Now that the dust has cleared and Georgia’s 2018 signing class is set, it’s safe to debate not only if this year’s bunch of Bulldog newcomers is perhaps the school’s top class during the Rivals era, but the best group of football signees UGA has lured—like ever, or, at least since recruiting resources first became readily available.
Utilizing a heap of resources, like individual and team recruiting rankings, old recruiting guides, archived newspaper articles, etc., dating back to the mid-1970s, or around the time football recruiting started to become widely publicized, I came up with my top ten UGA football recruiting classes of all time (or, at least over the last 40 years). Notably, these classes have absolutely nothing to do with how they would turn out on the field, but how highly-touted they were—their on-paper potential—before setting foot on a collegiate gridiron.
Georgia’s 2018 signing class is clearly a once-in-a-lifetime set of newcomers; however, is it the best all-time group ever inked by the Bulldogs? In descending order, numbers five through one (ten through six posted the other day):
5th—2017 (26)
Top of the Class: OL Isaiah Wilson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), QB Jake Fromm (Warner Robins, Ga.), RB D’Andre Swift (Philadelphia, Penn.), LB Jaden Hunter (Atlanta, Ga.), DB Richard LeCounte (Richboro, Ga.), and LB Nate McBride (Lyons, Ga.).
Entering this year, the 2017 incoming group was tied for the highest-ranked Georgia signing class during the Rivals era at No. 3. Last year’s signees also featured six of the top 60 prospects while averaging a noteworthy 3.69 “stars” per signee. The Bulldogs lured eight of the top 14 players in the state, including five-star Fromm, and “high” four-stars LeCounte, Hunter, McBride, and OL Netori Johnson (Ellenwood, Ga.). Still, two of Georgia’s top three signees—No. 17 Wilson and No. 35 Swift—were from out of state, helping produce the school’s best incoming football class in nearly 20 years.
4th—1990 (27)
Top of the Class: RB Garrison Hearst (Lincolnton, Ga.), WR Andre Hastings (Morrow, Ga.), OL Steve Roberts (Dalton, Ga.), LB Mitch Davis (Mobile, Ala.), DL Bernard Williams (Memphis, Tn.), and LB Travis Jones (Irwinton, Ga.).
In a class featuring five signees ranked in the SuperPrep Top 50—Hearst, Hastings, Roberts, T. Jones, and DL Tashe Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and eight signees considered in the top 10 nationally at their respective position, the Bulldogs also totaled four players regarded as the top prospect from their respective state: Hearst of Georgia, T. Williams of Colorado, B. Williams of Tennessee, and Davis of Alabama. For the most part, the ’90 class was ranked by recruiting services as either No. 3 or No. 4 in the country—and, that was before the addition of Hastings, the No. 1-ranked receiver who signed six days after Signing Day.
3rd—1998 (24)
Top of the Class: OL Jon Stinchcomb (Lilburn, Ga.), QB Quincy Carter (Decatur, Ga.), ATH Terrence Edwards (Tennille, Ga.), RB Jasper Sanks (Columbus, Ga.), LB/DL Jessie Miller (Tennille, Ga.), and LB Boss Bailey (Folkston, Ga.).
Highlighted by Sanks and Stinchcomb, Georgia also landed the state’s top three quarterbacks, including Edwards and Nate Hybl (Colbert, Ga.). Besides Bailey and Miller, top-notch defenders LB Tony Gilbert (Macon, Ga.) and LB Will Witherspoon (Panama City, Fla.), Florida’s Player of the Year, were also inked. The twenty-three signees were ranked by the NRA as No. 3 nationally, No. 4 by the G&W Recruiting Report, and No. 1 in the nation by recruiting gurus Bill Buchalter and Steve Figueroa—and that was before the later addition of 20-year-old Carter, who had been the state’s player of the year in ‘95 before electing to play professional baseball.
1st and 2nd (not necessarily in order)—1982 (30) and 2018 (26)
Top of the Class in 1982: DT Gerald Browner (Atlanta, Ga.), FB/TE George Smith (Douglas, Ga.), QB Jamie Harris (Danville, Va.), DB Tony Flack (Greensboro, N.C.), WR Jimmy Hockaday (Nashville, Tenn.), and WR Herman Archie (Columbus, Ga.).
Top of the Class in 2018: QB Justin Fields (Kennesaw, Ga.), OG Jamaree Salyer (Atlanta, Ga.), RB Zamir White (Laurinburg, N.C.), DE Adam Anderson (Rome, Ga.), OT Cade Mays (Knoxville, Tenn.), and APB James Cook (Miami, Fla.).
Over the last 40+ years, it’s the two instances when the consensus was that the Bulldogs inked the No. 1-ranked signing class in the entire country: 1982 and 2018. Although there was no doubt in my mind these were the top two signing classes in the program’s history, upon first glance, which one specifically was the absolute best was not so cut and dry. So, I decided to break down each class “Rivals style.”
Utilizing my heap of recruiting resources from yesteryear, and in correlation with recent Rivals rankings, I was able to roughly determine a Rivals Rating and a nationwide overall prospect ranking for Georgia’s 1982 signees—or at least the Bulldogs’ top 20 signees, whereby I was able to compute the class’ recruiting points as it’s figured today.
This year, highlighted by the six aforementioned signees, plus CB Tyson Campbell (Miami, Fla.) and DE Brenton Cox (Stockbridge, Ga.), Georgia landed a Rivals-record eight five-star prospects. By my determination, the Bulldogs signed six five-star players in 1982—the same six signees listed above. Also this year, Georgia had three additional prospects ranked in the nation’s top 60: LB Quay Walker, TE Luke Ford, and LB Otis Reese. Likewise, 36 years ago in ’82, the Bulldogs also had three signees who I regarded as having 6.0 ratings and ranked in the overall top 60: OL Jay Floyd, DL Victor Perry, and RB Keith Montgomery.
In the end, I figured Georgia’s top 20 signees in 1982 would have totaled 3,235 points, which would have ranked tops in the nation this year by 43 points just above Ohio State. However, the point total in ‘82 for Georgia is more than 200 less than the Bulldogs’ points in 2018 (3,461)—signifying the most recent signing class as my opinion of the top class in the history of the program.
What do you think—do you agree or disagree with my order? Or is there a class you feel deserves to be part of the top ten newcomer groups in UGA football history? And, in your mind, is the 2018 class the best all time of all incoming Bulldog classes?
