Georgia football did exactly what they needed to do Saturday night as they took down Texas 35-10. This win is crucial for Georgia not only for this season, but it should really help them on the recruiting trail as well.
Georgia and Texas battle it out for many of the top recruits across the country every year. The Bulldogs win some of those battles and so does Texas, but this win will hopefully flip the tides in Georgia's favor even more going forward.
Typically coaches won't talk about recruiting tactics during their postgame press conference after a big win, but Kirby Smart took the opportunity to on Saturday. He knows that Georgia and Texas go up against each other quite often on the recruiting trail, so he took the chance to take a subtle shot at Texas and Steve Sarkisian for their NIL recruiting tactics.
“A lot of these kids want a check. They don’t want physicality. If you have the check and no physicality, you end with nothing. You’re not just getting checks at our place. We’re hitting people.”
What a quote from Kirby Smart here.
— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) November 16, 2025
“A lot of these kids want a check. They don’t want physicality. If you have the check and no physicality, you end with nothing. You’re not just getting checks at our place. We’re hitting people.” pic.twitter.com/q1Wpg01aWk
Kirby Smart calls out Texas, Steve Sarkisian for their recruiting tactics
Georgia has one of the best NIL programs in the country, but there are some schools that pay their players more. But Smart is just fine with that because he is looking for players who care more about developing into the best players they can be instead of those who are trying to make as much money as possible.
Texas may claim that is their goal, but they are known for being one of the biggest NIL spenders as they prioritize that over developing meaningful relationships.
So Smart took the opportunity to speak his mind about why his recruiting tactics work better than what others like Texas do. Sure Smart didn't call out Texas or Sarkisian specifically, but who else would he be talking about immediately after beating the Longhorns?
It will be interesting to see if Georgia starts winning more recruitments against Texas, but if a player chooses the Longhorns over UGA because of NIL money then Smart won't miss that player for one second.