Mark Ingram: Georgia needs to thank Alabama for national championship

Mark Ingram went out on a limb Tuesday regarding Georgia football’s national championship victory against Alabama this past season. According to AL.com’s Michael Casagrande, the former Crimson Tide running back attempted to downplay the Bulldogs’ achievement by pointing to the fact that Kirby Smart is a former Nick Saban assistant.

“The only reason they even have a national championship is purely because their head coach came from ’Bama,” Ingram said in a recent discussion hosted by the NFL. “So they should be thanking ’Bama. We’re going to be back there again. I don’t know about them but we’re going to be back again.”

Smart spent eight seasons in Tuscaloosa as the defensive coordinator for Saban from 2008-2015. In that time, the Crimson Tide won four of their six national titles so far in the Saban era. A Georgia alumnus, Smart left to take over the Bulldogs in the 2016 season, and by 2017 had already led them to the College Football Playoff Championship. There he ran into the Crimson Tide and his former boss, who handed him a 26-23 loss.

Four years later though, Smart had Georgia back in the national championship, once again against Alabama. This time the Bulldogs came out on top, delivering the school’s first title since 1980. Ingram still managed to make that look like a bad thing, pointing to Alabama’s seven championships in that same time frame.

“Listen here man, when they’ve got it proven over several, several years — a decade plus, come talk to me,” Ingram said. “When they’ve got 18 national championships, come talk to me. When they have six in the last 12 years or whatever it may be, come talk to me.”

Although Ingram’s comments might seem a bit harsh, he was only responding to some trash talk from former Georgia running back Sony Michel. In a Monday night Twitter space also hosted by the NFL, Michel joined fellow Bulldogs alums Mecole Hardman and Roquan Smith. When the topic turned to Alabama and Georgia, Michel took the opportunity to make declaration to the Tide.

“All I have the foundation is built and we’re here to stay,” the running back said. “To all the ‘Bama fans out there, the foundation has been built and we are here to stay. Not to mention they cheated us out of the (2018) national championship as well. So we’re not even going to speak on that.”

The Georgia players are likely never convincing Mark Ingram, who is forever cemented in history as the first Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama. Smart is set to enter just his seventh season as a head coach this year, having amassed a 66-15 record thus far. Compare that to Saban’s 43-26 record through his first six seasons, and Smart is already on pace to finish with more wins.

It should also be noted that Saban did not win his first national championship until his 10th season as a college coach, so Smart has him beat there as well. However, Saban spent his first six years at Toledo and Michigan State, neither of which has the history and tradition of a program like Georgia.