As border state rivals in the SEC East, Florida and Georgia frequently go head-to-head on the recruiting trail.

One of those recruiting battles between Dan Mullen and Kirby Smart in the class of 2019 was for Kaiir Elam out of North Palm Beach, Florida. The No. 6 cornerback and No. 48 recruit overall in the class on the 247Sports Composite, Elam was highly sought-after and took his recruitment past the Early Signing Period to National Signing Day.

Three weeks ahead of National Signing Day, Smart hired Charlton Warren away from Florida as Georgia’s new secondary coach after the departure of Mel Tucker. With Warren having recruited Elam to Florida, many suspected UGA had taken the lead in the recruiting battle. Elam, however, still signed with Mullen to play for cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray.

After Florida’s 44-28 win over Georgia in Jacksonville, Elam tweeted a Sunday callback to his recruitment, writing “Business Decision.” with an alligator emoji accompanying photos from the game. In the second half, Elam snagged his first interception of the season.

During game week media opportunities, Elam was asked about the Florida-Georgia battle in his recruitment.

“I knew I was going to get this question,” Elam said, per Thomas Goldkamp of 247Sports. “What does it mean to me? Every game, we’re trying to go 1-0, so every game is a big game to me. I’m looking forward to coming out and playing this game very much.”

“Florida had the most pros and least cons for me,” the sophomore added. “I really believed in what Coach Mullen was trying to build here. And I knew I could come here and be developed by the best and to elevate my game.”