Georgia football is once again dominating the recruiting rankings this cycle. The Bulldogs currently have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country and still have a chance to finish with the top ranked class, but the way that Kirby Smart and their staff got to this point is much different than last year.
Smart placed a huge emphasis on recruiting the state of Georgia during the 2025 cycle, but the complete opposite has been the case so far this season as seen in the below social media post.
Top Georgia high school football recruits in the 2026 class‼️https://t.co/cohcfaCTlp pic.twitter.com/516cRYbOZA
— Rivals High School (@Rivals_HS) October 22, 2025
Kirby Smart looks to have changed his recruiting strategy
Last year when Smart and Georgia were recruiting the 2025 class, they put a huge emphasis on recruiting the state of Georgia. Out of the top 10 recruits from the Peach State, Georgia signed six of them which included four of the top five recruits.
The 2026 cycle however has been polar opposite as Georgia has only earned a commitment from two of the top 10 players from the state. They unfortunately aren't the top recruits in the state either as their two commits are ranked No. 7 and No. 8 in the state.
So it's clear that Smart has a new strategy this recruiting cycle that focuses on recruiting the rest of the country and putting less of an emphasis on the Peach State recruits. And so far this new strategy has resulted in the same outcome as the Bulldogs signed the No. 2 class in the 2025 cycle and currently are ranked No. 2 in the 2026 class rankings.
So at the end of the day it doesn't seem to matter if Smart focuses on the state of Georgia or the rest of the country, because either way he is going to put together one of the best recruiting classes in the country.