Just because someone earned five-star status in high school doesn’t mean the transition to college will be smooth.

Take Ellis Robinson IV, for example.

Robinson was the No. 1 cornerback just over a year ago. When he signed with Georgia, his addition was considered a big deal.

It still is.

However, when you come in with a reputation like Robinson's, it’s natural to wonder what’s wrong when that player doesn’t see the field almost immediately.

So, why didn’t he?

“The biggest thing was learning how we do things,” defensive backs coach Donte Williams said. “It doesn't sometimes matter how successful you've been doing things a different way, especially when you're going against high school level competition.”

It’s about the right and wrong way to go about making a play.

“Sometimes you make a play and it's not truly the right way because sooner or later it's going to catch up with you, right, especially here where the quarterback's going to put the ball on the money and the receivers are always going to run the right routes,” Williams said. “(Robinson’s) used to being extremely competitive, and he himself is extremely competitive.”

When Georgia kicks off spring practice next month, Williams feels a year in the system should have Robinson ready to make a more significant impact in 2025.

“Just to see him all of a sudden learn how to do things the way we ask him to do things. To see him learn even more as a student, how he takes notes, how he prepares, and then the mindset of understanding that I'm not just a great player but realize there's a lot of good players around me,” Williams said. “You see him realize that I don't have to force plays because there are other guys that I can count on to do their job to where I'm not playing out of character a little bit.”

Skill-wise, Williams has no concerns.

Robinson can cover, and it’s only a matter of time before fans see what he and fellow freshman Demello Jones can do.

It may not be the position you think, either.

“We have a lot of things we do together as DBs. So, I mean, there's no telling,” Williams said. “You may even see one of them as safety. You know, it's just making sure we continue to get the five best on the field at that particular time.”

Decisions are not made haphazardly.

“It's got to be like the five best, and that's like a plus of me, T-Rob (Tavares Robinson) Coach (Kirby) Smart, (Glenn) Schumann, and (Will) Muschamp, all of us being on the same page,” Williams said. “Because a lot of these guys, they're always together. So, you don't just see Daniel Harris or whoever just learning how to play this position. They also hear what the safety does and what the star does, so you get a combination of making sure it’s the best guys on the field at that moment.”