College football analyst makes interesting, but highly legitimate, coaching comparison for Kirby Smart

There was a time in which the Alabama dynasty reigned over college football, but there appears to be a new top dog taking the place of the Crimson Tide. The Georgia Bulldogs, that is, under highly accomplished head coach Kirby Smart.

The team has placed 17 prospects in the first round of the NFL Draft in the Smart era with many others like Carson Beck, Malaki Starks and Mykel Williams expected to add to that number in 2025. Georgia enters the 2024 season with the right type of talent to return back to college football's biggest stage after being snubbed from the College Football Playoff, following two consecutive national title game victories.

College football analyst Paul Finebaum of SEC Network compares Smart and what he's done in Athens to Nick Saban when he and his Alabama team were at their very best.

"[The Bulldogs] are what Alabama was about five or six years ago," Finebaum said on ESPN's "Get Up". "They have it because they have recruited at such a high level. Kirby Smart in his late 40’s is Nick Saban in the absolute prime of his career."

This make sense not only to the similarity in dominance between the two powerhouse teams, but also because Saban and Smart are quite connected. Smart held a place within Saban's staff as his defensive coordinator from 2008 through 2015.

Reaching the same type of success Saban had will be no easy feat with the seven national championships and 11 SEC titles that he owned, but Georgia is well on its way with a 42-2 record over the past three seasons and the third-highest ranked recruiting class for the 2025 cycle.