Georgia football coach Kirby Smart is set to face Alabama for the first time with a coach other than Nick Saban on the opposite sideline.

Smart, a former Alabama defensive coordinator under Saban, who retired after the end of last season, is only 1-5 against Alabama in his career, with his lone win coming in the 2021 national championship. Now, Smart faces Kalen DeBoer, the former Washington coach in his first season after leading the Huskies to a national championship appearance last season.

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Smart reflected on his career against and with Saban in an ESPN story on Thursday, now that Saban is no longer a coach and is an analyst for ESPN's "College GameDay," which will be on site for Alabama-Georgia in Tuscaloosa.

Smart noted it'll be different not seeing him across the field pregame.

"I feel like he's still in it, so I don't really see it as there being a shadow," Smart told ESPN. "He's announcing. He's still involved. He's still trying to make things right in our game, with Congress or whomever. He ain't going nowhere. This dude loves it, and he is going to be part of it for a long time.

"The game is better with him in it. I just have so much respect for him. He's just not coaching anymore, and I don't get any more chances to beat him."

Smart, who already has two national championships and has built Georgia into a perennial contender, said he doesn't want to be compared to Saban, either, despite their connection and year-in, year-out success.

"We've been really good the last few years and had a lot of success and I'm certainly thankful for that," Smart said. "But in no way, shape or form does that put me on the pedestal or the statue that he was on," Smart said. "I think there's a group of people out there leading their programs who are really good coaches, and they're lucky to have the programs that they do.

"But I don't see it as a one-person spot or role or whatever word you want to use for it right now, not with him gone. I see it as a lot of guys out there competing and seeing who's going to be the best and who's going to have the next run -- if there is one."

ESPN noted Smart was a frontrunner for the Southern Miss opening in 2012 but withdrew his name from consideration. He was also South Carolina's top target in 2015 after Steve Spurrier's resignation, but he committed to being Alabama's defensive coordinator through the national championship.

Smart stayed with Alabama for the 2015 season, waiting for the right job to open in Georgia for the 2016 season. Saban applauded Smart's patience in the coaching carousel.

"Kirby's done as good a job as anybody in college football, and he was patient and smart when he was [at Alabama] to wait for the right job," Saban told ESPN. "Kirby had the right perspective on things. So many coaches take jobs because they think, whether it's money or the title, that it's going to promote their career. The only thing that promotes your career is winning, and we were in a great position here to continue winning and having really good defenses.

"Some guys aren't patient enough to do that, but Kirby was, and it paid off for him. He got what is probably the best job in the SEC and made it even better."

Smart has one win against Alabama in his tenure, only figuring out how to beat Saban once in his head coaching career, although it was for a national championship. Smart hopes to flip the script against Alabama moving forward, with Saban out of the question.

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Out of Saban's shadow, Smart has the chance to solidify himself as the best coach in college football, starting with the marquee matchup against Alabama on Saturday.

"There are a lot of positives about this place that some of those other folks didn't have, but I think you get comfortable in your own skin, and you make decisions on things you want to do," Smart said. "I definitely think I've changed during the time I've been here and it's not as similar to Alabama as it was when I first got here. But even Nick evolved every year I was there.

"You've got to. You either evolve or you die, and we've certainly done that here."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Kirby Smart reflects on Nick Saban missing from Georgia-Alabama game