Each offseason, Kirby Smart’s name seems to appear on the list of assistant coaches ready to become head men. The Alabama defensive coordinator has been in his post in Tuscaloosa since 2007, helping Nick Saban develop one of the country’s fiercest defensive units on a yearly basis.

Smart, 38, makes $1.28 million each season, the highest salary in the nation for an assistant coach. Would he like to become a head coach one day? Of course. But he’d also be very comfortable remaining an assistant under Saban for the rest of his career.

Missed what Bama DC Kirby Smart told us about a timetable on becoming a head coach? Here’s our interview @680_The_Fan http://t.co/nh0vjaRNHZ — The Front Row (@680thefrontrow) July 1, 2014

In an interview Monday with Atlanta’s 680 The Fan, Smart discussed his future possibilities.

“I could finish my career being a defensive coordinator and say, ‘Hey, he’s (former Florida State defensive coordinator) Mickey Andrews, and I’d be happy knowing that I had success doing it, and I was the best I could be at my job. But if the opportunity knocks, then so be it, obviously want that,” Smart said.

Alabama opens its 2014 season Aug. 30 in Atlanta against West Virginia.