crimson Tide back on the pedestal Bear Bryant had built for them in the 1970s.MORE: The almost instant succe s of that triumvirate the Tide won two national titles and three postseason games and compiled a 48-6 record in four seasons together has had an enduring impact even after McElwain left in 2012 to become a head https://www.hinyyankeesfans.com/new-york-yankees-jersey/phil-rizzuto-jersey coach and Smart followed three years later to take over at Georgia.And that brings us to Saturday's SEC championship, when Smart will take his fourth shot at beating Saban and first as a significant favorite, with the Bulldogs now ranked No. 1. None of the previous three went the way Georgia would have preferred, including the 2017 College Football Playoff championship game won by Alabama in overtime, by the margin of a single field goal.MORE: This will be the 26th time Saban will coach against one of his former a sistants. His programs have produced a number of succe sful head coaches, except when they compete against their former bo s. Saban has won on 24 of the prior 25 occasions.It is rare for one of Sabans Alabama teams to be in the position of substantial underdog, let alone entering such a consequential game with so few expecting his Tide to have a chance. It was Saban himself, though, who emphasized to McElwain and others on his staff the unsurpa sed importance of playing talent in building a succe sful program, and the edge in that department this year belongs to the Bulldogs.The very first year I got in, after his first season at Alabama (when the Tide went 7-6), going https://www.hinyyankeesfans.com/new-york-yankees-jersey/jacoby-ellsbury-jersey through spring practice, he said, Just be patient, because weve got great players coming, McElwain told SN. That, obviously, played itself out. He has a plan for everything, and its not just a short-sighted plan. Its a long-term plan. And Kirby, youre seeing how Georgia has stepped up in a lot of different ways.The Bulldogs have three defenders projected in the most recent Sporting News mock draft, led by lineman Jordan Davis and linebacker Nakobe Dean. Theyve won their 12 games to date by an average of 33.8points.MORE: This being 2021, the 6.9points per game the Bulldog defense is allowing creates a far deeper impre sion than whats going on when their teammates po se s the ball.The team were coaching out here every day, theyve been through some adversity. I can a sure you of that, Smart told reporters this week. We make for adverse situations every day in practice. We challenge them each and every day to the level they can be challenged. They go against each other every day, and they go compete.Yep, with only a single game decided by fewer than 24 points, with not a single opponent breaching the 20-point mark against https://www.hinyyankeesfans.com/new-york-yankees-jersey/dj-lemahieu-jersey the Bulldogs through a dozen games, Smart must reach into the teams daily practice se sions to cite examples of adversity.Defense is Smarts specialty, and this team appears to be his masterpiece, even more so than the Alabama 2009 squad that went 14-0, ranked second in scoring D, held five major opponents to a touchdown or le s and featured future pros Rolando McClain, Marcell Dareus, Kareem Jackson and Mark Barron.Now head coach at Central Michigan and awaiting a bowl a signment following an 8-4 season, McElwain is surprised by precisely none of what Smart is accomplishing at UGA. I know Coach had a lot of trust in Kirby, let him do what he needed to do, McElwain told SN. Their relationship was really good. Coach was really good about that; he had good relationships with all his a sistants.Kirby was competitive in everything he did. I think one of the things hes been able to do is take a lot of the qualities and things within the organization that Coach was able to put into play and fit them to the needs at the place hes at now. More than anything, you see in both cases where its: Let them do their job, get out of the way, and good things are going to happen.McElwain saw that in Smarts approach to recruiting, which has been e sential to establishing Georgia as a contender in a league populated by talent-rich opponents such as 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.Once we zeroed in on a target, he was relentle s, McElwain said.MORE: Saban understands better than anyone this team does not reside in the same neighborhood as, say, last seasons squad led by quarterback Mac Jones, Heisman Trophy receiver DeVonta Smith and stud running back Najee Harris. The players are proving to have a sense of pride and confidence, though, perhaps derived from protecting the Alabama tradition as they develop. Their comeback from a 10-0 second-half deficit in the Iron Bowl against Auburn is a prime, recent example, but there also were narrow victories against Arkansas, LSU and Florida easily interpreted as an absence of dominance but that also could be read https://www.hinyyankeesfans.com/new-york-yankees-jersey/masahiro-tanaka-jersey as a will to win.The players have to have the right mindset to keep playing: Play the next play, try to win the next play, everybody do that, keep your poise, make the adjustments https://www.hinyyankeesfans.com/new-york-yankees-jersey/johnny-damon-jersey we need to make, Saban told reporters. Dont look at the scoreboard and look at it like: Im going to play different when Im 14 points behind, and Im going to play different when Im 14 points ahead. Really, you should be trying to do the best you can in every one of those scenarios.When they were developing Crimson Tide gameplans back in the day, McElwain said there were times when the nature of the opposition would dictate a more aggre sive approach on offense, others when more ball control would be favored.It wasnt really a contest between the two coordinators to see whose side of the ball would be preeminent except in spring practice. During those se sions, Saban wanted the two sides to hone their competitivene s.He has each side of the ball do things based on problems that are going to occur during the season against certain types of offenses or defenses, McElwain said. Youre actually able to kind of practice against certain looks that you may see that may be unique to a certain opponent, so when that comes during the season you already have experience with it and have developed a plan in your offseason study. It goes from year-round planning. Its not just: Hey were going to play this team this week, now youve got t |
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Nick Saban vs. Kirby Smart Jim McElwain remembers
