The No. 1 recruit in the 2026 recruiting class has just announced his commitment to Miami (FL). Five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell was predicted to commit to Georgia just a few days ago, but reports came in on Monday evening that Miami was picking up steam in this recruitment.
While there are potentially a million things that Cantwell likes about Miami, the thing he may have liked the most was their NIL offer. About a week ago it was reported that Cantwell's offer from Miami was about $2 million for his first season. Other reports also came out soon after that all of his finalists (which includes Georgia) were offering a similar amount of money as well.
So combining that with the fact that Georgia was the leader 24 hours ago likely means Miami came in at the last second and drastically increased their offer in order to win this recruitment.
If that is the case, then Kirby Smart and his staff likely won't be too upset after this loss.
"Yeah, I want to see the fire. I want to see the passion, the energy," Smart said via 247sports.com. "I want to see who wants to be a good football player, who really cares about this game. They care more about the game than they do about their NIL revenue stream."
Kirby Smart may not be that upset after this loss
Smart likely is not happy after seeing Cantwell pick Miami over his Bulldogs, but if the reasoning for doing so is NIL then Smart might be slightly relieved. Sure they could have worked things out so he would have fit in the locker room, but the last thing Georgia needs is someone who cares more about money than the success of the team.
Georgia has been just fine under Smart under this philosphy, so much so that they've won two SEC and National Championships during the NIL era. Based on that fact alone, this loss shouldn't cause Georgia fans to panic because it's not likely that Smart will lose any sleep over it.