UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Addresses Negative Recruiting
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ATHENS - Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs may be back-to-back national champions, but on the recruiting trail, they’re still fighting a war.
Georgia may be the No.1 program in the country, but there are still other programs using the “negative recruiting” tactic against them.
“You won’t be able to play early at Georgia.”
“You can’t have fun at Georgia.”
“Georgia can’t provide the NIL opportunities we can.”
“You can see the field earlier here.”
I cover recruiting. So I’ve heard it all.
Nobody develops their players and send them to the NFL better than the Georgia Bulldogs. More importantly, nobody else is winning like the Georgia Bulldogs.
But most programs can’t use that pitch. They can’t say, “Hey young man, if you come here you’ll be able to play for championships and have a chance to play in the NFL in just a few short years. Look at our resume!”
For programs like Auburn, Florida State, Texas A&M, Michigan and Texas, how the hell are they supposed to beat the mighty Bulldogs for an elite prospect?
Well, sometimes you have to lie.
Right now, the Bulldogs have -110 odds to win the SEC for the second consecutive season according to FanDuel.
Kirby Smart spoke a little bit about negative recruiting this week as the Bulldogs start fall camp.
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“We've proven that you can play as a true freshman and be successful in our defense, so it's not too much to learn, like some people say, and try to use it against us in recruiting” Smart told reporters. “We had a kid, Malaki Starks, that walked in and played every single game at safety from a true freshman perspective, but we're not going to ask that guy to cross-train.”
Smart was asked about cross-training in the secondary, where he basically said that he wants to keep young guys where they’re at and let some of the older guys cross-train. He quickly addressed the concern that some elite prospects may have about Georgia when it comes to playing time.
Mentioning Malaki Starks was an easy example. The Bulldogs had plenty of talented defensive backs returning in 2022, but Starks was able to win one of the safety jobs. As a true freshman.
Other schools may use Georgia’s talent and overall depth against them on the trail, but in a way, it’s almost a compliment.
However, Kirby Smart isn’t having it. The Bulldogs may not play the NIL game the way other programs are, and they’ll always have a talented roster, but they want it known that even true freshmen can come to Athens and see early playing time.
Now, they’re hoping a certain 5-star safety heard the message loud and clear.
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