WWE's Bron Breakker takes a bold jab at SummerSlam rival Sami Zayn with a classic CFB reference: "YOU are the Kirby Smart to my Nick Saban"
Retired Alabama coach Nick Saban has had several prominent coaches come from his extensive coaching tree, but none has been as successful as Georgia coach Kirby Smart. Having served under Saban at the Crimson Tide, Smart left to lead the Bulldogs and has since won two national championships.
With the legendary Saban retired and working as an ESPN analyst, Smart is widely regarded among fans as the best college football coach.
The iconic relationship and rivalry between the two coaches was encapsulated in a jab by popular WWE wrestler Bron Breakker directed at his SummerSlam rival Sami Zayn.
Speaking after his Monday Night Raw win over Ilja Dragunov, Breakker challenged Zayn, referencing Smart and Saban.
"Now Sami Zayn, it’s over for you, man,," Breakker said. "It’s time for the younger generation to get a chance, for the young guys to get an opportunity around here to prove themselves. I’m gonna put it to you like this, man. You are the Kirby Smart to my Nick Saban because you got lucky once, but it will never happen again."
During the recent SEC media days during which Saban attended as an analyst for the SEC Network, Kirby Smart's funny remark highlighted the new angle of their relationship.
“I was nervous,” Smart said. “I was like, ‘For 15 minutes, I’m gonna share with him? About my team?’ I’m like, ‘I feel like I’m giving answers to Darth Vader or something.’ It’s very different.”
Kirby Smart and Nick Saban share unique relationship
Nick Saban and Kirby Smart have had a long professional relationship, with the latter working for the former as a defensive backs coach in 2004, when Saban coached the LSU Tigers. Smart followed Saban to the NFL, working as his safeties coach with the Miami Dolphins in 2006, and when he went to Alabama, he became his defensive backs coach and assistant coach.
Their longest period served together was in Tuscaloosa, with Smart being promoted to defensive coordinator, holding that position until 2015, before taking the Georgia Bulldogs head coach job in 2016.
The duo renewed their battle in the SEC, with Kirby winning all conference championship games between them, bar one, and at the national championship stage, where they both won one title.
While speaking during the SEC media days, controversial ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum declared the similarities between Saban and Smart, predicting that the latter would eclipse the former.
“I think they’re the same person,” Finebaum said. “Except, Kirby Smart is 47 years old. Nick Saban is 72 and working for ESPN. Kirby Smart is the best coach in college football and I think he’s better at his age than Nick Saban was at his age. I think it’s scary. I think he’s going to contend with it (Saban's seven national championship titles won) at some point. He’s that good.”
Kirby Smart will attempt to replicate the success that his mentor Nick Saban had in Tuscaloosa, and there is no coach with a better launchpad than he has with his background and winning pedigree.