With National Signing Day upon us, the question was asked of UGASports whether the 2021 recruiting class would rank among the best in Bulldog football history, considering the class, on the whole, isn’t as highly regarded as some in the previous years.
We figured that to answer that question accurately, we should first determine the Bulldogs’ top recruiting classes of all time entering this year.
We used a heap of resources, such as 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. From there, we came up with our top ten UGA football recruiting classes of all time (or for at least the last 45 years), counting down from five, with five honorable mentions.
Notably, the classes and their rankings were not based on how the players would perform on the field in college, but how highly-touted the classes were on the whole—their on-paper potential—before the players set foot on a collegiate gridiron.
(“Top of the Class” players are listed in no particular order; honorable mention teams are listed in chronological order.)
5th—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—Tom Lemming’s No. 2 offensive line prospect—the ‘98 Georgia class also included the state’s top three quarterbacks: Edwards, who was considered both a top-15 pass-run quarterback and top-15 cornerback, Nate Hybl (Colbert, Ga.), and Regan Torbert (Fort Valley, 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 signed. Twenty-three signees were ranked by the NRA (Bobby Burton's National Recruiting Advisory) as No. 3 nationally, No. 4 by the G&W Recruiting Report, and No. 1 in the nation by newspaper recruiting writers 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.
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.).
The class featuring five signees ranked in the SuperPrep Top 50—Hearst, Hastings, Roberts, T. Jones, and Tashe Williams (who was also regarded as the top defensive tackle in the country), and eight signees considered in the top 10 nationally at their respective position. The Bulldogs also totaled four players regarded as the top prospect in their 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—2020 (25)
Top of the Class: DB Keele Ringo (Scottsdale, Ariz.), OL Tate Ratledge (Rome, Ga.), RB Kendall Milton (Clovis, Calif.), OL Broderick Jones (Lithonia, Ga.), LB Mekhail Sherman (Washington, D.C.), and TE Darnell Washington (Las Vegas, Nev.).
The third of three consecutive No. 1 team-recruiting titles, Georgia signed nine Rivals100 prospects a year ago—the six above, plus DT Jalen Carter (Apopka, Fla.), WR Marcus Rosemy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), and OL Sedrick Van Pran (New Orleans, La.)—seven of whom were out-of-state signees. Beginning in 2000, the nine Rivals100 recruits rank as the second most signed by the Bulldogs. Georgia’s five 5-star players (every “Top of the Class” member besides Sherman) were also the second-most signed during the Rivals era, following the Bulldogs’ staggering eight 5-star signees from two years before.
2nd—1982 (30)
Top of the Class: 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.).
Of the recruiting services established back in 1982, they were essentially all in agreement that year: Georgia had the No. 1-ranked signing class in the entire country. The Bulldogs landed 10 of the state’s top 16 prospects, including Browner and Smith ranked first and second, respectively, along with No. 4 SE Herman Archie (Columbus, Ga.) and No. 5 RB Keith Montgomery (Toccoa, Ga.). In addition, Georgia remarkably signed the top prospect in each of the states of Virginia (Harris), North Carolina (Flack), and Tennessee (Hockaday). For what it’s worth, we once estimated that Georgia’s ’82 incoming class would have totaled around 3,235 Rivals recruiting points, which would more often than not be ranked No. 1 for most years.
1st—2018 (26)
Top of the Class: 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.).
Besides those in the “Top of the Class,” Georgia also signed two other 5-star prospects in 2018: CB Tyson Campbell (Miami, Fla.) and DE Brenton Cox (Stockbridge, Ga.). In addition, the Bulldogs lured three additional recruits ranked in the nation’s top 60: LB Quay Walker (Cordele, Ga.), TE Luke Ford (Carterville, Ill.), and LB Otis Reese (Leesburg, Ga.). Entering this year, Georgia's total of 3,461 Rivals recruiting points from three years ago ranked No. 2 all-time, trailing only Alabama in 2017 (3,477).
Honorable Mention:
1984—The Bulldogs signed six quarterbacks, including Parade All-American Wayne Johnson, and two of the best tailbacks in the nation (Lars Tate and Cleveland Gary). Besides Johnson and Tate, other Parade All-American signees included defensive ends Wycliffe Lovelace and Henry Williams. The ’84 newcomers were regarded as a consensus top-five class, including No. 2 according to recruiting expert Max Emfinger.
2002—Although not landing any of the country’s top 20 prospects, 5-star LB Marquis Elmore, who signed the year before, DE Marcus Jackson, DT Kedric Golston, and DE Preston Pannell, highlighted a class ranked No. 3 nationally by Rivals.
2011—In desperate need of a great class, Georgia landed seven of the state’s top 10 prospects, including 5-stars DE Ray Drew and RB Isaiah Crowell. Defensive backs Malcolm Mitchell (WR) and Damian Swann, along with standout JUCO DT Johnathan Jenkins added to what would be regarded as the fifth-best class in the country according to Rivals.
2017—Prior to 2018, this incoming group had been tied for the highest-ranked Georgia signing class during the Rivals era (No. 3). The class also featured six of the top 60 prospects while averaging a noteworthy 3.69 “stars” per signee. In addition, the Bulldogs lured eight of the top 14 players in the state, including five-star QB Jake Fromm.
2019—Arguably a top-five class in school recruiting history, and perhaps even better, Georgia’s incoming class in ’19 was ranked No. 1 by Rivals for the second straight year. Besides three 5-star signees—LB Nolan Smith, OL Clay Webb, and WR George Pickens—the Bulldogs inked six upper-4-star prospects.
