Kirby Smart shares what he expects from Lane Kiffin

After crossing paths as coworkers many years ago, Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin will now square for the first time as opponents on Saturday.

Ahead of the Top-10 matchup between Georgia and Ole Miss, Smart spoke about his relationship and memories of Kiffin. If he’s the person that he remembers him to be, he knows Kiffin will be bringing a loose group of Rebels into Athens tomorrow that’ll be ready to go for their shot at the two-time defending champs.

“Nothing held back – I can promise you that. Lane? His team is never nervous or anxious. He has such an approach to the game,” said Smart during an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday. “They take on his personality. He has his personality of, ‘laissez-fair, man, let’s go, here we go’. Nobody’s nervous. They’re going to be playing wiffleball before practice. They get out and get after it, his dog’s running around. He talks about all the time staying loose and I’m kind of the opposite of that.

“When you look at this thing, the two opposites? Although we all have a lot of core beliefs of football the same. He is a very laid back, loosey-goosey and throw caution to the wind kind of coach.”

While he and Smart have two different approaches, Kiffin’s methods are clearly working just as well for him as Smart’s are for Georgia. He has Ole Miss off to their second straight start of 8-1 overall. Now, he has the Rebels right in a mix within the SEC and College Football Playoff.

Still, for all of Kiffin’s success, only one team can leave this weekend with their hopes in the same place. Smart understands that completely, no matter how far back they go from Tuscaloosa or how highly he regards his next opponent.

“I have a lot of respect for Lane,” Smart said. “He has done an incredible job at Ole Miss and we were really good friends when we were there at Alabama together.”

Kiffin: Smart is ‘one of my first calls’ when seeking coaching advice

Lane Kiffin, like anyone, has some folks he’ll reach out to when he needs a word of advice. That group includes Georgia’s Kirby Smart.

Smart and Kiffin, who face each other for the first time on Saturday, spent two years together at Alabama as coordinators. From those two years, Kiffin explained that they’ve built a meaningful bond.

“So, he’s one of my first calls a lot of times if I’m looking for advice,” Kiffin said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday.

“I just think Kirby’s really smart and I really enjoy talking to really smart, intelligent coaches that you can bounce things off of or ask them how do they do things or how do they deal with a player issue or injury or something.”

Not facing each other as head coaches has helped keep the relationship between him and Smart open according to Kiffin.

“With him in the (SEC) East? You’re not playing every year” Kiffin explained. “Been here three years without playing him, been at FAU three years before that. So, he was at Georgia last year.”

And as Kiffin explained it, the relationship is beyond just being professional buddies. Smart was there for Kiffin when he had lost a head coaching job and was moving to work at Alabama, away from his family.

“I just really appreciate Kirby. We’re friends in the profession. Coaches don’t, all the times, do that. They may call someone for help on a coaching question, but I really consider him a friend that really helped me in a challenging time in my life, moving to Tuscaloosa, not being a head coach anymore, family not moving,” Kiffin said. “I really appreciate his friendship and help during that time.”