Ahead of this weekend's highly anticipated SEC matchup between Georgia and Ole Miss, the respective head coaches have been trading text messages — well, Lane Kiffin has been sending messages to Kirby Smart, at least.

Smart and Kiffin are admitted friends; the pair coached together on Nick Saban's Alabama staff in 2014 and 2015, and since 2020, when Kiffin became the Rebels' head coach, they have been SEC foes.

But the competition on the field hasn't stopped Kiffin from trying to needle Smart off the field ahead of this weekend, when fifth-ranked Ole Miss visits Athens to play No. 9 Georgia.

“It's another weekend in the SEC, buddy. You better get ready, because, you know what, there's another one waiting a week a week later,” Smart said on the ‘Pat McAfee Show' today. “But for us, it's all about fast and free in this game. I want our guys to play loose, enjoy it, and go out and compete. But you know how these big games are, they're a dime a dozen. Lane's been texting me all week, so I had to put him on mute.”

When asked by McAfee if Kiffin's messages were to “soften” Smart up or trash talk him, Smart referenced Kiffin's joke from earlier in the week that the Georgia coach hadn't “burned too many calories.”

Article Continues Below

“I think he's worried about my figure,” Smart said. “That's my wife's job, not his. … I'm all about self-deprecation. I'm good with it. I told him, my son got all upset when he said it. Lane texted me and said, ‘Hey, I was just cutting up.' I said, ‘No, you were telling the truth. But sometimes the truth hurts.' That's why I wore black.”

Before last year's 28-10 Ole Miss win in Oxford, the Rebels had only beaten Georgia one other time since 1996, which was also the last time Ole Miss defeated Georgia in Athens. Their most recent trip to Sanford Stadium resulted in a 52-17 loss for the Rebels in 2023.

Kickoff between Georgia and Ole Miss is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.