Peyton Manning and Kirby Smart: A friendship that started on a recruiting trip – in Gainesville

You never know who you’re going to meet on a recruiting trip. You might meet your teammate and best friend for four years. You might meet a guy who plays for your archrival for four years. You might meet a guy who nearly 30 years later is a national-championship coach, or a guy who has become an American icon.

Once upon a time, a quarterback from New Orleans and a defensive back from Bainbridge, Ga., met on a recruiting trip to the University of Florida.

“I remember he was so angry after his meeting,” quarterback Peyton Manning said of defensive back Kirby Smart. “I guess it was with (Steve) Spurrier because they didn’t offer him. They wanted him to walk-on. He was so mad. He and I went and drank a lot of beer.”

In the end, of course, the odds of Smart taking an offer from the Gators were about as high as those of Manning going to Gainesville. Kirby was a Georgia high school coach’s son. He wanted to play for the Dawgs. Peyton found his sensei in Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe. Manning signed with Tennessee and broke the heart of thousands of Ole Miss fans who counted on Peyton starring where father Archie had starred.

And so they played against each other for three seasons. Kirby redshirted as a freshman in 1994; Peyton didn’t play in the Vols’ 41-23 victory that season, anyway. Over the next three years, Manning put up sparkling numbers against Georgia: 88-of-119, 1,063 yards, eight touchdowns, two interceptions. That computes to a passing efficiency rating of 167.81, much better than his overall mark of 147.1. Manning went 3-0 against Georgia.

Champ Bailey, like Manning a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, got one of those two interceptions. Smart would like a word about the other one.

“He picked me off in ’95 in a play that probably should have cost us the game,” Manning said, “a play that gave them good field position. Gol-lee, I think they dropped a pass on third down that would have put them in shorter field goal range. They kicked a longer field goal and missed it. We got it back, went down and scored, so, yes.”

Manning’s memory is impeccable. Tennessee won that one 30-27. Each year, it got easier: 29-17 in 1996, 38-13 in 1997. Manning would like a word about that one.

“It seems like that story has gotten around, Kirby intercepting me,” Manning said. “I don’t know if he adds in the touchdown I threw against him to Marcus Nash a couple of years later. I think that part gets left out.”

Different paths after college

Manning became the greatest player that Tennessee has produced before Indianapolis selected him with the first pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. Kirby became a two-year starter and team captain at Georgia. He made All-SEC as a fifth-year senior in 1998, signed with Indianapolis as a free agent and “had a cup of coffee before I got cut,” Smart said. During those several weeks, he hung out with Manning, cementing their friendship.

“I’ve been growing in this coaching business for a long time, watching him be at the very top for a long time while I was moving up,” Smart said.

Smart and Manning crossed paths one more time in the NFL. Saban, on a “ManningCast” last season, brought up a game between his Miami Dolphins and Manning’s Colts in 2006.

“He still talks about this zone blitz that the Dolphins did against me when I was with the Colts,” Manning said, “and they did the same blitz like two times in a row. He said, ‘I told him you can’t do the same thing twice in a row to this guy.’ ”

“Him” in this case being Smart, Saban’s secondary coach. The second time around, in the fourth quarter, Manning recognized it and threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison. The Colts won 27-22. Saban never coached another NFL game. Within three weeks, Alabama introduced him as coach.

Manning played in the NFL for 18 seasons. While he went about his business, winning two Super Bowls and five MVP awards, Smart went to graduate school at Nick Saban Academy. He worked for Saban for 11 seasons on three staffs, winning four national championships as an assistant at Alabama.

Last January, Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs played for the national championship in Indianapolis, the same city where he had gotten a taste of the NFL. Manning brought his 11-year-old son Marshall to see the game. Manning may have finished his career in Denver, but he remains royalty in Indianapolis. When Smart needed a favor, he knew whom to text.

St. Elmo’s Steak House is an institution in downtown Indianapolis. Manning regularly ate his postgame meals at St. Elmo’s. “Used to kid that I got my mail there,” Manning said.

Mary Beth Smart, Kirby’s wife, wanted to take the coaches’ wives to dinner Sunday night. Table for eight at 7:30? Night before the game? Manning made the call.

“She thought that was kind of the winning move to put Georgia over the top, that dinner at St. Elmo’s,” Manning said. “Maybe I was a small part of it.”

Peyton Manning won’t be pulling for his friend Saturday

Three months after Smart’s Bulldogs pulled away from Saban’s Crimson Tide to win 33-18, it was Masters Weekend. Manning and Smart attended a house party in Augusta on Saturday night. It probably wasn’t just any house, and it surely wasn’t just any party: Luke Bryan played live.

Manning and Smart chit-chatted, listened to music, talked football.

“He was very complimentary about Tennessee and Coach (Josh) Heupel, so that was good to hear,” Manning said. “That was good to hear that he thinks we’re going in the right direction.”

Before they parted, Manning stuck out his hand and said, ‘Hey, congratulations again. I really am proud of you, happy for you.”

A few weeks later, Manning didn’t even remember saying it. But it meant the world to Smart. Asked to recount his coolest championship experience, he named two. One was his postgame hug with Vince Dooley, the last Bulldogs coach to win a national championship (1980), a moment more poignant now that Dooley died last week at age 90. The second one, Smart said, was with Manning.

“He and I came out of high school together, went on recruiting visits together,” Smart said. “Played against each other. We were together (in Indy). … And then he was at the game. It just meant a lot to hear him (say), ‘Man, I’m really happy for you.’ ”

Smart went 0-3 against Tennessee as a player. As an assistant at LSU and Alabama, Smart went 9-1. As a head coach, he is 5-1. On Saturday afternoon, No. 1 Tennessee will play No. 3 Georgia. This game should be different. The Vols have returned to the national elite. It’s safe to say Peyton Manning will not be happy if his friend Kirby Smart wins Saturday.