Miami working to flip a 4-star Georgia commit is not good news for Kirby Smart

At the start of his recruitment, it was expected that Alabama would be the biggest competition to Georgia for four-star cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick. His older brother, and NFL All-Pro safety, Minkah, played for Kirby Smart when he was the defensive coordinator of the Crimson Tide. 

However, the Bulldogs easily beat out the Tide and other top programs for his commitment back in June, but now Smart and his staff will have to fend off a familiar foe on the recruiting trail to keep the 44th-ranked player in the 2026 class. 

Hurricanes have more to offer than just NIL money for Justice Fitzpatrick

With 31 commits, Georgia has the No. 1 class in the country for the 2026 recruiting cycle, so it’s hard to complain. Still, the biggest gripe that Dawgs fans have is over five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell, whom Georgia attempted to pair with five-star quarterback Jared Curtis but lost out to Miami. 

Mario Cristobal’s program swayed Cantwell with a large NIL package, reportedly upwards of $2 million a year. When it comes to Fitzpatrick, though, the Canes have more than just money to offer. 

Ostensibly, the family connection was strong enough that playing for his brother’s former defensive coordinator factored into Fitzpatrick’s commitment to Georgia. Smart helped to develop Minkah into an All-American in Tuscaloosa and a first-round NFL Draft pick. Well, Miami now offers to opportunity to live in the same place as his brother during the football season. 

After three first-team All-Pro seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the elder Fitzpatrick was traded back to the Miami Dolphins, the team that originally drafted him out of Alabama in 2018, this offseason. He has just two seasons remaining on his contract, a four-year extension he signed in Pittsburgh, but the possibility of living nearby and playing in the same stadium for those two years could be enough to sway Justice away from Athens. 

There was never a chance that Justice was going to commit to play for Pitt, but with his brother back in the south, the Fort Lauderdale native could decide to stay close to home and close to family for his college career. 

There are other teams with NIL and revenue-sharing packages to throw at a top recruit like Fitzpatrick, but Miami is the worst possible program to make a charge at flipping him because they have the one thing nobody else can present: family.