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ATHENS — It was 2004 when a young Kirby Smart, then coming off a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Florida State, was given his first shot at an SEC coaching position by Nick Saban as the defensive backs coach for Saban during his days at LSU. A few years later, Smart followed Saban to the NFL as a safeties coach for the Miami Dolphins. And when Saban returned to the college game to lead Alabama in forming one of the most prolific dynasties in FBS history, Smart came too.

In total, Smart spent over a decade coaching on the same sideline as Saban for the various programs, connected seemingly by Saban’s trust in Smart as a quality coach and an ability to produce winning football teams.

On Monday, the two coaches will meet as opponents for the first time on one of the largest stages the sport has to offer — the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Despite his years of experience coaching alongside Saban, Smart said the familiarity between the two will likely not play much of a role in the game, particularly when one of Saban’s greatest strengths as a coach according to Smart is “recruiting really good players that are really big and really fast.”

It’s a strategy no one in the country has been able to find an answer to since Saban took over for the Crimson Tide.

Smart added that the success of Saban has come down to standing strong behind a core set of concepts which, when added together, produce winning football.

“Smart, good decisions, protect the ball, play great defense, kick your butt on special teams,” Smart said.

Smart doesn’t plan on having an advantage from a competitive or emotional standpoint either.

After leaving Alabama to coach at Georgia two seasons ago, it can be easy to imagine a jilted Saban growing upset with his long-time assistant. But according to Smart, that is hardly ever the case in a coaching world where “we take care of each other.”

“Yeah, you want to win the game for your players and your program, but I mean, it’s not personal for me and their staff,” Smart said. “I have a lot of friends on their staff. I respect their staff. It’s not cutthroat for me.”

Smart went on to add that the “cutthroat” aspect of situations such as these are often played up by media members searching for a story that isn’t there.

Still, with all the history surrounding the two coaches, Saban, the veteran who has already made his mark on the game and Smart, the upstart looking to overthrow the king of the SEC, it’s hard to ignore the narrative of fate continuing to bind the two coaches together.

So what will be Smart’s biggest motivation when he goes head-to-head with Saban, his former boss and the proverbial Goliath of today’s college football world?

It won’t be to prove his worth over the coach that gave him his first shot in the SEC 14 years earlier, and he certainly won’t be thinking of the 11-0 record Saban has against former assistants who have joined other programs.

For Smart, it will come down to the same will to win that drove him in week one against App State and on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl alike.

“The competitive nature is to go win,” Smart said.