Winning is huge for this program.
As excited as Georgia fans were about the recruiting class Kirby Smart built last year, 2016 was a disappointment. Georgia lost several close games that it shouldn’t, including to Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
Those losses hurt fans, but they also hurt recruiting. Butch Jones built two incredible recruiting classes over his first couple of years at Tennessee and yet he never won the East. He’s become a guy who can’t seem to get double-digit wins under his belt and in his 5th season, his team is looking worse than it ever has.
Recruits watch what happens on the field. When Jones sold playing time at a top tier program for a couple of seasons, he was able to get some big-time recruiting wins. Unfortunately, he never took those players and that team to the next level and future recruits noticed. That’s why the Vols finished with the 17th class in 2017, only 7th in the SEC.
Georgia can’t allow that same mistake to happen. Kirby has to show recruits that if they come to UGA, not only will they love Athens, but that they can win championships. He also needs to show guys that he can develop them and put them in the league. Destroying Mississippi State 31-3 was a huge statement to these recruits. It showed them that this program is building something special and these coaches can take them to that next level.