Georgia football wrapped up the 2022 recruiting cycle with another successful class full of top talent to reload after winning the national championship.
Texas A&M finished with the most historic class in 247Sports history, and while that is incredible, it’s time to let the Aggies in on a bit of secret. One great recruiting cycle isn’t going to win a national championship.
Consistency is key to contending. Ask Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and the other teams who year in and year out have top-10 programs.
The Dawgs especially proved this point because since head coach Kirby Smart took over, it took two No.1 recruiting classes to win a national championship.
However, the Dawgs have only had one cycle out of the top 5 since the Smart era began — 2016, his first one.
Georgia football proves consistency in recruiting is key to winning it all.
The Dawgs finished No. 3 in 2017, No. 1 in 2018, No. 2 in 2019, No. 1 in 2020, and No. 4 in 2021. Georgia remains consistent in the recruiting rankings, and it’s showing on the field. The talent continues to return year after year for Georgia, and that is important to contend in the SEC and playoffs.
247Sports writer Brandon Marcello wrote an interesting piece about how it’s national championship or bust for the Aggies with this class. While I agree to a certain extent, he left off the fact teams have to be consistent.
Marcello discusses that seven of the top-10 historic recruiting classes played for a national title within four years. He also said that each No.1 class from 2011 through 2020 has played for a title.
Those are great stats and show that Aggies’ head coach Jimbo Fisher has his program heading in the right direction. However, Alabama is a pretty big outlier. Since 2006, there have only been two Nick Saban recruiting classes outside the top 5 in 2006 and 2007.
Texas A&M in Fisher’s first year was ranked No. 17. Fisher improved the Aggies to four straight top-10 teams, but only one top-3 and two top-5.
I highly recommend reading Marcello’s piece because it’s interesting to see how the momentum for Texas A&M is there.
However, Smart and Saban’s consistency is where the Aggies haven’t entirely made happen. Sure, it’s a bit of a stretch to say that, but Smart is on six years of top-4 recruiting classes, and Saban is on a 15-year one of being in the top-5.
So while it’s great that Texas A&M finished with the best recruiting class ever, they have to win now. Texas A&M went 8-4, 4-4 last year, and while they beat Alabama, they didn’t beat the likes of Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss or LSU.
After beating Alabama, they controlled their destiny and could have won the West, but instead, they finished tied-third.
In 2020, they went 9-1, 2019 resulted in an 8-5, 4-4 record and in Fisher’s first season, 2018, they went 9-4 and 5-3.
This recruiting class could turn the SEC West on its head, and the Aggies could find a way to do big things, but Alabama will be tough to beat, and so will Georgia if they face off in Atlanta.
Georgia is fairly new to this level of consistency, but after falling short in the 2018 national championship, they recruited at an elite level to win it all in 2021. So congrats to the Aggies, but now the ball is in your court to prove this historic recruiting class will be for nothing.