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Rece Davis says tension between Kirby Smart and Nick Saban is palpable, but last 2 games changed it
By Keith Farner
Published:
Rece Davis said he expects to hear from both coaches, but he still described a sort of tension between Kirby Smart and Nick Saban.
The ESPN host of College GameDay spoke on the ESPN College Football Podcast, and shared that following interactions and interviews with them in recent days around the national championship.
“Whether it’s totally about that they’ve both been at the upper echelon of the sport, whether it’s about second and 26, whether it’s about recruiting, whatever,” Davis said. “Both of them professional about it, but you can feel it. You can feel it and the things that happened, I mean Kirby really talked pretty openly about having a greater understanding now and kind of appreciating the relationship a little more. And I think maybe Nick maybe has started to, not that he hasn’t always, but started to understand that you can foster those relationships and still maintain that high level of competition.”
Davis then said he believes the SEC Championship Game and the national championship almost brought the relationship to a better place.
“I’m not saying it was bad, and they’re still going to compete,” he said. “The way Nick handled himself, I think the graciousness that Kirby showed, it felt different. It felt different than it has the last few years.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
