It's only a matter of time before it could get awkward.

After years of working in tandem, Kirby Smart and Nick Saban are now going after the same recruits from opposing sides. The twist in this situation is while both are out recruiting to different schools, they'll both be under the same roof through at least the duration of Alabama's season.

That's because Smart insisted on finishing the season with the Crimson Tide even after he accepted the Georgia head coaching job. He'll work out of Athens until Monday or Tuesday recruiting for Georgia, and then return back to Tuscaloosa for bowl preparations. As Smart traverses the southeast and elsewhere for recruits -- one of his first trips was to Washington to visit Jacob Eason -- he'll undoubtedly end up in the homes and schools of players he was previously recruiting to Alabama.

Why Kirby Smart refused to leave Alabama until he finished the season Kirby Smart could have dedicated all of his time to his new gig at Georgia, but he had unfinished business in Tuscaloosa.

Smart had been one of Saban's best recruiters at Alabama, landing five-star recruits Reuben Foster, Marlon Humphrey and Rashaan Evans, among others. With Smart making the move to Athens, he talked to Saban about recruiting and his mentor gave him his blessing to keep recruiting the guys he was pursuing.

"Nick was very professional about that," Smart said. "He explained that if there is somebody Georgia was actively recruiting, we will continue to recruit them at the University of Georgia. And they are going to do the same; if they've been recruiting somebody they are going to continue to do it. We mutually agreed upon that.

"He knows because of the area I recruit there was going to be some overlap there. We respect that and are not adversarial in that regard."

Not long after Smart's move to Georgia was announced, five-star linebacker Ben Davis named Georgia as his top school. The Gordo linebacker is a Tide legacy -- his father Wayne is the school's all-time leading tackler -- and has long been expected to end up in Tuscaloosa. Smart swiping Davis out of Alabama would be quite the first-year recruiting coup. Georgia is also in the final five for five-star Carver-Montgomery linebacker Lyndell Wilson.

On the flip side, Smart will have to fend off an Alabama program that has been very successful in Georgia during Saban's tenure. In the last five recruiting cycles, Alabama has signed 18 players out of Georgia, with Kenyan Drake, Dillon Lee and Dalvin Tomlinson emerging as major contributors.

Saban isn't going to stop recruiting such a fertile recruiting state simply because Smart is now tasked with keeping the best in-state talent home. This year alone, Alabama and Georgia could butt heads over players like five-star defensive tackle Derrick Brown and five-star athlete Demetris Robertson.

"You're not going to keep every great player in the state here," Smart said. "It's not going to happen. It's a transient state and it's tough to recruit in because everybody comes here to get your players. But you got to do a thorough job and lose them for the right reasons; they have to want to leave or not fit your system. You have to get the ones you should get and that's what's important to me. I think there's a lot of good players in the state that can support this program."

Saban has been a mentor to Smart for more than a decade but this year will pit teacher versus protege.

What will it be like for the new Georgia head coach to go head-to-head against his former boss in recruiting?

"It'll be fun," Smart said.