It’s been well documented that Georgia was the only FBS school this past year not to bring in a single transfer from another.

But with the 45-day NCAA window opening Monday for players wishing to seek their fortunes elsewhere, Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart said he and his staff will be keeping their eyes peeled.

“We've had successful guys come from the portal, and we'll continue to utilize the portal. It would be foolish to think that you could be successful in college football and not evaluate and look through the portal,” Smart said Sunday. “But you have to be smart what you bring into your program, especially if you want to keep a dynamic, the culture we like to keep.”

In other words, assuming the Bulldogs do scour the portal to improve depth at certain positions – and it’s expected they will – Smart won’t attempt forcing any square pegs into round holes when it comes to finding the right players.

“I want to be sure you understand I'm not saying that we don't recruit the portal. I'm saying that we just did not have anyone last year that we got,” Smart said. “We certainly are always going to look and shape it and make sure kids fit our culture. That's why to me it's so critical now in recruiting to evaluate more players because you may get the guy on rebound, and you'd better know a better history than just what somebody calls and tells you about him.”

Currently, undergraduate football players have two opportunities to officially put their name in the portal and be eligible for next year.

The first began today and runs through Jan 18. A second window opens May 1 and runs through May 15.

Under the new legislation, there are exceptions to the new windows for student-athletes who experience a head coaching change or have their athletics aid reduced, canceled, or not renewed.

The NCAA Board of Directors also adopted new, more specific standards for immediate eligibility waivers for student-athletes who do not otherwise meet the one-time transfer exception, focusing on student-athlete well-being or circumstances outside the student-athlete's control.

However, the board did not enact a new exception to the transfer rules that would allow student-athletes to transfer multiple times and be immediately eligible if they meet progress-toward-degree requirements at their new school.

Whichever players Georgia potentially reaches out to, it's likely that guy has a previous relationship with the Bulldogs.

“I want to know when they came on the visit. I want to know when we talked to them. I want to know when they came to our camp,” Smart said. “I'm a lot more likely to take a kid that I think is wired the right way even though he's coming from the portal, but I'd better have known about him coming out of high school.”

Although it’s impossible to tell exactly who the Bulldog could be targeting, a quick glance at the roster can provide some educated cases.

It would not be a shock to see Georgia attempt to shore up its secondary, perhaps at wide receiver and maybe at offensive tackle, especially if both Warren McClendon and Broderick Jones leave for the NFL Draft.

Could the Bulldog take a quarterback? It’s possible. Georgia does not currently have quarterback included in its 2023 signing class, and it’s well-known that Smart typically likes to sign one every year.

Some players who Georgia could possibly consider – wide receiver Drae McCray from Austin Peay, wide receiver RaRa Thomas from Mississippi State, and wide receiver Nate McCollom from Georgia Tech. Stanford offensive tackle Myles Hinton, a graduate of Greater Atlanta Christian who was coveted by the Bulldogs out of high school, is another name to possibly keep an eye on.

Of course, the Bulldogs could also lose some to the Portal, and it’s expected that they will.

Last year, 13 players left the Georgia program, and due to the uncertainty over how many could leave this year is another reason Smart will keep his eyes open for any potential additions.

“We try to build it where they want to be part of our program. If they don't, then I certainly acknowledge that it's an opportunity,” Smart said. “We went a year where we didn't take one, but you're always going to look, and people try to reach out once they go in the portal. It's there. They have people on staff at Ohio State, and we've got people on our staff that are going to be constantly looking through there and watching tapes and evaluating it.

"But the focus is on our team. It wouldn't be fair to all the guys playing if you weren't focused on your team. So, you can't put a ton of focus and attention to looking for kids in the portal and things like that. For us, it's really about who do we know? Who do we trust? Who do we think fits our culture? And find the right people. But our focus will be on ourselves.”