Bulldogs head football coach Kirby Smart shares core Nick Saban principle to get Georgia over the Ole Miss loss

Ahead of a crucial game against Tennessee, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart opened up on how he got his team to move on from their previous 28-10 shattering loss against Ole Miss using his mentor Nick Saban's philosophy.

"I think I learned from a really smart guy," Smart said proudly on the Paul Finebaum Show. "He did a great job at managing the next situation. And you've already thought out that there's two outcomes to every game, and they usually know you're going to do one or the other, and you have a plan for each one of those, and you won't be very direct in your leadership.

"Because the players hurt in those moments. They're disappointed. They're going to read bad things about themselves. You need to reassure them that all is not true. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth. You know, people question our offensive line. We can't get a game, but we have. We've been really good at protecting the quarterback. We've almost been tops in the country. So you can't question it because of one outcome. I got to do it over a long and we got to get better at that. But there's just little things like that. I think our team, we got to get the ball, we get a chance to go prove it."

Georgia ranks at No. 76 with a 38% conversion rate on third down. The number sounds particularly disappointing compared to last year's 55% conversion rate on third down, the best in the country.

Although the Bulldogs need some work on their offense, Smart is pretty confident about their defense.

Nick Saban also lauds Kirby Smart

From the time they spent together in Alabama, Smart and Saban have a precious bond. Just like Smart credited Saban for guiding him on what to do at crucial times, Saban also had nothing but praise for the Bulldogs head football coach. 

"Well, I think Kirby’s done a fantastic job. He’s one of the best coaches we ever had on our staff," Nick Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show. "I mean he did a great job with our defense for many, many years. He’s a good recruiter. He’s got great relationships with kids.

"And he’s a really good teacher. And I think the job that he’s done here at Georgia – now he took over a program here at Georgia that wasn’t totally in the tank. But the way he’s been able to elevate that program through really, really good recruiting."

Sure enough, Georgia's roster has only improved since Smart started recruiting with first-round NFL talents like Carson Beck and Brock Bowers.

After all, he learned from the best.