PHOENIX — All this talk about Alabama being in the national championship game and Kirby Smart being asked about balancing his two jobs as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator as well as Georgia’s head coach is nice. But Bulldogs fans really want to know the answer to one question more than any other.

“When are you coming home to Athens?”

Smart said Saturday he wasn’t certain beyond “as fast as I can.”

“I’ll be back the day after the game,” he said, which would be Tuesday. “We’re flying back the day after the game, so I don’t know what time it will be.”

Smart said he wasn’t certain yet whether he would then be coming directly from Tuscaloosa via UGA’s plane or the old-fashioned way.

“We still haven’t communicated about all that,” Smart said. “I’m getting back as fast as I can.”

Now that he’s near the end and can see “the light at the end of the tunnel,” Smart said he is more certain than ever that he made the right call staying with the Crimson Tide.

“I’ve enjoyed the opportunity; I’ve relished the opportunity,” he said. “Every coach I know if you said ‘would you trade spots?,’ would say, ‘yeah, probably would.’ To be at the University of Georgia while also being at Alabama as the defensive coordinator, I think a lot of guys are wishing they were in that spot. So I’m happy to be in it.”