Link: Is Kirby Smart Really Locking Down Georgia??

TIDE-HSV

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When people speak of locking down they don't mean getting all the prospects, they mean getting the ones they want every year. Nothing compares to the lockdown of the state of Louisiana pre Saban at Alabama.


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And, now, the Cajuns complain that we get their cream of the crop every year. (They still place more than anyone in the NFL.) Mid-game, they bring it up when someone like Surtain makes a play. When I see an Alabama native make a play for an out of state school, and a talking head mention it, I'm likely to say "He's from Alabama?" :)
 

bamaga

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This topic has been discussed at length on the DawgNation message board. Here's how I responded to locking down the state of Georgia.

1. It's impossible. Georgia and Atlanta in particular is transient location, full of transplants from other states and countries. The sons of parents who come from other states will have loyalties to schools not named UGA. You have kids that because of circumstances at home want to get away and go to school in another state.
2. Scholarships are limited and position groups are finite. The coaching staff may pass on recruiting an in-state player at a certain position, because of the existing depth and other needs.
3. Some of the kids on this 247Sports list (ex. J.T. Bertrand and Jalen Perry) were at one time UGA commits. They committed early and over time kids in their same position with more perceived talent expressed interest or have silently committed to Georgia. Therefore, kids like Jalen Perry were asked to seek opportunities elsewhere.
4. Some kids on this list cannot qualify academically.

In short, the state of Georgia has the 3rd highest number of Div. 1 prospects in the country, so there's no way Georgia can land them all.
You know, I keep hearing reason #3 from Dawg fans, except I’m not buying it. They have had 5 star players decommit, high 4 star kids. I know recruit rankings are not perfect, but I think they would like to have a few of those kids. Sounds to me like rationalization of why things are not going as expected. The fan base put Kirby on such a high plateau last year with cfbpcg with the killer recruiting class Georgia put together. There has to be a reason , but it can’t be that others are doing better on the recruiting trail, I mean , this is Georgia and Kirby we are talking about. I remember Dawg fans talking last year that it was gonna take Kirby only 2 years to win a title , and It took Nick 3 years.
 

TIDE-HSV

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You know, I keep hearing reason #3 from Dawg fans, except I’m not buying it. They have had 5 star players decommit, high 4 star kids. I know recruit rankings are not perfect, but I think they would like to have a few of those kids. Sounds to me like rationalization of why things are not going as expected. The fan base put Kirby on such a high plateau last year with cfbpcg with the killer recruiting class Georgia put together. There has to be a reason , but it can’t be that others are doing better on the recruiting trail, I mean , this is Georgia and Kirby we are talking about. I remember Dawg fans talking last year that it was gonna take Kirby only 2 years to win a title , and It took Nick 3 years.
Well, it can't be said enough that closeness of the star ratings vs. numbers drafted between show that Nick can both evaluate better than the "experts," and develop better than Kirby. Meyer, when he was at UF, freely admitted that, if CNS offered someone, he got an automatic offer from UF...
 

NoNC4Tubs

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Well, it can't be said enough that closeness of the star ratings vs. numbers drafted between show that Nick can both evaluate better than the "experts," and develop better than Kirby. Meyer, when he was at UF, freely admitted that, if CNS offered someone, he got an automatic offer from UF...
That's a stupid mentality. You should be recruiting to your own needs, not based on another program's offers or the kid's star ratings...:rolleye2:
 

DawgByte

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You know, I keep hearing reason #3 from Dawg fans, except I’m not buying it. They have had 5 star players decommit, high 4 star kids. I know recruit rankings are not perfect, but I think they would like to have a few of those kids. Sounds to me like rationalization of why things are not going as expected. The fan base put Kirby on such a high plateau last year with cfbpcg with the killer recruiting class Georgia put together. There has to be a reason , but it can’t be that others are doing better on the recruiting trail, I mean , this is Georgia and Kirby we are talking about. I remember Dawg fans talking last year that it was gonna take Kirby only 2 years to win a title , and It took Nick 3 years.

There will always be in state kids that want to sign with other schools. Columbus Georgia and schools in South Georgia send kids to AU and FSU on a regular basis based on proximity to those schools. There's one school in West Georgia where we cannot land anyone. I think their HC is an Auburn grad and there's bad blood between him and UGA.

We'll see how things go on the 19th, but so far I like the look of our class. It's not always about how many 5*'s, I'm more concerned about meeting needs and ensuring the kids we get buy into the program. Drama queens typically don't work out so well.
 

CoolBreeze

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There will always be in state kids that want to sign with other schools. Columbus Georgia and schools in South Georgia send kids to AU and FSU on a regular basis based on proximity to those schools. There's one school in West Georgia where we cannot land anyone. I think their HC is an Auburn grad and there's bad blood between him and UGA.

We'll see how things go on the 19th, but so far I like the look of our class. It's not always about how many 5*'s, I'm more concerned about meeting needs and ensuring the kids we get buy into the program. Drama queens typically don't work out so well.
Yea, you guys are in a good position Dawg with a coach who emphasizes recruiting in a hotbed. He learned from the best and I expect that he will get better with time. Smart does not need to lock down all the kids in GA. He only needs to get the best for his team and lucky for him there are a lot of them.
 

Tideflyer

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I think on balance and from a practical standpoint, UGA and Alabama are on par talent wise. There may be some who disagree, but I can`t see anyone asserting that there`s an appreciable and significant gap. If I`m correct, that means it comes down to coaching and the bounce of the ball.
 

BamaInBham

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I think on balance and from a practical standpoint, UGA and Alabama are on par talent wise. There may be some who disagree, but I can`t see anyone asserting that there`s an appreciable and significant gap. If I`m correct, that means it comes down to coaching and the bounce of the ball.
I agree about the talent but Alabama has the coaching advantage though they did not show it in the last game. But in general they have an appreciable coaching advantage except at OL where Pittman is really good (no knock on Key). Two other factors are Alabama's will to win and their poise which are both overlooked and greater than UGA's. Though of course UGA, like most teams, has a great desire to beat Alabama.
 

bamaga

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There will always be in state kids that want to sign with other schools. Columbus Georgia and schools in South Georgia send kids to AU and FSU on a regular basis based on proximity to those schools. There's one school in West Georgia where we cannot land anyone. I think their HC is an Auburn grad and there's bad blood between him and UGA.

We'll see how things go on the 19th, but so far I like the look of our class. It's not always about how many 5*'s, I'm more concerned about meeting needs and ensuring the kids we get buy into the program. Drama queens typically don't work out so well.
I agree with what you said, and I think Kirby is doing an outstanding job on the recruiting trail. Its just that I’ve heard the argument a lot that the kids that ‘got away’ were kids that Georgia didn’t really want, they knew they would be asked to give up a spot for a better prospect. To which I call BS because every program has kids that get away, no program signs every kid they want . None. I think a lot of the UGA fan base were spoiled by last years class and think that’s the way it will be every year. I don’t think any program can recruit at that level every year, it’s just an unreasonable expectation. And that’s saying a lot coming from Alabama fan and the expectation we have on our program year in and year out.
 

DawgByte

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Yea, you guys are in a good position Dawg with a coach who emphasizes recruiting in a hotbed. He learned from the best and I expect that he will get better with time. Smart does not need to lock down all the kids in GA. He only needs to get the best for his team and lucky for him there are a lot of them.
Agree, and traditionally Georgia has done very well in the state of Florida and have been able to pull top talent from the Carolina's, including Todd Gurley, Zamir White, Keith Marshall, Channing Tindall etc. We also have a pipeline from the Miami area where James Coley recruits.

Interesting note: This morning I'm hearing a lot of "insider" chatter around Trey Sanders, who's currently in Athens on an OV. Nothing on Evans. This could get interesting.
 

DawgByte

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I think on balance and from a practical standpoint, UGA and Alabama are on par talent wise. There may be some who disagree, but I can`t see anyone asserting that there`s an appreciable and significant gap. If I`m correct, that means it comes down to coaching and the bounce of the ball.
I think we're gaining ground on Bama, but are not there yet in terms of depth. I think that lack of depth showed up in the 4th Qtr. of the SECCG, along with some ST execution break downs and an inexplicable fake punt call.
 

BamaInBham

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I think we're gaining ground on Bama, but are not there yet in terms of depth. I think that lack of depth showed up in the 4th Qtr. of the SECCG, along with some ST execution break downs and an inexplicable fake punt call.
IMO, it didn't have anything to do with lack of depth, it was just that Bama had taken over the last 27 minutes of the game in order to win it. Bama outscored UGA 21-0 after the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. It looked like Bama was going to dominate the game from the beginning, stoning UGA on the first drive then the moving inside the UGA 10, then Tua was badly injured on the 3rd offensive play and Bama went listless and UGA was invigorated. I think many people are mislead with how that game developed, mistakenly thinking that UGA is dominant and Bama is fortunate to get out with a win. It looked that way but it was very deceiving.
 

DawgByte

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IMO, it didn't have anything to do with lack of depth, it was just that Bama had taken over the last 27 minutes of the game in order to win it. Bama outscored UGA 21-0 after the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. It looked like Bama was going to dominate the game from the beginning, stoning UGA on the first drive then the moving inside the UGA 10, then Tua was badly injured on the 3rd offensive play and Bama went listless and UGA was invigorated. I think many people are mislead with how that game developed, mistakenly thinking that UGA is dominant and Bama is fortunate to get out with a win. It looked that way but it was very deceiving.
Both sides are going to see it the way they want. IMHO Georgia has dominated the first half of both games and Bama has dominated the second half. The better team won in both games. As a long suffering Georgia fan my goal is to see progress and improvement in the program. I think we're moving in the right direction. We're still not at Bama's level... few are.
 

bamaga

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GWe had our company Christmas party today, the Dawg fans were howling about how they flipped Trey Sanders , saying he will sign with the dawgs. Of course I was quick to point out he wasn’t committed to Bama, how could he be flipped? It didn’t matter, I guess small victories . Anyway, the reasoning was the pass happy Bama offense and the loss of Locksley . I guess we will see. I know he isn’t a Georgia product, but it is part of the Kirby conversation.
 
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CrimsonForce

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I think on balance and from a practical standpoint, UGA and Alabama are on par talent wise. There may be some who disagree, but I can`t see anyone asserting that there`s an appreciable and significant gap. If I`m correct, that means it comes down to coaching and the bounce of the ball.
Not really. UGA had 4 players drafted last year and we had 12. We’ll double them on drafted players this year also..
 

bamaga

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IMO, it didn't have anything to do with lack of depth, it was just that Bama had taken over the last 27 minutes of the game in order to win it. Bama outscored UGA 21-0 after the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. It looked like Bama was going to dominate the game from the beginning, stoning UGA on the first drive then the moving inside the UGA 10, then Tua was badly injured on the 3rd offensive play and Bama went listless and UGA was invigorated. I think many people are mislead with how that game developed, mistakenly thinking that UGA is dominant and Bama is fortunate to get out with a win. It looked that way but it was very deceiving.
It may of looked that way, but the stats were pretty close
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BamaInBham

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It may of looked that way, but the stats were pretty close
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I agree with you. But one reason that I said it may have looked that way (that UGA dominated) is because it looked that way to me before reflection and investigation. Part of that was surprise that after the first 6 or 7 mins, UGA kinda took over, definitely outplayed Bama. They looked physically dominant for ~1/2 of the game. Even though Bama shut UGA out for almost the 2nd half and scored 21 themselves, it just didn't look as physically dominant. But anyway, just like any one game, you just have to be careful about reading too much into it (just look at UGA/AU last year - Jekyll and Hyde). But we don't have too much choice, otherwise we would have nothing to say.
 

sanjosecrimson

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https://247sports.com/Season/2019-F...ankings/?InstitutionGroup=Highschool&State=GA

here is the latest after ESD.

this is pretty amazing that 2 out of the Top 10 are signing with Georgia.
3 out of 15 are signing with Georgia.
and finally 5 out of the Top 25 are signing with Georgia.
Haselwood will most likely sign with Oklahoma.

its great that Kirby and his staff can recruit nearby for top talent to replace the ones loss in his backyard, but for the talk about locking down Georgia once he became HC and be put to rest. Dawgbyet and whatever dawg fan on this board can spin it anyway you want to, but the proof is the pudding.
teams far and wide will raid Georgia like its going out of business and Kirby is going to have battles on his hand.
 

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