Georgia football recruiting juggernaut should have the rest of SEC wet-pants scared
Other SEC football coaches are looking on with fear and awe as the Georgia football program continues to steamroll its way through another recruiting cycle.
Where are those college football recruits headed? Looks like they’re making their way to a small moon in northeast Georgia.
That’s no moon. That’s a football stadium.
Kirby Smart and the Georgia recruiting machine are becoming a force that’s never been seen before in college football. The Bulldogs head coach has taken the Death Star plans he stole from Nick Saban at Alabama, and is building his own bigger, better version of a football battle station in Athens.
Using recruiting to build the best team in the nation certainly didn’t start with Kirby Smart and Georgia. It didn’t even start with Nick Saban and Alabama. But what Kirby has done is take everything that’s come before him and amp it up to the next level.
The recruiting classes of his first eight years as Georgia’s head coach have produced five SEC East titles, two SEC championships, and two national championships. But based on what’s being put together for UGA’s 2024 class, Smart and his staff are serving notice to the rest of the SEC (and the nation) that there’s no end in sight.
The Bulldogs will continue to haul in the nation’s best recruits — especially out of the nation’s most fertile recruiting state, Georgia — for the foreseeable future.
And it’s not just the home state where Smart and his staff are seeing success. Look at this list of states where Georgia has already gotten commitments for the 2024 class — Arizona, Florida, Alabama, Missouri, California, Connecticut, New York, and Iowa. Smart’s reach is seemingly unending.
If you’re an SEC head football coach, you should be stocking up on your stomach meds and seasick pills, because the ride is only going to get worse moving forward.
Georgia football on a record pace with 2024 recruiting class
Right now, heading towards the end of May, Georgia’s 2024 recruiting class looks better than probably half the FBS team will end up with next February. 16 total hard commits, four 5-star players, seven 4-star players, and the inside track to possibly double all those numbers when all is said and done.
There are six 5-star players who are uncommitted and who analysts have Georgia predicted in their crystal balls, or at the very least one of the top contenders. There are eight 4-star players who fall into that same category.
The closest SEC 2024 recruiting team ranking to Georgia right now is LSU at No. 5, but they’re also nowhere near as deep on their current roster. After that in the top 20, you have to drop to Tennessee at No. 10, Florida at No. 11, Arkansas at No. 15, and then Alabama at No. 16.
And where do the two incoming members of the SEC currently rank? Oklahoma currently ranks 28th, and Texas limps in at No. 62.
Yeah, thanks for playing, everyone.
OK, sure. These are high school athletes. They change their minds like most adults change their socks. Any one or more of those commits could potentially flip. But read the words of 4-star quarterback prospect Ryan Puglosi reacting to the nation’s number one recruit (and also a QB), Dylan Raiola, committing to Georgia.
From DawgNation.com:
"“Nothing changes from what I have been saying for the past few months. UGA was really open with me. Told me everything that has happened will happen. Nothing has been a surprise.”"
Puglosi, who will be in direct competition with Raiola over the next two seasons or more, is unwavering in his commitment to Georgia. He’s a Bulldog and has never altered that stance one bit.
It’s having players who are willing to stare down top-flight competition and rise to the challenge that is setting Georgia apart from anything we’ve seen before.
Do players leave Georgia via the transfer portal? Certainly. Every program deals with that in today’s college football world, but Kirby Smart’s attitude has been more along the lines of “See ya, good luck! We got it covered.” rather than trying to woo players back into the fold the way other **ahem** SEC coaches may attempt to do.
Bottom line, the gap between Georgia and other SEC programs (including Alabama) is widening. While massively talented recruiting classes don’t always translate into wins or championships, it’s definitely the foundation on which those things are built.
This is the way, Bulldog Nation.