What it’s taken for Alabama to become a power is what Smart hopes to build at Georgia

There is an evident reason Georgia picked Kirby Smart to be its head coach.

The answer lies four hours west in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where a storied program down on its luck has since resurrected into one of the greatest powers the college football world has ever seen. Along for the ride of its rise was Smart, who spent nine consecutive years with the Crimson Tide on head coach Nick Saban’s staff – the last eight as a defensive coordinator.

In that span, Alabama won four national championships, including last year’s in the College Football Playoff National Championship over Clemson. Smart was tasked with building Georgia, his alma mater, into an Alabama-like power, seeing as how he saw up close how his mentor Saban was able to do so.

But is it that simple? And just how has Alabama become the preeminent team of college football?

Alabama’s players have a theory, but it’s nothing extraordinary or different than any other program in the country. It involves Saban recruiting the best players to the program and getting each one to buy what he’s selling.

"Saban has a lot to do with it," outside linebacker Tim Williams said. "We hear our coach. He’s just that fearless general. There are two types of coaches. There’s the players’ coach and there’s the fearless general. That’s what he is."

Earlier this season on the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network, Smart described himself as a players’ coach, which, according to Williams, would make him the opposite of Saban. That’s not to say a players’ coach can’t succeed the way Saban has in college football. The end result, however Smart goes about it, is what the Georgia athletics department is looking for.

As for Alabama, its structure doesn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. But there does appear to be a level of expectation in Tuscaloosa that’s greater than other top programs. At a place that replaces senior five-star talent with junior five-star talent in most years, offensive tackle Jonah Williams, a former five-star from Folsom, California, stepped into a starting role this year as a freshman.

It didn’t take Jonah Williams long to realize the kind of work that’s required to win at the level Alabama has, which is 118 games over the past 10 years.

"I think Coach Saban is the greatest coach of all time," he said. "Being a part of that program and the process, if you just buy in you’re going to be successful. They’ve always been successful. All you have to do is buy in. It’s certainly not an easy path but it’s laid out for you. You know it’s going to be hard but if you buy in you’ll be successful."

Jonah Williams added that while there is plenty of star player, egos don’t accompany the players on the roster. He said there isn’t a spot at Alabama for those looking to be flashy. With that in mind, it would explain why so many five-star athletes choose the Crimson Tide, even when they know there is a chance they may not play right away.

"You need to be willing to grind harder than anyone – because that’s what everyone else did," Jonah Williams said. "It’s not some magical recipe we made up."

Said Tim Williams: "There’s no individual person on this team playing for stats. We got guys going to the league next year but we’re just a team. We’re not even worried about that. We’re worried about playing the next game. It’s amazing."

Alabama freshman Mack Wilson was recruited by Georgia but chose his home-state Crimson Tide. As a five-star recruit, Wilson would have likely seen the field a lot more at other places, including Georgia, Auburn and Clemson.

And while playing a backup role was new to Wilson, he’s placed complete trust in his head coach along with his fellow freshmen.

"Guys just buy into the program. Seniors lead by great example," Wilson said. "I just feel like Coach Saban’s a great coach. He develops us well and prepares us well. We have one of the best coaching staffs. The players just listen to whatever they’re saying, no matter how good they are. They let nothing get to their head."

Essentially, it takes a different type of superstar to play for Alabama. That’s the kind of player Smart is hoping to attract to Georgia.

By all accounts, the level of buy-in from the Alabama players has been critical for the level of winning it’s achieved. And that’s the challenge Smart deals with in his quest to build Georgia to a similar standing.

So far, Smart has recruited well at Georgia and has the third-ranked 2017 class at the moment, according to the 247Sports.com composite. But he also just came off an inaugural 7-5 regular-season campaign, which indicates Georgia’s process may take some time.

Smart isn’t the first former Saban assistant to go off and be a head coach on his own. Saban has defeated former assistant Jim McElwain, Florida’s head coach, in the SEC Championship two years in a row. Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio and South Carolina’s Will Muschamp, also Saban disciples, have had varying levels of success as head coaches. Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher has enjoyed the greatest success of former Saban assistants with a national championship in 2013.

As Jonah Williams sees it, what Alabama demands from its players isn’t anything unique. It all comes down to how much the players want to work for their head coach.

"I think it’s a Coach Saban thing but I don’t think it’s anything special," he said. "Most people aren’t willing to put all that work and time in. There’s a reason most people are mediocre and very few people are extremely successful. They’re not willing to put that work in. Everyone who has had success here has bought in and enjoys the process."

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "What it’s taken for Alabama to become a power is what Smart hopes to build at Georgia."