SerpApi.Org
The only way the Georgia Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers will play in 2026 is if the two teams meet in the SEC Championship game or the College Football Playoff.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart and LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin have a long history together.
And because of that history, Smart isn’t shy about admitting that Kiffin’s offense is a pain to prepare for.
The two coaches spent time together on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, where Kiffin served as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator. Smart went up against Kiffin’s offense every day in practice during that stretch.
Smart knows Kiffin is an offensive mastermind. He saw it up close in Tuscaloosa during their battles in practice. Smart also saw it up close in recent years when Kiffin was at Ole Miss (before he left in the middle of a playoff run to take over at LSU).
That familiarity, though, doesn’t make game-planning against Kiffin any easier. If anything, it makes it harder — only because Smart understands exactly how relentless Kiffin is as a playcaller.
“He is very bright,” said Smart on Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa. “He does an incredible job of evolving with college football. He was really good at that with us at Alabama. He made Coach Saban uncomfortable — let’s just say what it is. And he helped [evolve] that offense and bring it along. And he did some really good things in a day and age when people weren’t doing them. But he does a great job. He’s hard to play. I don’t like having to play his teams because I know what he knows, and I know how he thinks about defenses. He knows what he’s doing.”
Kiffin doesn’t react to what a defense gives him. He tries to dictate the game, staying a step ahead and forcing the defense to adjust on the fly. That’s the opposite of what Smart wants to accomplish on his side of the ball. Smart’s defensive approach is built around dictating terms to offenses, not the other way around.
In other words, it’s quite a chess match when Smart and Kiffin face off.
I think Kiffin’s willingness to constantly tinker with his offense is a big part of what separates him from other play-callers in the SEC. He’s not running the same concepts year after year.
Smart and Kiffin are obviously rivals in the SEC — and their styles clash a bit — but it’s clear that there’s a lot of respect between the two.
Unfortunately, the only way we’ll get to see Georgia and LSU playe this season is if both teams reach the SEC Championship game, or if they somehow meet in the College Football Playoff.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: ‘He made Coach Saban uncomfortable' – Kirby Smart gets real on LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin
© 2026 A to Z Sports.
