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ATHENS - In an evolving world of college football, Kirby Smart is still building his program the old-school way.
And the old-school way is working.
While other coaches are building their roster through NIL promises and the transfer portal, Kirby Smart’s philosophy hasn’t changed.
Smart signed less than 10 players through the portal last winter and didn’t have to spend top dollar to build one of the best rosters in the game.
Player retention is important, but a lot of Smart’s success is due to great coaching. Smart has built his roster through high school recruiting, and because he’s the best coach in the game, he’s able to get his freshmen ready to make an early impact.
“It's not a late-in-the-game deal,” Smart told reporters about his freshman class. “They're good football players. Some have created opportunities through injuries, some have created opportunities through earning it themselves. You can't survive without freshmen being able to play.”
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“It's one of two things if you're not playing freshmen. You’ve got a really good old team, which is rare, or you don't have very good freshmen. And I don't really want to have the second. So as those guys are available and the best to play, obviously they'll play. We've had a really good track record of, for the last couple years, the most played snaps of freshmen, we've been in the top five in the country. So that's because we play a lot of players, we sign good freshmen, and we're not afraid to play them.”
Everyone knows that freshmen play at Georgia. It happens every single year.
This year we’ve seen multiple freshmen step up and make a major impact for the No. 1 team in the country.
Everyone knows about Zykie Helton. The Carrollton (GA) star flipped from Alabama to Georgia as a recruit and has already established himself as a key starter on the offensive line. That group is one of the best in college football and Helton is a big reason why.
Then there’s Craig Dandridge. The speedy wideout has played consistently through the first six games and has seen the ball come his way in crunch time. He’s a versatile weapon who can help in the screen and short passing game while proving to be a vertical threat as well. The 6-foot-1 185-pounder has hauled in 13 passes (2nd on the team) for a team-high 222 yards and one touchdown.
On defense, freshman defensive lineman Valdin Sone is already a fan favorite after a strong start to his first season. The international lineman has made a major impact already and came through in a big way against Alabama with a later 4th-quarter sack. Sone has made six sacks in addition to his big sack last weekend.
Other freshmen who have made a big year-one impact include safety Tyriq Green, running back Jae Lamar, safety Blake Stewart, among others.
