Quite the recruiting week for Kirby.
Like smoke from the Vatican, that can only mean one thing.
In a 48 hour period of time, Smart lands the #1 punter and place kicker in the nation. Wonder why this is so important to Kirby?
Legit question. When’s the last time a kicking issue did us in? The Sugar Bowl snafu on special teams was more of team breakdown, but the last one that comes to mind was the Carolina game in 2019? Jog my memory, Refugees.
Searels is going way out there to build the Great Wall of Georgia.
Quick question – have we ever had a Polynesian Bulldawg? Granted it’s a long way from home, but with Bowers and Frazier coming east, it isn’t too far…right?
So, Coach Searels celebrated a birthday a couple of days ago, noted in a post by his daughter, Taylor.
I couldn’t help but notice the profile pic, and I did a little investigating.
WHAT?
At least it’s not Tennessee, I guess, but color me shocked to see that somehow he couldn’t get his daughter into a similar role at Georgia, though I wonder if there’s some form of nepotism clause that couldn’t be avoided here. But hell, Drew Bobo is about to be our starting center.
Also makes me wonder how much insight is shared when it comes down to guys like Justus Terry when Texas and Georgia are competing for the same recruit.
Sending your son to Athens to be developed and play amongst the nation’s best athletes is all a mother could ask when you have a talented son. When your son is the quarterback, you could actually ask for a little something more: protection insurances.
We’ve already seen Jared Curtis busy recruiting for the Class of 2026…now enter momma Curtis.
Cantwell made Athens his last stop (for the time being) on the recruiting circuit, and he suddenly posted this on Monday.
If it rings true, this could be another catalyst class similar to the 2017 recruiting class that LeCounte had a hand in recruiting a player.
Stay tuned. Go Dawgs.
Kirby likes to surround himself with coaches who can recruit, that’s nothing new. With the Curtis announcement, you could sense a little Richard LeCounte in that Curtis was immediately and openly trying to get the nations best OT prospect, Jackson Cantwell, to become a Dawg.
As always, the Twitter universe and of course the Bobby Hillbillies, were a touch bitter about a Tennessee man taking their services to Georgia. In the mix of all that, Cantwell was taking their nonsense in stride, as evidenced here:
I like him. I like him a lot. It’ll be interesting to see who jumps in and follows as Curtis locks in his commitment.
Meanwhile, in Oregon:
Go Dawgs!
Cautionary statement: for now.
Kirby has another five star QB. Now for the surrounding cast, and how to keep him in Athens in the modern portal free for all era.
Go Dawgs.
I think I had Lynyrd Skynyrd running through my head as I typed that.
Today’s the day where a five star quarterback makes his decision on his college of choice, and we are well aware that Oregon is all in on paying everything they can to secure a national championship. I won’t be at all surprised to hear that Curtis is about to be a Duck.
The tea leaves point to Oregon. Georgia has been making a hard push to secure Bowe Bentley out of Texas and also has their name in the pot with a few other high profile QB recruits, including Peyton Houston who just secured a Rivals MVP at this weekends camp.
Don’t know about you, but part of me doesn’t really care where Curtis goes. Five stars are fine and all, but the showcase QB hasn’t really been a staple of Smart’s success in Athens, so part of me feels like we’re fine regardless. The Senator typically didn’t follow the recruiting tales too much either…and I’ve also come to realize a commitment means little to nothing in today’s modern era of recruiting and portal movement.
Either way I believe we’ll be fine, but it’ll also be nice to close out this drama that’s been clotting up the news feeds for months now.
While Carson Beck is cultivating his own South Beach dumpster fire via social media, let’s turn our attention back home to Athens. The oft-hyped spring talk is around the impending QBR comparisons that will come from G-Day (if we have one…Kirby said he’s not 100%) between Gunner and Pug. Montgomery is recovering from a high school injury.
But, all the talk is about Jared Curtis, who is down between Oregon and the Dawgs. Some are predicting Georgia will go all in on Curtis to bolster the 2026 recruiting class.
I remain skeptical. First, Justin Fields. Kirby had a #1 QB recruit at one time, and we all know that didn’t work out as planned. It was hard to argue with the logic given that Fromm had taken the Dawgs within a hair of winning a national championship (Tyler Simmons was, in fact, onsides), but it was also very clear Fields had athletic talents above Fromm’s…there again, Fromm was also a five star. Believe it or not, Kirby secured three five star quarterbacks in a row, between Eason, Fromm, then Fields.
After that, safe to say, we haven’t seen that level of a QB recruit since, chiefly because of COVID disruptions, the Jamie Newman debacle, JT Daniels transferring in, and so on. It maybe appeared to top gunslingers that Georgia wanted to just Manball it and have a game manager instead of a featured QB.
Second, there’s the loyalty factor, as some would say. Based on Fromm and Beck, when the QB1 struggled or didn’t look the part, Smart comes under fire for dancing with the date that brought you, so to speak. While this was more evident with Fromm-Fields, I can’t say the same for Beck. Give it to Carson, he waited his turn and likely had a higher upside physically to Bennett, but Bennett had the team and the swagger and the moxie you want in a QB. I’d also point to 2020, where the QB competition was a revolving door at times that the loyalty part isn’t 100% a thing. But it does look it. If this is true, then there’s no competition in Athens and Stockton is QB1 for 2025.
Third, Arch Manning. I only point out Arch as I feel he’s a unicorn in the NIL world. He’s waited, he’s highly touted, and likely has physical upside over Ewers but he’s waited his turn. He’s not every #1 QB recruit out there, as I don’t see many top recruits wanting to come in and ride the pine after they’ve been told they’re the “future of a program” since they were getting their first pimples in middle school. Not every QB recruit has two uncles and a grand dad that are former NFL Pro Bowlers to help navigate the path to a pro career.
Last, I just don’t see Kirby dropping that big of a dime on a QB. As evidenced by 2024, the surrounding cast has greater impact over the QB success than the QB himself.
UTGAFan has a point. Carson Beck posted some great numbers in 2023, but arguably didn’t have the same caliber of defenses on the other side of the ball to bail an offense out when struggling. Not to beat a dead horse, but the 2023 SECCG was evidence of that, alongside the frequency of first scores by opponents in the same season. Although he still had a great line and great skill players, there were holes on the defensive side that smart needed to remedy. Clearly there was a commitment in the 2025 class to invest in defensive linemen, and Smart seems to be getting the front seven shored up again.
I don’t know how much a top QB would impact the Bulldog program. Given Smart’s ten years, his most success came from a freshman quarterback and a walk on at the position. One was a five star recruit, the other was not, and one of those guys won two championship rings. For Bennett, it clearly took a bit of an emotional toll on him with the criticism he received as people called for Beck to play over him at times. He seemed to have the ego to handle it…compare that to the ego of a freshman hype machine, or maybe even Carson Beck. Which would you want in your signal caller in Athens?
Smart wants elite, not ego. I just don’t see the recruiting battle over a #1 QB recruit being the biggest priority on Kirby’s recruiting board, especially when the head coach has defensive DNA and has seen his elite defenses drop off in the past two years.
Well, well, well…
You had your chance, Arthur. Don’t screw it up this time…
Meanwhile…yet another recruiting win for Kirby Smart.
Everyone shows up for the Dawgs. Not just scouts.
Go ‘Dawgs! Go be great and give us more reasons to watch football on Sundays again.
Don’t know why this song popped into my head.
Maybe it’s this, and thing we were all looking for last season.
I think we saw that fire in a few people last year, and some that were a little questionable, or maybe it was chemistry, or maybe it was playing with a healthy body.
Or maybe it’s why Kirby went heavy back into recruiting the state of Georgia, looking for the type of player that wants to be the ‘Dawg that’s going to be the hunter, as Kirby says.
Here’s hoping Kirby finds them. Last season’s schedule is his season’s, as well, and we’re going to need those guys who want to be great.
Who want to be elite, even.