NSD Daily Countdown—9
by Patrick Garbin—Twitter @PGarbin
Beginning with 10, we countdown the days until National Signing Day… With 9 days remaining, recognized are a few ways how “9” is relative to Georgia football and recruiting:
9—By the early 1990s, and before the Internet became the center for information, a large network of sports 900 phone lines with an emphasis on college football recruiting were in place. Not wanting to miss out on the action while leading up to Signing Day in 1990, even the Atlanta Constitution established two 900 lines for “fans willing to pay to keep pace with recruiting.” 1-900-847-6477 was called for Georgia and Georgia Tech recruiting information, while 1-900-860-1012 was designated for recruiting news on Florida, Florida State, and Miami (Fla). Updated each hour on Signing Day, the teams’ recruiting lists were revealed beginning at 9 a.m. and continued until 9 p.m. The cost of the service was $1.95 for the first minute, and 95 cents for each additional minute.
9—During the Mark Richt era (2001-2015), Georgia signed an average of nine out-of-state prospects (8.9 to be exact) per year, or more than 37 percent of the signees in the 15 incoming classes. In comparison, during the previous regime coached by Jim Donnan (1996-2000), the Bulldogs signed an average of only 5.4 out-of-state prospects per year, or less than 24 percent of the signees in the five classes. Notably under Kirby Smart, combining last year’s class with the current commitments for 2017, Georgia has averaged six out-of-state prospects per class, or 27 percent of the signees/commitments.
9—To demonstrate the importance of in-state recruiting—at least, the significance of it decades ago—in 1983, Georgia signed nine of what the Atlanta Constitution recognized as “The Fabulous 14,” or the top 14 prospects in the state, including each of the top five and eight of the top 10. Still, landing nine of Georgia’s 14 best players was merely “enough to survive on,” according to head coach Vince Dooley at the time. “It’s not as good as I would like.” The top 14 prospects in the state for 1983, and where each attended:
