Kirby Smart can't help but make excuses for his consistent losing to Alabama

With Nick Saban retired - at least for now - Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has taken the baton as the best coach in college football. But he's got a gigantic crimson stain on his resume that isn't easily overlooked.

Since becoming the Georgia head coach in 2016, Smart has gone 1-6 against Alabama in seven tries. If Smart thought that the Alabama boogeyman in his closet would go away with Saban's retirement, Kalen DeBoer made him think again last September.

In the first meeting between Alabama and Georgia in the post-Saban era, DeBoer's Tide jumped all over Smart's Bulldogs 28-0 before having to survive a furious Georgia rally to hang on to a 41-34 win.

Smart's one win over the Crimson Tide comes with an asterisk, too. Georgia got the better of Alabama in January of 2022 in the National Championship Game, but the Tide's offense lost Jameson Williams to a torn ACL in the first quarter, and the future first-round pick was well on his way to torching the Bulldogs again, just like he had done a month prior in Atlanta.

It undoubtedly eats at Smart to have the blemish on his resume, consistently getting stuffed in the locker by the team where he developed his coaching prowess. Maybe it's justice from the football gods because of the unethical recruiting practices by Smart immediately following his departure from Tuscaloosa (if you know, you know).

Smart couldn't help himself on Tuesday at SEC Media Days, commenting on the forthcoming Alabama/Georgia matchup in Athens, the first time he has hosted Alabama in Sanford Stadium since taking the Bulldogs job.

"Georgia, Alabama, at home at our place, wish it could happen more often. Seems like we've played over there three or four times since they've come to see us and play," Smart said.

Smart's claims are not based on any kind of reality

As Cover Crimson's Clint Lamb pointed out on X, Smart's claim is patently false:

In fairness to Smart, this will be the first time in his Georgia tenure that he'll get to play Alabama in Athens. It's the Tide's first trip between the hedges since 2015, when Smart was still Saban's defensive coordinator.

But what he - and Georgia fans - would have you ignore is that of the seven meetings between the two programs since he's been at Georgia, only two of them have been in Tuscaloosa. Four have been played in Atlanta, and one in Indianapolis for the title game.

In fact, seven of the last 10 meetings between the two programs have taken place in the state of Georgia.

And while Smart wasn't the coach then, the last two meetings in Athens haven't helped Georgia against Alabama. Alabama dominated Georgia in the infamous blackout game of 2008, and then might have driven the final nail in Mark Richt's coffin in Athens in 2015, beating the Bulldogs 38-10.

Smart and Georgia will feel the pressure this year in September when Alabama comes to town. He cannot afford yet another defeat at the hands of the Crimson Tide, especially at home. But his excuses won't save him when Kalen DeBoer brings big, bad Alabama between the hedges, and brings the better team with him.