Kirby Smart addresses losing record vs. Alabama as head coach

It was an inevitable line of questioning — Why the struggles against Alabama? — for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart after yet another loss to the Crimson Tide, his sixth in seven tries.

And the Bulldogs head coach pointed out that he’s not too different from the rest of the SEC in that regard since Nick Saban arrived and now that Kalen DeBoer has succeeded him. He challenged the room of reporters to drum up the name of any other coach or program that has a good record against Alabama.

“What’s everybody else’s record against them? Anybody got one better than 1-6?” Smart asked, rhetorically, in his postgame presser. “That’s played them six times? I don’t think so. I think they’ve got really good players, they’ve got a great program. I’ve got an immense amount of respect for ’em. They do a great job.”

Smart went on, complimenting the work done by Saban to lay the foundation over his long tenure of storied success in Tuscaloosa, and DeBoer for taking what was given to him and evidently running with it.

“I mean, Nick’s recruited good players, Kalen’s got good players in here. It’s a tough battle. Two of them have been here. And they’ve been tough, they’ve been really tough battles. So, a lot of credit to those guys and a lot of respect for them.”

And while Smart has struggled against the Crimson Tide, his point about that being par for the course isn’t without merit, even if Bulldog faithful aren’t interested in hearing it at present. His lone win over Alabama did deliver Georgia a national title, as well.

But, after falling short against his former boss in the regular season and SEC Championship Games, and now against a DeBoer-led Alabama, those in Athens are still going to grapple with the reality that Georgia, while certainly one of the three or four programs in the top orbit of the sport, has a boogeyman in ‘Bama.