March 24 was a day full of coaching staff shakeups at Georgia. The basketball team lost an important assistant while the football team is looking to steal two assistants from the NFL. But none of that news is as important as an update shared from Georgia’s top target on the recruiting trail.
Georgia basketball assistant moving on
Georgia basketball is fresh off their best season in a decade after making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Sure the Bulldogs lost in the first round to Gonzaga, but making it to the tournament is a big accomplishment.
The goal next year now will be to make it back to the Big Dance, but that will be difficult to do now that assistant coach Erik Pastrana is reportedly heading to Miami to become an assistant with the Hurricanes.
Pastrana has been with Georgia during Mike White’s entire tenure, and he has been huge in helping sign many of UGA’s top players out of high school. But Pastrana is originally from Miami, so this move really isn’t all that surprising once this opportunity was presented to him.
Kirby Smart targeting NFL assistants
Georgia football has made a lot of offseason moves this offseason, but it sounds like Kirby Smart isn’t done yet. According to Matt Zenitz with 247Sports, Georgia is looking to add two NFL assistants to their staff.
Phil Rauscher with the Jacksonville Jaguars is the first of two NFL assistants who Georgia is targeting, and he would come in to coach the offensive line. Georgia is also after Johnny Lilly as well, who was a former tight ends coach at Georgia from 2008-2015.
No word has been released yet regarding if either are interested in coming to Georgia, but both would be great additions to the staff.
Jared Curtis commitment date
Five-star quarterback Jared Curtis may be Georgia’s top target on the recruiting trail right now. The Bulldogs are one of his two finalists along with Oregon, and Curtis is expected to announce his commitment on May 5.
It’s unclear who the leader is at this time, but Georgia has to feel like they have a chance to add Curtis back to their recruiting class once again.