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ATHENS - About 7 PM on Signing Day 2010, I was talking with a UGA staffer about the importance of UGA’s 2011 recruiting class.
“If we don’t get Isaiah Crowell I don’t see how we survive next year,” he said.
It was a bad day.
Georgia had lost out on Union Grove WR Jordan Aikns, a three-star prospect who, eight years later, was drafted as a tight end in the 2018 NFL Draft. But that day in 2010, Aiken was a late throw-away offer from the Bulldogs, who were reaching like crazy to get anyone to come on board.
“He actually picked UCF over us,” the staffer said with a very nervous laugh that night. “That wasn’t just a hat on the table. He picked UCF over Georgia.”
This was the middle of the darkest times of the Mark Richt era.
He dismissed three defensive staffers after the 2009 season. 2010 would be a disaster that involved A.J. Green not playing in the first four games of the season, losses to Colorado and Mississippi State and the first losing season in 15 years. In the middle of that summer UGA’s athletic director at the time, Damon Evans, was dismissed after a DUI turned into a figurative train wreck. Once more the institution on the front pages nationally again for the wrong reasons.
Had Evans survived that summer Richt might not have survived that fall. But Crowell, the quiet and hermit-like 5-star prospect from Columbus was the target… for everyone in college football.
Isaiah, somewhat like Jacob Eason in 2016, was held up as the prospect who could save it all. He was the guy who would be the one responsible for the program reaching new heights. Neither played meaningful snaps after their true freshman seasons.
Neither could have been prepared for that type of pressure.
You won’t hear those types of proclamations from people any more. Actually, you probably will, but those folks won’t know what they are talking about - a common sickness these days.
Here’s the truth: Georgia is beyond one player making or breaking the program. The Bulldog are too stout up front, too talented in the back and are hemorrhaging skill players. Sign every player you want? Its an awesome, nearly-impossible goal to set.
All you have to do is look at the way the previous three recruiting classes have stacked up to see that no prospect - not even the best player in college football - is going to make or break Georgia right now. The same could be said for Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama. It must be noted that the Dawgs, Buckeyes and Tide have really separated themselves from the rest of college football recruiting.
The sum of the parts at Georgia are greater than any one player or prospect. It is a program (machine might be a good way of putting it) in every since of the word. Your 5-star quarterback goes down in the first game of the season? Replace him with the other 5-star quarterback in your program. Your left tackle goes in the first round? Replace him with someone who should go in the first round as well.
Some players are harder to replace. Clemson had proven it can continue to be successful, but it hasn’t proven yet that it can or has replaced Deshaun Watson… or Mike Williams. UGA fans will certainly notice that Roquan Smith isn’t in the middle of the defense this fall. Minkah Fitzpatrick will be difficult for Alabama to lose as well. But the sum of the parts are greater than any one individual at those schools.
That’s where UGA is at right now. Over celebrating any commitment or bridge jumping the “loss” of any recruit isn’t necessary any more.
