ATHENS — Add Kirby Smart to the long list of people praising now-former LSU head coach Les Miles.

“He’s a very great ambassador for our league, so I hate what’s happened,” Smart said. “But I’ll say this: Les has been nothing but good to me, and a great person.”

Before becoming Georgia’s head coach this season, Smart was at Alabama from 2007-15, when his team and LSU became the preeminent programs in the SEC West, both winning championships.

Smart was LSU’s defensive backs coach in 2004, which was Nick Saban’s final year there. Miles took over the next year. Smart then went to Georgia as running backs coach for one year before re-joining Saban with the Miami Dolphins in 2006, then following Saban to Alabama in 2007.

For the next nine years, Alabama and LSU had some classic, defensive-oriented games, including the BCS championship after the 2011 season.

“I know Les, Les is a great man, a good person,” Smart said. “I respect Les, and the job he’s done in this profession.”