Master vs. Pupil: Georgia's Kirby Smart faces Alabama's Nick Saban

ATHENS — It was 2004 when a young Kirby Smart, then coming off a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Florida State, was given his first shot at an SEC coaching position by Nick Saban as the defensive backs coach for Saban during his days at LSU. A few years later, Smart followed Saban to the NFL as a safeties coach for the Miami Dolphins. And when Saban returned to the college game to lead Alabama in forming one of the most prolific dynasties in FBS history, Smart came too.

Nick Saban helped propel Georgia's Kirby Smart, but his roots grow

Nick Saban's Coaching Tree: Which prominent coaches have

Sneaky Stats that will decide the Alabama vs. Georgia rematch

National Championship: Friends become coaching rivals as Alabama

ESPN's Booger McFarland says Nick Saban is 'stuck in his ways

Nick Saban Coaching Tree: How well have his assistants fared?

SEC Football: Two teams separating themselves from the field

Everything Kirby Smart said about Georgia football and winning a

Alabama's Nick Saban delivers message to Georgia's Kirby Smart

Column: Georgia already in rarified territory, with a shot to be