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Three-peat after me: Kirby Smart makes it clear he’s not Nick Saban

They have much in common as mentor and protege who command the two college football programs the others all want to be or beat, but Kirby Smart is not Nick Saban’s clone or his Mini-Me. The latest example that Smart is his own man in full is what they did on their summer vacations.

The Alabama coach went to Italy. The Georgia coach went to Southaven, Miss. Every baseball dad in the SEC footprint knows what that means. Smart’s 11-year-son, Andrew, played in a tournament at Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, the unofficial travel baseball capital of the South.

“I got to spend five days in the SEC footprint in Mississippi,” Smart said. “Travel baseball dad, which is fun and exhilarating, and my wife wants to go to Italy and the Amalfi Coast, and instead we spent it in Mississippi for five days in Southaven. I enjoyed every minute of that, and getting to be a travel baseball dad is something I enjoy.”

Wait a minute. Did Smart know that Saban and his wife, Terry, had enjoyed a belated 50th anniversary trip to Italy this summer? Was Smart’s comment about his family trip a subtle reminder that he’s young enough to be a travel baseball dad – and thus young enough to coach the next collection of five-stars throughout their college careers?