Kirby Smart, Nick Saban turn recruiting disadvantage on its head

Many college football fans would think being in a conference championship or the national championship game is a good thing. And for the most part, it is, in terms of recruiting and demonstrating the overall success of a program. But Alabama’s Nick Saban has famously complained of losing a week of recruiting time when playing in previous national championship games.

A reporter during the weekly SEC teleconference recently asked Nick Saban and Kirby Smart a question about whether or not it bothers them that other teams are out recruiting during the SEC Championship Game week and they can’t.

Smart said that he believed the magnitude and exposure of the game outweighed the negatives, given that everybody in the conference wants to be in the SEC Championship Game.

“Yeah, I would agree with the latter there. I mean, the magnitude and coverage and exposure that we’ll get, those same coaches and those same teams will be watching the same players that we’re recruiting. They’ll be watching this game, I can assure you of that. That’s the best advertisement you can have is to go out and play well,” the Georgia head coach said.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban said being in the SEC Championship Game has both positives and negatives.

“I think it goes both ways. I think your point about the magnitude of the game helps your exposure is something that’s significant in recruiting. Relationships are significant in recruiting. We both have to postpone those things for a week. I don’t know if that’s significant. It probably depends on the player,” Saban said.

Saban has complained in the past about post-season games

Not many coaches would complain about being in the College Football Playoff or the national championship game, but Nick Saban is the ultimate perfectionist and a man that is hyper-focused with efficiency. He’s publicly stated his disdain for the time that’s wasted on the recruiting trail when playing in the national championship game. Given the number of top-ranked recruiting classes ‘Bama has pulled in under Saban’s watch, that week hasn’t made much of a difference.

Georgia gets George Pickens back

During their regular-season finale against Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs got their best receiver back in the lineup, George Pickens. He tore his ACL last spring, one of many Georgia wideouts to suffer the injury in the past year. His return is a major boost to the Bulldogs’ passing attack. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart recently spoke about his star receiver’s return. “Well first, I’m just glad of the effort George has been putting into getting back,” Smart said. “He’s worked really hard. We know guys on the team that have had ACLs. It’s a mental injury as much as it is a physical injury. It’s taxing, and it’s draining to sit there and watch all of your friends play in the spring and play the spring game and then go play in the fall. And you’re sitting there doing rehab all the time.”

Georgia and Alabama face-off in the SEC Championship game on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. EST from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this report.