How did Kirby Smart turn Georgia into the destination for 5-star QBs?
It all started on Dec. 15, 2015.
Georgia fans knew it was an important day. Five-star quarterback Jacob Eason announced that instead of dropping his commitment to the Dawgs after Mark Richt was fired, he confirmed that he would be playing his college football a couple thousand miles from his home state of Washington to be the first face of the Kirby Smart era in Athens. Neither Florida nor Washington could steal the coveted gunslinger.
That was an important day, but not necessarily for the reasons that Georgia fans would have assumed at the time. No, Eason didn’t help the Dawgs end the 1980 jokes and became the best quarterback in program history.
But Dec. 15, 2015 marked the beginning of a trend that’s become equal parts impressive and baffling. Smart continues to fend off the masses for 5-star quarterbacks despite the fact that his track record of maximizing their 5-star talent is, well, not what his recruiting record would suggest. This past year was the first time during that Smart era that Georgia’s passing offense ranked in the top half of FBS, which only happened because one of Smart’s 5-star quarterbacks came in and averaged 308 passing yards in the final 4 games:
- 2016 — No. 97
- 2017 — No. 106
- 2018 — No. 70
- 2019 — No. 72
- 2020 — No. 45
Including JT Daniels, a former 5-star recruit who transferred from USC over the summer after highly-touted Wake Forest grad transfer Jamie Newman joined the Dawgs, Smart signed 4 quarterbacks ranked as 5-star recruits in the 247sports composite. That number could hit 5 when it comes time for class of 2022 5-star quarterback Gunner Stockton, who flipped his commitment from South Carolina to Georgia last week.
That number doesn’t include Jake Fromm, who just missed out on ending as a 5-star recruit in the 247sports composite, nor does it include 4-star recruits Carson Beck and D’Wan Mathis.
Daniels, of course, is seeking to become the first of Smart’s 5-star quarterbacks to leave his college career as a Georgia player. Brock Vandagriff, a 2021 early-enrollee, is seeking to become Smart’s first 5-star quarterback to start and finish his college career as a Georgia player. At the earliest, that won’t happen until 2023, roughly 8 years after Smart saved Eason’s commitment.
How? And why?
It’s lazy to assume that Smart’s quarterback recruiting is simply the product of some deep, under-the-table pockets. Yes, we know that nobody in America spends on recruiting like Georgia. Smart spent $3.7 million on it in 2019. You don’t sign a No. 1 class with blue-chip talent from 9 states without breaking the bank.
There’s a philosophical question here that dates to the Eason era — how is the defensive-minded Smart so good at selling quarterbacks without any legitimate evidence of success in that area? In addition to the aforementioned subpar passing game, Fromm is the only Georgia quarterback who was drafted from one of Smart’s teams, and he was a 5th-round pick who has yet to take an NFL snap. The well-documented success of Eason and Justin Fields post-transfer is certainly at the root of that.
Of course, none of those 3 quarterbacks got to play in Georgia’s revamped passing offense under Todd Monken, which didn’t arrive until 2020. Surely that was a selling point to the likes of Daniels, Vandagriff and Stockton. It also helps when Smart can say “you’ll be surrounded by more elite talent than anywhere in the country” and truly mean it.
Since 247sports starting tracking team composite talent in 2015, here are Georgia’s yearly rankings:
- 2015 — No. 6
- 2016 — No. 6
- 2017 — No. 4
- 2018 — No. 3
- 2019 — No. 3
- 2020 — No. 1
Georgia had 16 players rated as 5-stars on its 2020 roster. In 2021, that number is expected to be at least 17. Smart can continue to say that his quarterbacks will be surrounded with future NFL players. Irrelevant it is that in this modern era of high-octane passing offenses, his was stuck in neutral for the first 4 years.
While it’s also true that blue-chip quarterback hitting the transfer portal isn’t just a Georgia trend, it’s interesting to look at the path from initial commitment through college for Smart era signal-callers:
Vandagriff, who signed with Georgia during the Early Signing Period, is the perfect embodiment of this stunning trend.
Yes, I realize he’s a Georgia native. But this belief that he simply picked Georgia to stay local doesn’t carry as much weight when he went on unofficial visits to Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee and UNC before committing to the Sooners. Of course he committed to play for Lincoln Riley. Why wouldn’t every 5-star quarterback line up for the opportunity to play for the coach who had 2 consecutive players win the Heisman Trophy and get drafted No. 1 overall.
Vandagriff’s commitment to Oklahoma came before Jalen Hurts had his Heisman runner-up season. It also came before Fromm’s frustrating junior year at Georgia. If anything, 2019 should’ve only solidified the belief that Norman was a superior destination for quarterbacks than Athens. Instead, Vandagriff dropped his commitment to Oklahoma on Jan. 1, 2020, and within 3 weeks, he visited and committed to Georgia.
Don’t feel too bad for Oklahoma. Riley still signed 5-star quarterback Caleb Williams, who is actually ranked slightly better than Vandagriff and who will back up 5-star Spencer Rattler. Still, though. At some point, Smart legitimately sold Vandagriff on the belief that his future would be better at Georgia than the Heisman factory Riley built at Oklahoma (Vandagriff’s dropped Oklahoma commitment came 3 weeks before Georgia brought Monken on board to revamp the offense).
And who did it surprise? No one because this is what Smart does. Somehow.
It didn’t surprise anyone when Stockton gave his commitment to Smart last week. Well, check that. It was a bit of a surprise because Stockton seemed like a natural fit to follow Mike Bobo to Auburn after the South Carolina offensive coordinator left for the Plains after Bryan Harsin was hired.
It didn’t matter that Smart had whiffed on Stockton the first time around when he committed to South Carolina in August. It didn’t matter that he signed up to join a roster with multiple 5-star quarterbacks who have multiple years of eligibility left (don’t forget that Daniels still has 2). It didn’t even matter that Georgia is 1 of 4 SEC programs that hasn’t had a top-40 passing offense OR a quarterback drafted in the first 4 rounds in the last 5 years.
Kentucky, Vandy and Texas A&M are the others in the SEC. Nationally, there are 15 Power 5 programs that fall into that dubious category. Not including transfers or 2022 commitments, Georgia and Michigan are the only ones that have signed a 5-star quarterback, though Georgia has a 3-1 advantage there. That’s leaving out Daniels and Stockton, too.
Meanwhile, you know who has never signed a 5-star quarterback? Dan Mullen. Never mind the fact that he helped develop the likes of Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott and now Kyle Trask, who led the No. 1 passing offense in college football this past season. Yet the highest-rated quarterback recruit to ever sign with Mullen during his 12 years as an SEC head coach was Emory Jones.
When Mullen was at Mississippi State, that could be chalked up to the fact that historically speaking, 5-star recruits (of all positions) hadn’t lined up to come to Starkville. One would think the tide would be turning now that he’s gone to 3 consecutive New Year’s 6 bowls at Florida. In addition to Trask’s season as a Heisman finalist, Florida got over the Georgia hump and did so with a passing attack that was infinitely better. All that happened since then is Georgia kept its 2021 5-star quarterback committed (and eventually signed) while Stockton gave his pledge to Smart.
If you include Stockton and 2022 commitments like Ohio State’s Quinn Ewers, here’s the breakdown of where 5-star quarterbacks signed from 2016-22:
- Georgia: 4
- Clemson: 3
- Ohio State: 2
- Oklahoma: 2
- Alabama: 2
- Auburn: 1
- Michigan: 1
- Washington: 1
- USC: 1
- Stanford: 1
- Ole Miss: 1
I mean, Georgia signed as many 5-star quarterbacks as the rest of the SEC combined. Well, that’s assuming Stockton stays committed and signs. Why wouldn’t he? Smart doesn’t lose 5-star quarterbacks until they get to campus and spend a year or 2 in the offense.
OK, Georgia fans. I’m sorry. I went 1,300 words without making that joke. Forgive me.
Sooner or later, one would think that 1 of these 5-star quarterbacks will pop and actually leave as a Georgia legend. Maybe Daniels can be that guy. Perhaps Georgia is on the brink of having its first top-40 passing offense since Aaron Murray’s senior year in 2013. By 2022, we could even see a Georgia quarterback drafted in the first 4 rounds for the first time since Matthew Stafford went No. 1 overall in 2009.
Whatever the case, 1 thing is all but a certainty — the 2-way door for 5-star quarterbacks in Athens isn’t going away anytime soon.
How many have played at UGA? CKS can get them. Can he keep them? Another story.
You are a fake UGA fan.
I encourage everyone to check ADB’s comment history. There’s enough there to suggest an issue of some kind. Maturity level or maybe a psychological shortcoming of some kind.
whatever
Seriously, what would anyone care? Do you have proof that you are a real UGA fan? This is the internet. I think you are the one that needs to check their maturity level.
It’s a good question.
Kirby recruits so well because of a combination of things. Athens is one of the very best college towns in America. UGA’s academics are very good. The sports facilities are now being upgraded. The talent pool in state is about as good as it gets.
And then, it’s Kirby Smart. Nobody works harder than Smart. The recruits see that, and they know he will get the most out of them.
Tim to be fair he really hasnt gotten the most out of the QB’s, which is what the article is all about. It is a little astounding he has gotten so many elite QB’s with the results on the field (of the QB’s). That appears to be changing with Monken and Daniels. There is no reason to think the recruiting will drop off any either, in given year, as UGA should cruise to an east title and if they can get the bama monkey off their back in the SEC CG then the trend in recruiting the 5*’s and winning should continue.
fuzzyvol01, I agree. My point was to how Smart recruits so well across the board. When Lawrence picked Clemson over GA, it was clear as to why. If I had been him, I would’ve done the same.
Chaney was a good OC for a first time HC with a defensive background, but he would never produce a top flight offense.
Monken looks like the right OC for the job. I see no reason why the best QB’s wouldn’t want to pick UGA now.
Also, I think many rival fans read a Georgia fan talking about Athens as being special, and assume it’s just fan talk. The city and campus do help in the process.
in response to your last reply to me: I think the home campus of most every school is special to their fans. many SEC schools are in every top 10 “special campus” category ever written. Sure it works for some recruits but isnt a real factor over many other SEC schools campuses.
I agree that most SEC college towns and campused are really neat and cool settings.
However if you Google top college campuses you’ll see that UGA is almost always included in every Top-10 list.
All baias aside, the town, culture, setting and trappings of Athens GA and UGA are uniquely special.
Also UGA is a megabus, relatively short car ride to Atlanta. That helps significantly.
I attended a Mizzou-UGA game in Athens several years ago and I agree with Tim. There’s something special about Athens and the school. The game was really amazing with 92k fans doing their thing. Athens and the campus really help sell the recruit. Outside of one drunk fool all the people we met were super nice as well.
@fuzzyvol……Sorry but you, this article writer and the Gump gang are totally stupid. How about some FACTS FOR ONCE?
A true freshman took UGA to the national championship. UGA was totally robbed!!! Even the head REF that robbed UGA openly apologized for all his terrible calls that COST UGA THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! UGA WON THAT GAME AND NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THAT!!!
Either way Fromm lit Alabama up all game long!!! He had a few bone head plays. But so did Hurts and his replacement Tua!!! Neither guy beat UGA. THE REFS DID, PERIOD!!!!
Go re-watch the the rose bowl that year. Tell me Fromm didn’t play as well as the H TROPHY WINNER!!! Then he beat Alabama the next week. Only to have the game STOLEN!!!!
Fromm and UGA went through the SEC east like they was nobody there that season!!! Fromm lit the gators up 42-7 a 35 point RAPE.
OH BUT UGA HAD TOP RUNNING BACKS AND GREAT PLAYERS AROUND HIM!!!
Yep he did have all that. But then so did LSU and ALABAMA!!!! Both of those big-time offensive teams had other players to!!!
Anyway Fromm played 3 years at UGA. Eason before him is now in the NFL!!! So he was developed well at UGA! His better season was at UGA!!! That is why at the NFL DRAFT HE THANKED UGA COACHES NOT WASHINGTON! He didn’t even start once he got to Washington!!! Because under those coaches. HE REGRESSED!!!
Fromm played electric football for 2 seasons. The third season. He regressed a bit. But that was because he had to replace EVERY SINGLE WIDE RECEIVER!!! He totally started FRESH!!!! And he had a brand new QB COACH AND OC!!!! HE WAS NEW AND TERRIBLE AT UGA! Still it didn’t prevent UGA from winning the SEC east again. 3 straight seasons!!!
Justin Fields doesn’t count but he will be a #1 pick!!! It just so happens that R Day has a high school type offense. He knew it like the back of his hand.
The UGA coaching helped him at Ohio state. ONLY STETSON BENNETT WAS QUESTIONABLE. Yet he flat out lit Tennessee up along with Arkansas, auburn and Kentucky. Stetson Bennett beat them all!!!
So in just 5 seasons. Always being right there in the mix for the playoffs! With Jaime Newman opting out. A 5TH string QB LOOKED LIKE A H TROPHY WINNER FOR MOST OF THE TIME HE PLAYED!!!!
UGA had a better record and ranking than east joke winner Florida!!! There is proof UGA can CONSISTENTLY WIN! UGA WILL REPLACE ALABAMA AS A DYNASTY AND BEAT THEM ALREADY IN 2017 ALREADY!!!
PS. That is what recruits see!!!
Negan
All very true. No one wants to leave Athens after they graduate. There are police officers, bartenders, cab drivers, and business owners in Athens that got a degree and wouldn’t leave. I would love for my son to use his UGA engineering degree instead of still working at the college but, hey, that may require leaving Athens!
Worth staying just for the food….and beer breweries.
The state of Georgia produces 5 star QB’s all the time. Nothing new
Prior to Lawrence and Fields in 2018
Who are the prior 5-Star QB’s coming out of the State of Georgia?
I think Davis Mills in 2017 was a 5 star who went to Stanford. I can’t remember if Deshaun Watson was a 5 star or not. But there’s been a definite increase in QB talent from GA the last few years.
Deshaun was a 247 4 star. He would have been a 5 star in some years.
Deshaun Watson, josh Hypel (played on the same team at ok like Huepel) to name a few.
the kid from the Atlanta area that ended up at SC. Shaw
O’Gara–this is another example of why I seldom read your articles viz., you ask a question–in this case, in the headline–then do not answer it?
Why is Smart so good at signing five-star quarterbacks? I don’t know.
^^^this. This article reminds me of the guy who randomly shot an arrow into the side of a barn then painted a circle around it and said he hit the bullseye. The reporter has is mind made up before he collects evidence….lazy
This all has an easy explanation that’s much less wordy.
3/5 5 star QB’s mentioned are from the state of GA. Eason committed to Richt and maintained his commitment. JT was sold on his relationship he formed with Monken who was an NFL OC which I’m sure attracted him.
So why do they transfer? Eason was surpassed by someone younger than him so he wasn’t going to start. Fields was a 3 and done prospect and figured Fromm would stay for 4 years so it didn’t make sense to stay. People really try to make this more difficult than it is.
There’s one QB who gets meaningful snaps, every other position can rotate. If you recruit a bunch of 5 star QB’s, you’ll get a bunch of QB transfers. If you recruit 1 every 3-4 years, you probably won’t see as many transfers.
I don’t disagree with your comments, but the question was how Smart got five-stars to Georgia, not why they left.
True, my answer: 3/5 are in state prospects. I don’t give him credit for Eason, he probably just let him know that he would still be the day 1 starter more or less. Eason was already committed so had some liking toward the school anyway. So now 3/4 you can explain by the players being in state.
The question to me then is: how did Kirby Smart convince JT Daniels to come to UGA? Answer: Todd Monken did, and here’s the pitch to JT: come to a talented team with (at the time) a grad transfer QB who will buffer you to be able to recover on your own timeline for your knee and then come in and play for an NFL OC (and George Pickens + Dom Blaylock were proven entities who would be around for two more years).
to put it simply, he’s a good recruiter. he learned from the best. he hasn’t won a national champ, but he’s elevated uga to the point where uga is in the conversation at the beginning of the season and the end of the season as a contender for the nat’l. champ. there’s only 3-4 other programs who could say the same each year since 2017. that’s relevancy….at the highest level. a top 5 team label.
i’m sure he’s selling recruits that they’re knocking on the door and simply one player, or better yet, one star qb from busting open the door. barring a major injury, if he doesn’t get in the playoff this year, i’d imagine recruits wouldn’t be as in-tune to listen to him going forward, but as of this date, what’s there really to argue at this time. outside of 3-4 teams, who’s been more competitive than uga since ’17?
I think you covered it well.
Quote from another SEC coach:
“Kirby Smart will know your neighbor’s dog’s birthday if you give him two weeks to recruit a kid. He’ll know the color of their bedroom if he has to. He’s one where you get kind of scared going against and you never feel comfortable, and that’s the most respect you can give another recruiter.”
And he requires the same from his staff. Kirby doesn’t hire/keep coaches without thinking about the overall recruiting ability of the staff.
i like it. i can’t recall all of the details, but i remember the background of when he recruited robertson.
he obviously lost out to cal (initially), but he was relentless in his continued pursuit and forced cal to continue to recruit to a level they weren’t comfortable with….just to hold onto him. that’s a tougher request considering cal and dykes were over 3,000 miles away and cks was only 200 miles from robertson down in savannah.
i think afterwards dykes was actually quoted as saying something to the effect that he never wanted to go up against cks again for a recruit.
Listen up. The state of Georgia is the most talented state in the country for football players and basketball players at the high school level. The University of Georgia is sitting on countless elite athletes. Most of those guys have liked the Bulldogs growing up. It’s close to home, and we all know how important that is to most recruits and their parents. Georgia just so happens to be sitting on a gold mine of players. And they’re the SEC program in that state. The SEC is the superior conference. Therefore, Georgia is gonna land multiple of these big time athletes from Atlanta and Marietta. Kirby, he can sell the brand. But heck, if I was the head coach for Georgia, I’d recruit just as well. Georgia poses itself. Kirby doesn’t have much to do with it. Other than recruits like him, but that’s nothing special. it doesn’t take much to get a recruit to like you as a coach.
Wish I hadn’t “listened up”. Waste of time.
I said nothing false.
you thinking you could recruit just as well is the most blatant false statement. i don’t have enough care to further point out your other egregious statements
Everything you said was true up until the third-to-last sentence. Kirby has tons to do with it. Clemson, Bama, Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, and even Florida recruit Atlanta and Georgia heavily. If Kirby wasn’t an elite recruiter, that talent would be going elsewhere. Just look at recruiting prior to Kirby. Richt did a good, and occasionally great, job, but he wasn’t elite and under him and prior UGA coaches, the top talent usually played out of state.
That was a bit of a strong sentence. Okay. I’ll give you that. Maybe Kirby does have something to do with it. But my point is, I realistically think most college coaches could recruit nearly as well as Kirby if they were sitting on that type of gold mine.
aubie is doing her best to supplant cojoneslicker as the village crackhead
they’re neck-in-neck
Aubie posting dumba$hit trying to troll…. That’s nothing new..
We’ve got aubie and BamaTampon,
somebody go find cojones and we’ll have an official pussfest
The pussfest was taking place before any fans from other teams arrived…
Any article with TDOWthedumba$$ posting is guaranteed to have UGA fans blowing smoke up each other’s a$$ about how great they are while crying like little b!tches about other fans/teams….
Typical UGA article with a typical UGA dumba$$..
BamaTampon
Thanks for letting me know I hit a nerve!
DumbsOfWar why are you so obsessed with me bro. I had no intention of posting in this UGA circle jerk fest but you keep asking for me. So here you go, UGA keeps getting 5 star QBs to come in, most of them transfer out, and still the most glaring fact is ….. 1980
You didn’t hit a nerve… Just like UGA you come up short again…
LMFaO BamaTime stalking my posts and taking time outta his day to call me a troll. What a joke LOL. That’s nothing new..
ha!
This is mostly true so not sure why everyone got so upset, not the best but elite talent rich state (top 5) for sure. Similar to LSU, Louisiana has great football (not top 5) BUT LSU is a virtual lock for those elite Louisiana players. Georgia, Florida, California, and Texas players are generally more likely to truly explore out of state options.
Louisiana and Ohio kids are a little more loyal to their state schools, LSU and Ohio State, and have underrated HS football which is why they are also consistently in the top recruiting in the country.
Not top 5?
Yeah right.
Per capita Louisiana has the best best high school football in the country. Hands down.
Yes, but Georgia is close, and has a lot more numbers. They also get plenty of OL talent, which Louisiana doesn’t, unfortunately. Hbobo is on track – the top 3 are CA, TX, and FL, simply because of the numbers. GA, LA, and Ohio State are the next 3, in no particular order. There’s no question this helps those programs, IMHO.
I wasn’t talking per capita. I didn’t say the quality of the football wasn’t good in Louisiana.
That’s like needing something heavy lifted and asking for the strongest pound for pound person. Of course it’s impressive but it doesn’t make that person the strongest or in the recruiting scenario – the most talent rich.
You know your recruiting, bobo.
Georgia should be winning championships every year with the amount of talent they bring in. All you have to do is beat Florida and then win the SEC Championship game. Easier said than done, but I won’t consider UGA elite until they can actually get past those challenges. Way too many 5-stars and top 200 4-stars on that team to not be winning championships.
If only curb stomping Auburn made one great
Those were the days…
Actually I don’t recall them ever existing now that I think about it.
You must have missed the 2020 game.
Leave it to Auburn to make a 5’9″ former walk-on look like an All-SEC quarterback.
@KirbySmart, we may not be able to do that to a 5’9 walk on but we can make an All-SEC QB out of a cornerback that was kicked out of Georgia that can torch his former team..
What does that even mean…
Nick Marshall?? Ring a bell?
“Torch”
Nick Marshall stats vs Georgia 2013
Passing
15/26 for 230 yards and 1 touchdown
Rushing
19 attempts for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns
Are you under the impression that anyone cares who think is “elite” or not?
you*
I am under that impression lol. I still posted it though.
Uh someone tell Aubie… UGA did check your boxes (beating UF and winning the SECC) to be “elite”, see 2017-2018 season.
That was three years ago..
Aubie 108, If Georgia was in a situation like Ohio St or Clemson, I could agree. Getting to the SECCG is almost every year is almost a reality.
There’s that team named Alabama, and they do a pretty good job of recruiting as well. Teams like LSU, Auburn and Florida have seasons where the team comes together.
How many Championships had Saban won by year 6? Kirby’s just getting started. Georgia’s time is coming.
He won 3 in his first 6 years, with probably less talent than UGA has. And why can’t Kirby beat Saban? Even Gus beat him with far less talent.
he’s referring to saban’s first 6 yrs as a hc. you think it’s fair to compare saban’s 14th – 20th yr as a seasoned hc to smart’s first 6?
also, gus was 1-2 in his first 3 games against saban. i think we can agree that the one victory was a miraculous win, while the other two were dbl digit losses. it’s not like gus had him figured out.
Comparing Saban’s first 6 years to Smart’s, is basically comparing apples to oranges. Saban’s first 6 years were coaching Toledo for one year and then taking over a Michigan State program that hadn’t had a winning season in the 5 years prior to him taking over. Had he taken over a 10 win program like Smart did and recruited top 5 classes right from the start, there’s no doubt he’d have a title by year 6. Dawg fans need to stop bringing this stupid comparison up every time someone criticizes their coach for not having a title yet.
MSU was also under NCAA sanctions when Saban took over..
And you idiots think I’m trolling. You guys take these things too seriously. Is that a Georgia fan thing? Seems like it.
Well by definition you are trolling.. You’re just too stupid to know it.
Trolling would be this… “LMAO Georgia sucks even with all of those five stars. Can’t believe they still haven’t won a championship since 80. Terrible coaching and developmental fundamentals.”
What I said was much different. Therefor, you’re wrong about me being too stupid to know it.
Move along
“Kirby, he can sell the brand. But heck, if I was the head coach for Georgia, I’d recruit just as well. Georgia poses itself. Kirby doesn’t have much to do with it. Other than recruits like him, but that’s nothing special. it doesn’t take much to get a recruit to like you as a coach.”
That was from your first post in this forum… That is nothing but trolling.. It is nothing but inflammatory…
Alright.
A young, first-time HC coming from a defensive background who cut his teeth at a championship program that was built in large part on playing great defense.
3 OC’s in 5 years, one of which was a flop.
But like all elite, high-IQ leaders Kirby is learning, growing, changing and adapting.
We need sunglasses in Athens, really good sunglasses.
Plus Kirby is from Louisiana, which always helps.
“Irrelevant it is that in this modern era of high-octane passing offenses, his was stuck in neutral for the first 4 years”
Was the 2017 SEC title irrelevant? The Rose Bowl win? The four-straight Top-seven finishes? All irrelevant?
What is more important, having “high octane offenses” or winning football games?
Write another dumb article about how impressive Missouri is for going 5-5.
Just a matter of time until Kirby breaks through and brings a natty home to Georgia. Definitely a “when” not “if” scenario brewing in Athens!
Go Dawgs!
Because Kirby Smart is a good coach and a great recruiter, unlike your personal favorite Sideshow Dan the Clown who is a good coach but an awful recruiter.
There, answered it for you without being pedantic, O’Gara.
Yes, mullet can scheme and call good offensive plays but
Does a good coach start a riot during a game then show up to the post game presser dressed as a Star Wars character?
Does a good coach issue a public challenge to pack out a stadium during a global pandemic?
Does a good coach need a State’s Attorney to do a presser and explain why one his players isn’t being charged with assault and battery?
Does a good coach lose his #1 recruit because he didn’t act on repeated reports of sexual assaults in the players dorm?
Does a good coach allow a player to repeatedly choke (assault) tuTors?
Does a good coach allow his wife to slobber all over his players?
Does a good coach “dance up” (literally) his players?
Does a good coach goad other coaches/programs in the media then get his aass kicked by said programs?
Does a good coach at a State’s flagship U. get his aass kicked in recruiting his home State year after year?
When a player does something bone-headed and overtly childish, and, that act costs his team a very important game, does a good coach make a babbling, incoherent attempt to excuse away the player’s behavior?
Does a good coach give 3rd and Grantham a contract extension?
This article isn’t about Coach Mullen.
I was to replying to a comment about mullet, what are you replying to?
Virtue signaling in SDS is a fools game.
DumbsOfWar & corch can’t help themselves but bring up the Mighty Gators and their coach in every article.
Definition of obsession
conjoneslicker can’t help themselves but to chase Corch, TDOW and other UGA fans all over UGA articles. Definition of acute aass-sniffing
Not even close to remotely true but whatever floats your boat. In fact you are just like them libs accusing others of the very thing you are doing
Cojones… did you really just say “the Mighty Gators”? Are you letting mrtruth log into your account and post comments for you?
Box, get used to it bro
The problem is the star rating system and the way we all seem to think it is the gospel. If we look at the really great NFL QB’s, they weren’t 5 star recruits. The 5 star high school qb is the kid who matured early and stood out because he was always bigger better stronger. They are tapped out by 18-19.
Oh well, my opinion but there is some truth in there
Would be an interesting study. Also, 5* QBs normally go to bad teams. Lesser rated QBs may go to the better teams drafting late in the draft (Tom Brady).
Wasn’t Tom Brady like the 4th string QB at Michigan?
He started every game his last two years.
Drafted 199th in the 6th round.
It certainly isn’t development. Could it be $omething else? Maybe it is the country’s best launching pad to the transfer portal?
This article is red meat for the trolls. Also, this article meanders around without a clear thesis. Was the goal to answer the question posed in the title? Or to examine the history of QBs under CKS? Regardless, it will be fascinating to see all of this playout over the coming seasons.
Don’t expect much from O’Gara.
I just read title and skipped to comments. O’Gara just runs on and on and never says anything. But he got a click from me. No research at all just someone who throws articles and hopes for clicks. He has always been Kirby hater for some reason.
Lets be real, anything with Georgia or Florida or Alabama in the title gets a click from you and your brethren.
You comment on at least 50% of the UGA articles, that’s a conservative estimate.
As this is the first UGA article I’ve commented on since Georgia’s self reporting recruiting violations article, I find that unlikely. But don’t let facts and statistics get in the way of your rebuttals.
The journalism on this site is similar to a high school newspaper. Worse than my HS paper. Just awful
Why a QB commits to the Dawgs ? All elite athletes want to be surrounded by other elite athletes…as the team with the most elite athletes usually wins a lot of games.
Kirby Smart is a defensive specialist & needs a genuine “QB whisperer” to work with the QB’s.
Athens is a great college football town. I’d rank Athens, Ga. and Chapel Hill, N.C. as the two best I’ve visited & yes I have been to all SEC schools campuses.
There are 3 people that have dictated college football over the past 2-3 years, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, and Nick Saban. Two are from Georgia and they didn’t play for them the past 2 years. That’s a miss.
Justin Fields has “dictated” college football more so than Joe Burrow or Tau?????
From the coaches perspective Dabo hasn’t provided any “dictation?????”
Maybe 2 of the 5 then? I guess the point was his two 5 star Georgia misses speak louder than his 5 star hits, at least for now.
you failed to make any kind of point, just read the other commenters to your post
Additionally
The miss on Trevor Lawrence is universally attributed to Brian Shottenheimer, who was the OC during Richt’s last season at UGA.
Shottenheimer blowing off and disrespecting Lawrence at a UGA recruiting event has been reported on more than once.
That’s a weak attempt at a troll comment.
Please expand upon how Fields has “dictated” CFB. Was it due to the high powered offense he helmed scoring the same against Bama as UGA and the diminutive Stetson? Or his identical playoff and NC record as Fromm?
The fact that he led OSU to the playoffs the past couple years. That’s kind of a big deal. You know, as opposed to not being in the playoffs.
OSU made the CFP multiple times and won a NC before Fields ever showed up in Columbus.
Oh my bad, you’re right, OSU is a juggernaut and Stetson Bennett would have led them to the playoffs as well.
Past couple of years? You mean the 6-game regular season that the Big10 bent over backwards to accommodate? That one? Consider me impressed. Even better, did Fields and OSU have to get through a Bama or LSU juggernaut to make the playoffs? No?
They got past Clemson, lets not pretend they weren’t a good team.
Yeah, Clemson was good. But the victory over them was mitigated somewhat by the stomping they received the following week from Bama.
Put Fields or Lawrence on UGA, I would roll the dice that they could win 1 out of 2019 LSU, 2x 2020 Alabama. I mean, Florida was within 2 and 1 score of them.
You should just stop.
Kirby is an elite coach and recruiter and those are intertwined. Being on the national scene has helped, as well. But, Connor, ‘It also helps when Smart can say “you’ll be surrounded by more elite talent than anywhere in the country” and truly mean it.‘ I give you Exhibit A; as in Alabama and Coach Saban.
Generally agree with @hbobodraw’s observations. A lot of it is circumstantial.
Kirby is an excellent recruiter and Georgia has the highest per capita concentration of players rated as elite in the country (and fourth in aggregate total number)… without a competing in-state football power. Yes, Clemson, OSU and other SEC programs raid the state, but the team you grew up as a fan of does matter.
Daniels, as an inbound transfer from the left coast, is the outlier. But I don’t think it takes much detective work to see what he saw: surrounding talent, the SEC, chance to start for a top 10 team, and Monken selling him plenty of passing attempts.
Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times wrote an August 2019 article about the investment various Georgia high school football programs have made in their coaches, facilities, etc. Some stats from his article:
* 15 years ago, the state of Georgia produced 80-100 Division I-A recruits in a class. In 2020 the number exceeded 250. On the low end, a 250% increase.
* In 2006, the Rivals top 250 included 14 players from Georgia. In 2019 and 2020 the state had 27 players in the Rivals list. A 92% increase.
• In 2017, Georgia high schools produced more NFL draft picks (29) than any other state. Over the last five years, only Florida (165), Texas (137) and California (128) have had more players drafted than Georgia (99).
Part of the improvement is attributable to north to south population migration and growth (the same phenomenon that allowed Florida schools to become football powers over the last four decades). But beyond population growth, there has been a concerted investment and effort to improve high school player development over the last decade or so, in the state of Georgia, which — even with raiding by out of state programs — can’t help but benefit UGA. A specific example from Baker’s article: 44 Georgia high school football coaches earn over $100,000 a year… and about a dozen of those were hired out of the state of Florida.
Of course, what remains to be seen is whether the advanced fundamentals development implied by some of these 5-star ratings translates to 5-star performance in college, or whether the state’s player development efforts have given rise to an upward bias in evaluations.
“Of course, what remains to be seen is whether the advanced fundamentals development implied by some of these 5-star ratings translates to 5-star performance in college, or whether the state’s player development efforts have given rise to an upward bias in evaluation”
www DOT thespun DOT com/nfl/graphic-the-10-u-s-states-with-the-most-current-nfl-players
Sept 2020 article detailing States with the most players in the NFL
Florida 194 (.903 NFL players per 100,000 people)
Texas 192 (.66 NFL players per 100,000 people)
California 170 (.43 NFL players per 100,000 people)
Georgia 134 (1.26 NFL players per 100,000 people)
Ohio 71 not worth computing
Alabama 60 (1.22 NFL players per 100,000 people)
Pennsylvania 60 not worth computing
Louisiana 59 (1.28 NFL players per 100,000 people)
Georgia is behind only Louisiana per captia for producing NFL players, and it’s close between LA and GA.
SO YES – the 5-Star ratings of Georgia boys translates into performance on the field.
“Part of the improvement is attributable to north to south population migration and growth (the same phenomenon that allowed Florida schools to become football powers over the last four decades). But beyond population growth, there has been a concerted investment and effort to improve high school player development over the last decade or so, in the state of Georgia”
The migration to metro Atlanta has improved the numbers for the Atlanta area but all of Georgia produces a disproportionate number of elite players – Columbus/Muscogee-County, Valdosta/Lowndes-County, Moultrie, Waycross, Augusta/Richmond-County, West Georgia, Griffin/Spalding-County, Macon/Bibb-County, Savannah/Chatham-County and Costal Georgia etc etc etc.
The numbers in Atlanta have been rising for the last 25+ years but the State of Georgia has been hub for elite football talent for decades – Georgia boys have always been able to play some football.
Per capita! Love it! Proof for my above comment. Well done sir.
Great points and evidence laid out. They should be paying you to write.
The other piece that’d I’d like to add to this is the point you brought up about the team kids grow up rooting for matters. Because of the great migration to metro Atlanta, the reason you see some teams able to raid the state of GA moreso than teams raiding LA is the high number of transplants in the metro Atlanta area.
Lots of people migrate to Atlanta from the surrounding areas and of course raise their kids on the schools they went to so although there’s really only one state school to write home about concerning football, the kids who grow up in metro Atlanta aren’t necessarily as attached to UGA.
I don’t have any numbers on me but I would suspect UGA does pretty well % on getting middle GA or far north GA prospects but struggles as a % with west GA (a lot of Auburn folks), south GA (a lot of FSU, UF folks), and metro Atlanta (a lot of fans of all sorts of schools).
Same phenomenon with IMG kids in Florida — many are from out of state. And the Cocktail Party has helped UGA recruit Jacksonville kids over the years. Florida has historically been strongest in the Tampa Bay and Jacksonville metro areas, with FSU having an edge in metro Orlando. And Miami in South Florida, of course.
And similar to the comment about Georgia kids being good at football before the population growth growth spurt, when I was in high school and college, before the ascendancy of the big three in Florida, Coral Gables High School was periodically the best high school football team in the country.
UGA has one of the most talented OLs in the country and WRs that can take the top off defenses. There is a lot to like in Athens for a 5 star HS QB. The one that finally gets UGA over the hump and wins a national championship will be a legend for a lifetime.
I still think he’s the last person I’d send my 5 Star QB to play for just by the fact he hung with Stetson Bennett for so long. Plus the fact the other QBs didn’t even look like they developed anything from their time in his system. JT was a no-brainer — he’s like Lawrence, Rattler, and Fields and is plug and play — don’t mess with his past development.
Funny that JT Daniels father has the exact opposite take.
Jake Fromm is playing for the Buffalo Bills.
Per your logic Fromm playing at UGA for Kirby had nothing to do with Fromm making it to the NFL, after only 3 seasons, is that what you are saying?
I would offer an entirely different consideration. Exactly how many top college coaches in the country, do you honestly think, would have held JT Daniels out, until he was fully healed, if they really just needed quality quarterback play, to have a chance to be fully completive at the CFP level? It is obvious that putting Daniels in made a substantial improvement in the UGA offense, & there is no way that the coaching staff did not know both his abilities & his complete physical condition. That is exactly the kind of coach, that any loving parent would want coaching their son.
That is more or less what J-TD’s father and his former HS coach have stated.
Hung with Stetson for so long? That’s what you think happened?
I don’t understand how Kirby playing Bennett is a criticism of Smart, Bennett was UGA’s best option until J-TD was physically able.
Mathis was a total bust when the game actually started and Beck was a true freshman who missed out on the normal Spring and Summer development schedule.
Bennett had played more college football than Mathis and Beck combined.
Plus, we’re still not completely certain that JT is all that and a bag of chips. It’s still a pretty limited, if promising, sample size.
TDOW, I agree
The realistic chance of making the playoffs is doing it for him.
Georgia… where 5bstar QBs go to become 3 star QBs…
Georgia would be Alabama East if they could actually develop any of these QBs.
There can be no doubt that Kirby is a great defensive coach. Clearly his forte, during his career, has not been coaching quarterbacks. It has taken him a few years to find the right coaches for the other side of the ball. Most seem to think that he has now done just that.
This year will tell the tale. Think about what you just said, if that is indeed the case. UF will be relegated to consistent 2nd place at best in the east.
Not by doing much with them, apparently.
Well if Vandagriff stays, it is highly probable that Stockton will transfer. If Stockton comes in and wins the job it is highly probable that Vandagriff leaves. It is tough to keep 5* QBs when they overlap by more than a year.
Absolutely. Begs the question, is it worth it? I don’t know there’s a right answer. By getting both, you all but guarantee you end up with the better one but you also hurt future depth.
hbobodraw, Worst case, either Vandagriff or Stockton transfer.
Kirby gets to keep the other top recruits that came in with him in the same signing class. Where’s the downside?
Downside is the future implications.
Example:
Vandagriff wins the starting job next season (2022) and is a 3 and done player
Stockton transfers out to play his 2023 season elsewhere
If vandagriff leaves after ‘23 you better hope you landed a good one in the ‘23/‘24 recruiting cycle or a grad transfer that can plug and play.
I think Kirby tends to be a 1 scholarship QB per cycle recruiter. Bama was set this past season because they recruited a secondary QB in the Tua cycle (and he panned out).
Not saying he shouldn’t go for the best he can get each season but it may have other implications that need to be considered when building out the rest of the roster.
Win win.
The simple reality is that lots of the supporters of other programs, that are posting here, are envious of Kirby’s ability to attract quality players to UGA. It turns out that he is an excellent recruiter overall, but especially of quarterbacks. Since there is so much evidence as to make that fact indisputable, the next best thing for detractors to do, is to attempt to disparage how those highly regarded quarterbacks have been utilized and/or performed.
Another reality is that Kirby is an excellent defensive coach. He has not been, & is not now, an offensive coach. The last piece of the puzzle, for him to put together a truly dominant team, has been for him to hire the right offensive coaches to utilize the offensive talent that is consistently recruited. If Todd R. Monden turns out to be the guy that he has appeared to be so far, & that most expect, look out.
How?? By using KFC to go bags.
Clearly, the name fits.
That is the kind of comment that comes from a 2nd rater. One who is not willing to put the effort forth to win, but is more than willing to talk smack about those that do. You know. The kind of guy that goes in the bosses office to say that he should get a raise, because someone is getting paid more than him, but that still can’t get to work on time. Or that doesn’t think that it is fair that his brother in law can afford a new car, but he can’t, so he feels the need to tell others that the brother in law is a bad guy. Whatever. You do you.
Nothing like starting out the day with a stupid comment.
This article is the most comical thing I have read in a while. 5 star QB destination . Smart has landed Eason who transferred bc smart was too dumb to play him over From when he returned from injury and Fields who he also showed his eye for talent by starting From over him. That’s TWO who TRANSFERRED OUT of the program. They chose to LEAVE UGA. THATS IT. Now you have Vandagriff who hasn’t played a down. That’s ALL you can remotely take credit for. Period.
JT Daniels lost his spot at USC. Coming off a major injury he lands at UGA bc how AWFUL their QB situation is. He didn’t chose UGA in the beginning. Yet this author is making it seem like UGA has the best QB room in the country lol.
Need we remind everyone Stetson Bennet and DeWan Mathis were the makeup of the always overhyped pups QB room last year??
Pipe down Connor O’Gara
Georgia doesn’t develop quarterbacks. Come in as a five star, leave as a two star or transfer out before then
thanks!