Georgia Football: Will Kirby Smart Go Back To Dominating In-State Recruiting?
The University of Georgia has recruited at an elite level during Kirby Smart's time in Athens that goes without saying. However, the way in which he's gone about bringing in those classes — whether that be via in-state products or out of state talents — has changed throughout his tenure.
I think it's hard to give Smart a lot of credit, good or bad, for the 2016 cycle even though as was announced as the head coach in December of 2015. So, even though it shortens our sample size by 20%, we remove the 2016 class from these considerations despite Smart being responsible for closing out the remainder of that class.
So, here's how Smart and his staff have done in terms of in-state recruiting:
| Class | No. of In-State | Top-10 | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
2017 | 16 | 5/10 | No. 3 |
2018 | 13 | 6/10 | No. 1 |
2019 | 5 | 2/10 | No. 2 |
2020 | 7 | 2/10 | No. 1 |
*All rankings according to 247sports.com
So, it could be a coincidence that once Smart and his staff had two full seasons to recruit their guys, they signed 20 out of state players. It could be a coincidence that the recruiting budget jumped from $2.7M in 2018 to $3.7M in 2019 with expectations of even more in the report in 2020.
Or it could be a philosophical change in recruiting. Which is more likely. As Smart said following Early National Signing Day that Georgia's gameplan is to find the best player. No matter if he's from Georgia, Nevada, or California. Talent trumps location, even if it means numerous cross country flights.
OT, Amarius Mims
However, in 2021, Georgia could go back to securing the state's top talent. With a chance to sign 9 of the state's top 10 players, all of whom are Top-100 overall prospects.
- Amarius Mims, OT
- Brock Vandagriff, QB (Commit)
- Smael Mondon, OLB
- Deion Colzie, WR (ND Commit)
- Terrence Ferguson, OT
- Barrett Carter, OLB
- Micah Morris, OT
- David Daniel, DB (Commit)
- Jordan Hancock, CB
- Nyland Green, CB
So, as you can see, Georgia has already matched their output from the 2019 and 2020 cycles in terms of the top-10 players in the state with Vandagriff and Daniel committed already. And they have great positioning on most of the other players mentioned.
We feel as if Mims, Mondon, and Carter are safe bets at his point to end up at the University of Georgia. As safe as any projections are at this point in the process.
Terrence Ferguson, Micah Morris, and Nyland Green are players that Georgia may have solid relationships with, but are certainly far from a guarantee it seems at this point in the process. Green is a player that has really seen his recruitment escalate as of late, so these decisions and options are new ones for him.
Morris seems to prefer to play tackle and that could lead him towards leaving the state considering the depth that Georgia will have with Broderick Jones, Tate Ratledge, and Chad Linberg all signing in 2020. The same could be a deterrent for a guy like Terrence Ferguson.
As for Jordan Hancock, Georgia has some early ground to gain on Clemson and even Ohio State it appears. And it's a similar situation at corner as Georgia will experience in this class with offensive tackles. They loaded up on the position in 2020 which means people to climb over for playing time.
Here's the thing, Georgia still has a chance to pull in the nation's top out of state talent too. James Williams, the nation's top safety seems to be down to three schools, one of which is Georgia. Tony Grimes is the nation's top corner and he told Bulldog Maven's Blayne Gilmer that after a seemingly rough start with the Georgia staff, in the beginning, Grimes is "very high" on the Bulldogs.
So, bottom line. Whether it's a running back from Clovis, California or a kicker from Kerrville, Texas, Kirby Smart is going to bring in the nation's best to Athens.
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