Kirby Smart Offered Nick Saban A Job, Once He Heard His Former Boss Might Return To College Football
Kirby Smart was clearly not taking the bait on Nick Saban returning to coaching, but made sure he knew a job would be waiting.
ATLANTA - The chatter of Nick Saban potentially returning to a college football sideline as a coach made its way around SEC Media Days on Monday, and it was still an interesting topic on Tuesday morning as Georgia's Kirby Smart took to the podium.
There were obviously a number of intriguing storylines to follow in Atlanta as the unofficial start to the season kicked off with former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy proclaiming that a solid person of knowledge told him that Nick Saban was contemplating a return to the sideline.
This led to plenty of jokes over the past 24 hours, with Lane Kiffin taking a few shots on Monday afternoon during his time in front of the media.
But it was Georgia coach Kirby Smart who seemed to have the best answer on day two inside the College Football Hall of Fame.
Kirby Smart Had Jokes About Nick Saban At SEC Media Days
When asked about the rumors of Saban returning, Kirby Smart was quick to point out that a job offer had already been sent to his former boss.
"Yeah, I called and offered him (Will) Muschamp's job, but he was overqualified, so he wasn't interested," Kirby Smart joked. "No, I heard all the scuttlebutt and everything about it. I almost laughed. It was like somebody needed something interesting to talk about yesterday, so they chose to go to Coach Saban to do it.
"The game is better with him involved, and he is involved. He is passionate about it. He and I still talk and share ideas from time to time about defensive philosophies and the way to do things, and he's still watching tape and very, very involved in football. He loves it. His brilliance, as brilliant as he is in many ways, is around football. It's around scheming. It's around another way to do something to stay ahead of the offensive minds, and I think that's one of the elite talents he has, and he still loves that. He's still passionate about that."
While there were plenty of people who had fun with the discussion, the shot of Nick Saban returning to the sidelines is pretty long.
And while he's not in Atlanta covering SEC Media Days this year, obviously he's still a topic of discussion, even if he's not providing the content.
As for whether Saban would ever get back into coaching, Kirby Smart made it clear that the decision wouldn't actually be up to Nick.
"But make no mistake about it. The boss at home (Ms. Terry) is going to make that call for him, not him."