Paul Finebaum calls Kirby Smart new 'king of college football' over Nick Saban

Following Georgia’s second straight national title, Kirby Smart is now at the top of the sport, according to ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

Smart, Nick Saban’s former protege, took over as the king, per Finebaum. Georgia finished No. 1 once again and is expected to get most, if not all, of the No. 1 votes for the 2023 polls in the preseason.

Alabama had a run of dominance rarely seen in sports and now it’s Georgia’s time under Smart moving forward.

"Kirby Smart is the king of college football. … Many of Nick Saban's national championships were created in part by Kirby Smart. —@finebaum 👀 pic.twitter.com/E8JiCI0f3H

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 10, 2023

“Kirby Smart is the king of college football and Nick Saban is still around,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “He’s the elder statesman. Kirby relies on him for important issues but Nick Saban no longer runs college football and I think that was pretty obvious last night.

“It’s also important to remember Greeny that many of Nick Saban’s national championships were created in part by Kirby Smart. I know we don’t like to give anyone other than Nick Saban credit but that Alabama program has been good since Kirby Smart left. They won two national championships, but they haven’t been as dominant. What we saw last night was what we saw during the reign of terror under Nick Saban. That reign of terror no longer exists.”

Perhaps the reign is over, but that certainly should not eliminate Alabama from the national championship conversation. The Crimson Tide finished No. 5 in the final AP Poll this season following a win over Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl.

Plus, Alabama lost just two games this season, both on the final play.

Saban has seven national titles to his name, six with Alabama and one with LSU. Smart has quite the ladder to climb, but getting two in a row is quite the accomplishment.

Also, the career records have a stark difference, considering the length of Saban’s career compared to Smart. Saban is 280-69-1 overall and 189-27 at Alabama. Smart is 81-15 since 2016 with the Bulldogs.

Georgia will likely be the preseason No. 1 overall team for 2023 after winning its second straight national championship.

“Sometimes it takes a loss to galvanize, put your team in a spot to win. It did that last year. And it didn’t take that. I always tell guys, do you have to take a loss to learn? Why? Like, it doesn’t take that to learn that. This team is special because they didn’t have a flaw,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who was a part of a 14-0 team at Alabama in 2009, said. “They had two games in which they came back in the fourth quarter, Missouri and Ohio State, with incredible comebacks and led by Stetson and the offense.”