Four years ago, Kirby Smart proved prophetic when he was recruiting Jonathan Ledbetter

Just call him Nostradamus Smart.

Back in 2013, defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter, a junior at Tucker at the time, flipped his commitment from Alabama to Georgia. Kirby Smart, then the defensive coordinator at Alabama, wanted Ledbetter to stick with the Crimson Tide. But when Ledbetter reiterated he was going to Georgia, Smart remained confident he would coach the standout defensive lineman down the road.

“I’m going to coach you one day,” Ledbetter recalled Smart saying.

It’s highly unlikely Smart is a psychic. And what Ledbetter thinks Smart meant in that moment was that he would eventually get him to flip back to Alabama. The Alabama coaching staff tried hard for this to happen but Ledbetter signed with Georgia in February of 2015.

But when former Georgia head coach Mark Richt was fired after the 2015 season and Smart was hired, it proved to be a bizarre twist in Ledbetter’s career. Smart apparently told receiver Terry Godwin something similar as Alabama recruited him hard too.

“The first day (Smart) came in and talked to me and Terry and said, ‘I told you I was going to coach you,’ ” Ledbetter said. “It was kind of crazy because we had that team meeting and we knew he was going to be our head coach but I hadn’t seen him in about two years.”

Smart has obviously given Georgia’s football program a big boost. The Bulldogs are 12-1 and set to face Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, which is serving as a College Football Playoff semifinal game this season. Ledbetter has been an integral piece to a defense that ranks fourth in the nation at 270.9 yards allowed per game.

Ledbetter said he was able to pick up his relationship with Smart where it left off during his recruitment.

“It was just one of the greatest moments of my life because he’s a great guy and was great with my family,” Smart said. “It’s kind of surreal to have him as my coach right now.”

Smart’s words to Ledbetter as a recruit have stuck since Georgia brought Smart in to be its head coach. While Smart wasn’t able to get Ledbetter back to Alabama, he was still able to coach the prized prospect he once hoped to sign.

“It was just prophetic with how it played out,” Ledbetter said.

This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Four years ago, Kirby Smart proved prophetic when he was recruiting Jonathan Ledbetter."