Kirby Smart addressed the Early Signing Period on Tuesday afternoon after the Bulldogs ranked in such a historic class. With the last two classes, Georgia’s recruiting has gone to another level. Smart has hired a staff that doesn’t stop. Since taking the job and finishing his first class, there seems to be a kind of momentum pushing Georgia higher and higher in recruiting.

 

The Bulldogs currently have the number one 2018 recruiting class on Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN after the Early Signing Day. Georgia signed 18 players on the 20th including six 5-stars, according to Rivals.com. The six 5-stars are a school record and show just how much recruiting at the University of Georgia has changed. Smart mentioned that the recruiting momentum that has seemed to surround Georgia started after 93K Day. He talks about how it seemed to swing the momentum for the 2017 class, but not so much the 2018 class.

I think the momentum kicked off with the 93K-Day,” Smart states. “That really helped us in last year’s class. I don’t think it had a major effect with this year’s class. It’s almost like the 93K kind of ear-marked the last class as a big momentum. This class was marked by the fact that we played well. We were ranked No. 1 early in the season there for a while and played well at the finish to beat a really good Auburn team and I think people were really affected by that. With all of that, we all as Georgia fans and Dawg Nation need to understand that those, I don’t know if there are expectations or what they are for the kids, have to be tempered. Because last year’s class was anointed and this and that and that.”

Smart continued to talk about how some of the freshmen have been successful this season. This success shows future prospects that Georgia awards hard work and will let them play if they compete hard and become the better player. He said it didn’t matter how many stars they have its how the staff develops them on and off of the field.

Some of the kids have been successful,” Smart says. “D’Andre Swift is a great example, Andrew Thomas. Some of them have worked really hard to get better. Regardless of what they’re rated, regardless of how many stars they have, they’re ours. It’s our job to develop them on and off the field. We’re excited about this group, but I’m not ready to call this the greatest class ever or anything like that because it doesn’t matter. So many people want to win the recruiting war. I really care nothing about that. I care so much more about how they behave and how they learn and how they grow when they get here. We have to grow these guys when they get here and we have to get them better.”

He knows how the class looks on paper but explains its about once they get on campus that matters. Smart has shown that he can recruit and how he can develop them once they get to Georgia. Regardless of ratings and momentum, Smart wants to develop guys into men and he’s done a good job so far.

For Kirby Smart’s full press conference about Early Signing Day, check out the YouTube clip below.

 
 
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