UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart Sends GIANT Message To Recruits After Beating Clemson
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ATHENS - Georgia Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart is tired of the negative recruiting. He’s over it.
“You won’t be able to play early at Georgia. Have you seen their depth chart?”
You can sit and wait your turn at Georgia, or you can come play early for us”.
“We can promise you early playing time. Georgia can’t.”
That’s what opposing coaches constantly tell prospects when they are betting Kirby and the Dawgs on the recruiting trail. But now, it’s hard to make that claim. After Georgia’s dominant 34-3 win over Dabo Swinney and the Tigers, Smart set the record straight about his attempt to play true freshmen.
“We play freshmen all the time”, Smart told reporters after Georgia’s big win. “We had Malaki (Starks) play in this game two years ago. KJ Bolden played in the game today; Mykel (Williams) played in the game two years ago. If you're a talented freshman and you can learn, then you can play.”
There it is. If you can play, learn, and show the coaches you deserve to be on the field, you’re going to see the field. It’s that simple.
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Even against a quality, top-15 Clemson team, plenty of true freshmen saw the field on Saturday.
Freshman running back Nate Frazier turned heads in his very first game. So did safety KJ Bolden.
Freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson got on the field. So did freshman defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. Freshman linebackers Justin Williams and Chris Cole saw some playing time. So did freshman tight ends Jaden Reddell and Colton Heinrich. Offensive linemen Daniel Calhoun and Jahzare Jackson got out there late in the game.
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That’s not even mentioning last year when true freshman linebackers CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson played throughout the season. Wide receiver Dillon Bell and tight end Oscar Delp saw the field often during their freshman season two years ago. We all know what Brock Bowers did as a freshman in 2021.
I mean, the list goes on and on.
You can bet Kirby Smart’s message made it to some of his top 2025 targets, too. In fact, a lot of them saw it in person on Saturday. 5-star defensive line targets Elijah Griffin and Justus Terry, along with many other top targets, were in Mercedes-Benz to watch the Dawgs take down Clemson.
And next week we’ll see the freshmen even more. With mighty Tennessee Tech coming to town, expect to see plenty of true freshmen see the field so they can have get some much-needed experience. Experience is how you learn, and Smart wants his young guys to get on the field as soon as possible. That’s how you grow as a player. You have to get on the field and make plays. To make mistakes and learn from them.
That’s just one reason why the Dawgs consistently produce NFL talent. It’s because guys see the field early, which allows them to grow and learn at a faster rate.
It’s all part of the machine, and the machine that Kirby Smart has built isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
So good luck, opposing coach. Good luck recruiting against Kirby Smart. He’s got the No. 1 team in the country, and he’s still playing true freshmen.