ATHENS — Kirby Smart knows Billy Napier well. The former Florida coach worked with Smart when the two were at Alabama.

Their relationship goes even deeper than that, as they are both sons of former Georgia high school football coaches.

Napier knows Georgia’s next foe well, having already beaten the Texas Longhorns this year when he was the head coach at Florida. Napier was fired in October, giving him plenty of free time.

So Smart had Napier at Georgia’s practice on Tuesday.

“I mean, people don’t understand relationships in coaches,” Smart said. “Coaches have a brotherhood and a fraternity together, and his dad was good friends with my dad. His dad was really good friends with Coach Bobo, and we all grew up in the state of Georgia with our fathers coaching high school football. They were well-respected people. He’s been a friend for a long time, so he dropped by, yeah, but that was really it.”

With Georgia taking on Texas this week, it’s easy to see why Smart would want to pick the brain of someone who has already beaten the No. 10 Longhorns this season.

Florida won 29-21 when the two teams met in Gainesville on Oct. 4. Texas had an off week prior to traveling to Florida, just as the Longhorns did before this week’s game against Georgia.

Napier went 0-3 against Smart when he was the head coach for the rival Gators. Georgia once again beat Florida earlier this season, coming away with a 24-20 win over the rival Gators. That was Florida’s first game this season without Napier.

Florida has lost both games since firing its coach and is coming off a 38-7 loss at Kentucky.

This is not the first time this week that Smart has pointed out his friendships with other coaches, as he spoke about Texas coach Steve Sarkisian in a similar manner earlier this week.

“We’ve got a big matchup,” Smart said. “A lot of respect for Sark. He’s become a good friend of mine. He does a tremendous job. He’s at one of the premier programs in the country. He’s been successful everywhere he’s been. He’s done a great job, and I enjoy his friendship and look forward to another great matchup on Saturday night.”

For what it’s worth, Smart isn’t the only one leaning on friendships in hopes of gaining an advantage. Texas quarterback Arch Manning told reporters earlier this week he planned to reach out to Ty Simpson for any tips on facing Georgia. Simpson is the only quarterback to beat Georgia this season, as Alabama won 24-21 in Athens.

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll talk,” Manning told reporters on Monday. “He’s asked me some questions about teams we’ve played. It’s good having him in my corner.”

Saturday’s game between Georgia and Texas is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET start on ABC.