Likely every Georgia football fan wants to know how Kirby Smart and his staff handle NIL negotiations. Unfortunately fans will never learn exactly how that works at Georgia, but Smart did give fans a little intel during his press conference on Tuesday.
Smart was asked if recruits come in and ask Georgia to match an NIL offer from another school, and the answer Smart gave is very interesting.
"No, nobody does that," Smart shared via 247sports.com. "I think they want that. Deep down inside, that might be in the back of their mind... If they come in and say that, then I'm going to listen to them and talk to them, but I'm scratching them off the list. I'm over that, because if that's all that matters, you need to send out a bid like they do for jobs and say, supplement your bid, let me take visits, and I'm going to go to the bid and go to the highest bidder. I really believe there still does matter a relationship. And if relationship doesn't matter, then I'm probably not going to have a kid that wants to play hard for Georgia."
"But I'll pay a premium for fire, passion, and energy, because in the market we're in, there's a lack of that."
Smart knows what he’s looking for
Smart very clearly states that if a recruit comes in asking for a specific dollar amount that he no long is interested in that player. That recruit is already showing that they care more about themselves rather than the team, and no one should want that player anywhere near Georgia’s program.
On the flip side, Smart shared that he’s looking for three things when talking to a recruit, fire, passion and energy. These are things that you can’t teach, so finding as many players who possess that will give Georgia a leg up on the rest of the country. And when Smart finds those players, he’s willing to pay them to get them to come to Georgia.