Second-year Georgia head coach Kirby Smart turned 42 years old on Dec. 23, one week before he led the Bulldogs to a win in the Rose Bowl and a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
What was his title-game foe and longtime mentor Nick Saban doing at 42? Not preparing for a national championship.
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Both Smart and Saban had 17 years of assistant experience under their belt when they took their first head coaching jobs. Forty-year-old Smart jumped from Alabama defensive coordinator to Georgia head coach in 2016, and 38-year-old Saban went from Houston Oilers defensive coordinator to Toledo head coach in 1990. Saban, however, did not reach the national championship game in his second season, nor did he reach it as a 42-year-old head coach or in the decade that followed.
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Instead, at 42, after a highly successful nine-win season with the Rockets, after which he resigned, Saban was back in the NFL as Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator. Saban took over at Michigan State in 1995 and left for LSU five years later. In 2003, he delivered the Tigers' first national championship since 1958.
Entering Monday's championship showdown in Atlanta, Saban is unquestionably the greatest head coach in college football history. And while his five-title résumé speaks for itself, it's remarkable he's found this much success despite not appearing in his first national championship until the age of 52.
