Much has been made of the addition of Malaki Starks to Georgia's Class of 2022 from an athleticism angle. And make no mistake, there's plenty to like.

Starks has a strong reputation on both the gridiron and in the community of Jefferson, Georgia.

For insight into both, we went to Jefferson head coach Gene Cathcart for his feelings on the Rivals100 athlete.

UGASports.com: The film on Malaki speaks for itself, but what do you see as some of his strongest attributes when it comes to his game, as someone who works with him daily?

Gene Cathcart: "Well, I think, obviously we get the chance to see him do things at practice that just, we marvel at, but I think the thing we noticed first as coaches is, and as much as you cover prospects, there are times when you hope a five-star just jumps off the screen at you, not just in a highlight film, but you don't have to watch many plays to see him make a difference in the game. With Malaki, that's his deal, whatever phase we're talking about, be it ball skills on defense, be it open field tackling, be it just speed on offense—the ability to throw it is better than he gets credit for, even though he won't do that. But big plays running, big plays catching the football when he did that for us, special teams, you know. There are not going to be too many Jefferson plays in a row that he doesn't do something that a knowledgeable football person isn't going to say, 'Wow.' And that's the thing that's so unique: he finds various ways to affect the game very quickly."

There's a lot of talk about him playing both sides of the ball at the next level, but what are some of the strengths you see from him back there in the defensive backfield?

Cathcart: "A lot of times, even with a great player like that, these college coaches will come in and say, 'Well, what is he?' And you know, you'll say, 'Well, you make millions. I make like minimum wage. So, since I make minimum wage, you make that decision.' I just know he's a [Jefferson] Dragon, and he's a great player. Defensively, he's got that frame that, some folks talk about him playing closer to the line of scrimmage, like a Thomas Davis-type hybrid player. But then he's got these great ball skills and closing speed. With him having played some quarterback as he does, he sees things defensively better than, say, somebody who hasn't done that. He just has the ability to get us in the right coverages, to get us in the right calls. He's really technically the quarterback on both sides of the field for us. I think an underrated component to him is, he just loves the game. He's one of those gym rat-type guys; he's up there, he's watching film, and that's going to just serve him so well in college with all the complicated coverages and things like that, schemes. He will adapt, besides just being very intelligent, he'll adapt to that very well."

A lot's been made of the kind of person he is, and what he means to this community, and the kind of kid he is. Can you tell us about him behind closed doors of the locker room as a leader back there?

Cathcart: "With a lot of five stars, and those kinds of big-time kids, we give them a little bit of advantage of the halo effect, and people maybe embellish a little bit about them. They would never take a bad person and try to make him a saint, but you know, we're all human. The thing about him that's so dynamic is—and it was brought up several times here—not only is he charismatic, he leads in the right way. You know, I've got countless examples, but one that jumps out is, before a huge varsity game, last year, we played Buford in a big JV game for us, you look up and he, and several of these guys, we're lucky that our good players are happening to be our good leaders and great people. They're there on a Thursday, cheering. I mean, literally excited in this very close hard-fought win over Buford, which doesn't happen a lot. He was excited to see those JV players that look up to him so much. Rec players are the same when he goes to a rec game, and he does. He makes his presence known. It's just so heartwarming to know that it's genuine, and it's not just to puff his own chest out or whatever. He's come to us as coaches and said, 'So-and-so is a senior,' and I mean, most kids already have their pads off. They're thinking about the next game or what they're doing that weekend. Just to have that kind of genuine heart, it's kind of the essence of what we hope our program is. He certainly exemplifies that for us."

I know that this has been weird and that you haven't been able to have coaches on campus, and coming by ,and dropping into weight sessions and all that. But, what's been your relationship with this Georgia staff throughout all this? What's it been like communicating with them, and how do you feel about the job they did on recruiting Malaki?

Cathcart: "Well, it's a fine line to walk where you distance yourself as the high school coach, and just wanting him to go to a place that's happy or that he'll be happy. His family has handled this so beautifully, but Coach Smart has been directly involved. I think the greatest thing they've done is establish a very good rapport and relationship with him on a genuine level early. When Coach Warren left—there's always that position coach closeness. If he's a defender and defensive secondary guy, like we've talked about—but they've bridged that. A lot of times that's a tough thing for a kid because, everybody recognizes Sanford Stadium and the Arch and the UGA, but it's people he's going to share his life with. He always stressed that Coach Muschamp, being there now, had recruited him probably one of the earliest at South Carolina. Malaki is comfortable with the fact that he knew he was one of his first offers, but they do an incredible job, not just in our state. Coach Smart, he's the son of a high school coach. He and I've worked camps together when he was at Valdosta State as a defensive back coach. I was the offensive coordinator at Presbyterian College. He never big-times you. I think he has an appreciation that high school coaches are kind of the lifeblood, and some gifted ones do, they have that. They never make the high school coach ever feel that he's Coach Smart. You never feel that he's in any way wielding that over you. He knows your scores. He knows we hired Michael Brown this week. He and I spoke about that, and it was honestly, Coach Smart. It wasn't about Malaki. He wasn't setting the table to try to play a poker hand with you; he's just a genuine guy, son of a high school coach, and he gets what we do every day."