As the 2025 season draws closer, the realization becomes clearer that perhaps one of the most significant and unique player personnel aspects of college football—the walk-on, as we currently know it—could be eliminated, and before we know it.

As widely publicized, the potential roster limitation of 105 players for FBS teams would likely lead to the eventual elimination of walk-ons. Even if exceptions could be made for current walk-ons, as suggested by a recent proposal to “grandfather in” players who would have been or had already been cut due to the roster limits, it would still seem that walk-on programs in major-college football will soon be a thing of the past.

For Georgia football, the eventual elimination of walk-ons would mean, at least to some of us traditionalists of the sport, the closure of what has become one of the program’s great traditions. It’s not far-reaching—although Nebraska, Ohio State, or Wisconsin may disagree—to declare that Georgia has arguably the greatest walk-on tradition in all of college football.

Of course, the Bulldogs’ walk-on legacy is highlighted by the extraordinary, one-of-a-kind story of Stetson Bennett, who walked on at Georgia in 2017 before going on to remarkably lead the team to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022.

A teammate of Bennett’s, All-American placekicker Rodrigo Blankenship was also included in the NCAA.com’s “17 of the best walk-ons in college football history.” Even more recently, walk-on defensive back and fan favorite Dan Jackson just capped his collegiate career by getting selected by the Detroit Lions in the latest NFL draft.

Yet, Georgia has a long-standing walk-on tradition (including all who walked on at UGA, whether they eventually received a scholarship or not), which began long before Kirby Smart became the Bulldogs’ head coach. In fact, one could say the legacy of Georgia’s walk-on tradition began a half-century ago with the program’s acclaimed “Junkyard Dogs” defense.

As Georgia prepared to open its 1975 season, defensive coordinator Erk Russell declared that his inexperienced, small-sized defense—a unit expected to fare even worse than the Bulldogs’ dreadful defense from the season before—consisted of merely "three walk-ons, four [former] quarterbacks, and three [former] running backs" as starters. The three former walk-ons—linebacker Rusty Russell (son of Erk), linebacker Jim Griffith, and strong safety Chip Miller, or three of the first handful of players at Georgia to arrive as walk-ons and eventually earn scholarships—were instrumental in the success of the Bulldogs’ celebrated bend-but-don’t-break defensive unit from 50 years ago.

In 1979, linebacker Nate Taylor out of Tifton, Ga., walked on after only the College of the Canyons—a small JUCO in California—had recruited him, followed by a failed tryout at Vanderbilt. Nevertheless, after impressing coaches in a reserve role at Clemson, Taylor was granted a scholarship. The following game against South Carolina, he made 18 tackles off the bench, and was starting the next contest. By the end of the year, Taylor, nicknamed the “Tifton Termite,” was considered by head coach Vince Dooley as “the biggest surprise of my coaching career.”

In 1980, Georgia’s walk-ons included cornerback Pat Douglas and center Mitch Frix. Douglas would eventually transfer and star at Georgia Southern. His son, Brendan, was a running back for the Bulldogs from 2013 to 2016. Frix would eventually be an exceptional snapper for Georgia’s 1981 and 1982 SEC championship teams. His sons, Ty (2009-2012) and Trent (2015-2017), were also standout snappers for the Bulldogs.

Five years after three walk-ons served as regulars for the Junkyard Dogs, the same was true for Georgia’s 1980 national championship defense. Former walk-on defenders Robert Miles, Dale Williams, and Mike Fisher all started multiple games during the Bulldogs’ title run. Before walking on at Georgia, Williams, a cornerback, had been a significant contributor for The Citadel for a season. On the other hand, Fisher, also a cornerback, had hardly played in one season at Furman.

That decade, Richard Tardits, a native of France, walked on at Georgia without even knowing the basic rules of the sport. Only a few years later, the “Biarritz Blitz” became the Bulldogs’ first former walk-on (non-kicker) to earn all-conference honors while establishing a then-school-record 29 career sacks.

Because of a rash of injuries occurring late in the fall camp of 1986, 5-foot-11, 230-pound Chris Andros, a junior walk-on from Albany, Ga., was suddenly thrust into the Bulldogs’ starting defensive guard spot for the season opener against Duke. According to school records, Andros’ starting role versus the Blue Devils would be his lone appearance as a member of the Georgia varsity.

In 1987, walk-on Jim Hickey was considered the team’s top reserve defensive tackle despite having barely played high school football while standing at only 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds. Years later in 2011, walk-on Candler Cook followed a similar path when he saw playing time at defensive end for the Bulldogs after hardly playing in high school as a 145-pound fourth-stringer.

Over the years, a number of UGA standout athletes in other sports have walked on the football team—most notably, Joey Alfonso. Alfonso was a 139-pound walk-on receiver who saw live game action in 1988 before he served as the starting second baseman on Georgia’s 1990 national championship baseball team.

In 1989, another wide receiver, Kevin Maxwell, a former walk-on who had played high school football in Japan, was on the receiving end of a 93-yard touchdown in Georgia’s win at Vanderbilt. The play stood as (tied for) the school record for longest passing touchdown for nearly a quarter-century.

Current staffer Will Muschamp was a walk-on defensive back for the Bulldogs 30 years before serving as co-defensive coordinator of the 2022 national title team. As a senior in 1994, Muschamp served as the team’s starting strong safety, was elected to one of the team’s two permanent defensive captain spots, and, fittingly, was the recipient of the team’s Mike Castronis Award for the man who “never, never, never gave up the fight.”

After walking on in the late 1990s, quarterback Cory Phillips threw a touchdown pass in his first game as a Bulldog, followed by passing for more than 400 yards in two of his first four starts under center the next season. Around the same time, fullback Verron Haynes had walked on at Georgia after transferring from Western Kentucky. In 2001, Haynes was on the receiving end of the winning “Hobnail Boot” pass play at Tennessee before starring as the team’s primary tailback down the season’s stretch.

Walking on around the same time as Haynes, another running back, 5-foot-7 Johnny Brown was a three-time Georgia scout team player of the year. Although known primarily for his newsworthy G-Day and scrimmage performances, Brown carried the ball a half-dozen times in live action for his Bulldog career.

Notably, there have been Georgia walk-ons who have become distinguished for what they accomplished off the gridiron. Before he became actor IronE Singleton, who appeared in The Blind Side and The Walking Dead, Rob Singleton was a walk-on running back at the University of Georgia in 1997. Long before serving as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of the state of Georgia, Burt Jones was a walk-on defensive back for the Bulldogs, who’d be elected permanent special teams captain of Mark Richt’s 2002 SEC championship squad.

During the Richt coaching era, and beginning with former standout walk-ons J.T. Wall (2001-2002) and Jeremy Thomas (2003-2004), the Bulldogs often utilized a big, blocking fullback who could catch the ball out of the backfield, and gain the tough yards on the ground when needed. In 2015, Richt’s final season, local walk-on Christian Payne was converted from linebacker to fullback, a position he held for three seasons.

Still, when it comes to Georgia’s walk-on-turned-success stories, there are probably more kicking specialists than any other position. Walk-on Jim Broadway was the Bulldogs’ primary punter for each of the three SEC title teams from 1980 to 1982, and remains one of the top “net” punters in school history. Walk-on placekicker Billy Bennett scored a then-SEC-record 409 points from 2000 to 2003. Walk-on placekicker Brandon Coutu earned All-SEC honors in 2005 as only a sophomore, and a year before he was finally placed on scholarship.

A walk-on towards the end of Richt’s coaching tenure, cornerback Aaron Davis in 2014 became the first (non-kicker) Bulldog in history to be a starter for a season while remaining a walk-on for the entire year. Davis was awarded a scholarship 10 days prior to the season opener of his sophomore campaign.

As mentioned, Georgia has certainly maintained, and likely even enhanced, its walk-on tradition since Smart took over for Richt, peaking with the greatest walk-on in college football history in Bennett, and continuing with Jackson. Walk-on Cash Jones, who has scored eight career touchdowns, will enter this season as one of the Bulldogs’ top running-back threats.

However, because of the likelihood of impending roster limitations, it appears the likes of Jones may be the last of Georgia’s walk-on-turned-success stories—the probable ending of one of the Bulldogs’ great football traditions.

And, for some of us traditionalists, that’s kind of disappointing.