An In-State Rebound in Recruiting

Last Wednesday, Kirby Smart again stressed the importance of effectively recruiting the state of Georgia—basically, what the Bulldogs’ head coach seemingly reiterates every signing day.

“We always say, ‘Take care of the state first,’” Smart said as the first day of the early signing period drew to a close. “I’ve sat up here on one of these [signing] days before when that wasn’t the case.”

Indeed, while the importance of in-state recruiting has been routinely emphasized, the Bulldogs and Smart had somewhat slipped in recent years in signing top-notch talent from Georgia. For instance, after signing six of the state’s 10 Rivals100 prospects in consecutive years (a combined 12 of 20 in 2017-2018), the Bulldogs signed only five of the state’s combined 25 Rivals100 recruits the last two years.

In the most recent class, the Bulldogs lured four of the state’s seven Rivals100 recruits for 2021: No. 4 Amarius Mims, No. 7 Brock Vandagriff, No. 49 Micah Morris, and No. 96 Smael Mondon.

The three who didn't sign with UGA were No. 21 Barrett Carter to Clemson, No. 42 Jake Garcia to Miami (Fla.), and No. 58 Terrence Ferguson to Alabama.

The following is UGA’s number of in-state (of total in Georgia) Rivals100 signees; annual average of out-of-state Rivals100 signees; and the Bulldogs’ total annual average of Rivals100 prospects broken down by the Smart coaching era and Mark Richt’s 15-year tenure divided into five-year periods:

As presented from 2001-2021, UGA signed 71 of 164 Rivals100 prospects from the state of Georgia. Other schools that signed at least seven during that time: Tennessee: 12; Clemson: 10; Auburn: 8; Florida State: 8; Alabama: 7; and Florida: 7.

Interestingly, the number of Rivals100 prospects from the state had steadily increased in time before decreasing in 2021. From 2001-2014, the average number of Rivals100 recruits from Georgia was 6.6 per year, compared to 10.5 annually from 2015-2020, before falling back to seven in 2021 (there hasn’t been fewer than seven since 2009).

The increase from 2015-2020 helps explain why, although UGA has averaged landing more Rivals100 prospects from Georgia during the Smart era (4.0 from 2016-2021) than the Richt regime (3.1 from 2001-2015), the percentage signed of Rivals100 recruits from the state significantly favors Georgia’s former head coach (Richt: 46.1 percent; Smart: 38.7 percent).

Although UGA had seemingly slipped in 2019 and 2020 in landing top-notch in-state talent, in all fairness, the Bulldogs have been an out-of-state-signing juggernaut of late. In fact, Georgia signed more out-of-state Rivals100 prospects (22) in the six years of the Smart regime than the 15-year Richt era (21). Smart’s staggering annual average of 3.7 out-of-state Rivals100 signees includes the Bulldogs inking just one in 2021: No. 48 Xavian Sorey from Graceville, Fla.

Accordingly, here's a closer look at Georgia’s signing of top-notch talent the last two decades, from 2001 through 2021. The Bulldogs’ annual total number of Rivals100 signees is divided into in-state (black) and out-of-state (red):

Georgia signed the majority of the state’s top talent in 2021. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from Signing Day is that it may have come at a cost for the Bulldogs, as they came away with a total of only five Rivals100 signees. Georgia’s five total for 2021 is a program-low for the last five years (since four in 2016) and comes after annually averaging 9.3 Rivals100 signees from 2017-2020.