Tag: 247 Sports

247Sports spot on in ranking Kirby Smart 4th best coach in CFB

247Sports ranked Georgia football’s Kirby Smart as the #4 coach in college football. Here’s why he was spot on.

On Thursday, Brad Crawford of 247Sports released his list of the top-25 coaches in college football.

Give credit to Crawford — he took on this story knowing that it would receive mixed reviews from across the country.

Here was his top-five:

1. Nick Saban, Alabama

2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

3. Ed Orgeron, LSU

4. Kirby Smart, Georgia

5. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma

I don’t think there’s any question about numbers one and two. Saban and Swinney have taken turns ruling college football for the last decade.

But after those two is when fans start to think their coach should occupy that #3, #4 or #5 spot.

I’m not here to bash Crawford’s ranking of Smart at #4. Instead, I 100% agree with it. How can you not?

I saw a story that stated Georgia fans should be offended by Smart’s ranking on this list. It mentioned recency bias as the main reason Orgeron was put at #3.

I’m not on board with that. Some can call it recency bias, but I call it a national championship win, meaning he’s accomplished something that Smart has not. Meanwhile, they were both playing in the same conference, and LSU kicked Georgia’s butt for the second straight season. At one point, you have to tip your cap to Coach O.

Smart’s time will come where he’ll eventually pass Coach O, but that won’t be until he wins a title. He’s doing everything else right. He’s getting his team to the big games, he’s recruiting better than any coach in America, he catapulted Georgia back into the national spotlight and he’s producing NFL talent.

All that’s left is a ring. That may be a very simplistic way of looking at it, but in the end that’s how success is measured. Have you not been watching the Jordan documentary?

Had Georgia beaten LSU last season in the SEC Championship Game, then we would be having a different discussion. But Georgia did not just lose, it got pounded by a final score of 37-10. The year before, Georgia got spanked in Baton Rouge 36-16. In Smart’s last two games vs Orgeron, his Bulldogs have gotten beat by a combined score of 73-26.

So no, Georgia fans have no right to be offended about the #4 ranking for Smart. If anything, we should be celebrating the fact that Georgia has the fourth best coach in America.

I loved Mark Richt as much as the next guy, but come on, he was never a top-five coach in America. Maybe not even top-10.

Kirby’s time will come.

A few other notable names on the list:

#8 – Florida head coach Dan Mullen

#9 – Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher

#13 – Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn

#15 – Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops

#21 – Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt

Michigan State football lands commitment from three-star safety Michael Gravely Jr.

Mel Tucker dips into an old favorite recruiting ground for his 11th commitment.

Mel Tucker has landed his first recruit from Ohio.

The state that helped build the Mark Dantonio era at Michigan State continues to send prospects to Michigan State as three-star safety Michael Gravely Jr. announced his commitment to MSU Thursday night.

Gravely chose the Spartans over offers from Colorado, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Wake Forest among others. The 6-foot-1 defensive back is ranked as a three-star recruit and the 39th-best player in Ohio in the class of 2021 per the 247Sports composite rankings. the Cleveland native joins Gabe Nealy, Antoine Booth, and Chuck Brantley as a full defensive backfield’s worth of players in the 2021 class.

Michigan State’s 2021 recruiting class is now ranked 21st in the country and ninth in the Big Ten by 247Sports.

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247Sports ranks top-25 CFB coaches: Where is Georgia’s Kirby Smart?

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart was ranked 4th in 247Sports’ list of the top-25 coaches in college football.

On Thursday, Brad Crawford of 247Sports released his list of the top-25 coaches in college football.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart checked in at No. 4.

Crawford’s top-five was as follows:

1. Nick Saban, Alabama

2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

3. Ed Orgeron, LSU

4. Kirby Smart, Georgia

5. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma

Smart was named the Bulldogs coach in 2015 after serving as Alabama defensive coordinator under Nick Saban for eight years.

Smart has led his alma mater to a 44-12 record over four years as the Bulldogs head coach and has boasted three consecutive No. 1 ranked recruiting classes.

There is no question that Smart has built a powerhouse at Georgia. He recruits at an elite level and has one of the best defensive minds in all of college football.

So, what separates Smart from Saban, Swinney and Orgeron?

A national championship.

Smart has led Georgia to three consecutive SEC East titles, an SEC Championship title, a College Football Playoff victory and a National Championship bid, but a couple of close losses to Bama have held the Bulldogs from the top of college football.

Jan 1, 2018; Pasadena, CA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart holds the Rose Bowl trophy — Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

However, Smart will have another shot at a title in 2020 and it may be with the most talented team he has had in his time at Georgia.

The Bulldogs return many of the starters from the 2019 record-breaking defense and have a new air-raid offensive system behind the arm of Wake Forest transfer quarterback Jamie Newman, and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

A few other notable names on the list:

#8 – Florida head coach Dan Mullen

#9 – Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher

#13 – Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn

#15 – Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops

#21 – Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt

Notre Dame Offers 2022 Florida Star Safety

Brian Kelly and Notre Dame became the 19th team to offer safety Devin Moore a scholarship Thursday. Find out more about the 3* safety here

Notre Dame continued their recent run of extending scholarship offers to the recruiting class of 2022 Thursday when they extended an offer to Naples, Florida safety Devin Moore.

Moore is listed at 6-2, 175 and attends Naples High School.  Notre Dame became the 19th football program to extend a scholarship offer to Moore, who also received offers from Nebraska and Virginia Tech in the last week.

Moore is listed as a three star safety according to 247 Sports.  They also rank him the 21st best safety in the 2022 class.  Notre Dame joins the likes of Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech who are among the 19 total schools to have offered him.

For more information you can watch Moore’s sophomore year highlight tape here.

Georgia football offers scholarship to Marietta’s Daniel Martin

Wednesday, Daniel Martin, a 2022 4-star OLB, took to Twitter to announce a scholarship offer from Georgia football.

2022 top-50 recruit Daniel Martin took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to announce an offer from the University of Georgia.

Martin (6-foot3, 190 pounds) from Marietta, Georgia, is rated as the No. 5 outside linebacker and the No. 48 overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

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The Marietta native holds offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and now the Bulldogs.

Martin is the latest Georgia offer in the class of 2022. Last week both North Kansas City native Domonique Orange and Monroe, Louisiana recruit Will Campbell were offered scholarships for 2022, among others.

Keep an eye out for more reported scholarship offers as we head into summer – Kirby and the Bulldogs coaching staff have been hard at work during the down time.

Tennessee on recent recruiting surge; a look at Vols 2021 class

The Tennessee Volunteers now boast the No. 1 class in the SEC for the 2021 recruiting cycle

Coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee Volunteers coaching staff have been busy recruiting during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Vols have received 11 commitments in the 2021 recruiting class in the last two months, including six in the last two weeks.

Georgia fans remember Pruitt’s time as UGA’s defensive coordinator (2014-2015) under Mark Richt. Although the relationship did not work out, Pruitt was a very successful recruiter for the Bulldogs.

Fast forward to the 2021 recruiting cycle and Tennessee now has the No. 1 ranked class in the SEC and the 3rd best in the country behind Ohio State at No. 1 and Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels at No. 2.

Pruitt is a part of the same Nick Saban coaching tree that produced coaches like South Carolina’s Will Muschamp and Georgia’s Kirby Smart. Saban disciples are known for a strong defensive strategy and a knack for signing elite defensive talent. So far, the Vols have received commitments from two of the top defensive players in the country: 5-star outside linebacker Terence Lewis and 5-star weak-side defensive end Dylan Brooks.

Lewis (Opa Locka, Florida) is rated as the nation’s No. 9 overall player and as the No. 1 OLB in the country. Brooks (Roanoke, AL) is rated as the No. 1 WDE and the 29th best recruit overall. Other than Lewis and Brooks, Tennessee holds commitments from 15 more recruits, four of which are 4-stars.

On Sunday, the Vols also picked up a commitment from 4-star running back Cody Brown out of Lilburn, Georgia. A few days prior to that, they received a commitment from Roswell, Georgia native 4-star wide receiver Julian Nixon.

Tennessee’s 2021 class broken down by stars:

Two 5-star commits

Four 4-star commits

Eleven 3-star commits

Tennessee finished with the No. 10 ranked recruiting class in 2020, which unfortunately for the Vols, meant a No. 7 finish in the SEC.

That should prove to be Pruitt’s biggest obstacle while at Tennessee. Georgia, LSU, Florida, Alabama and Auburn are some of college football’s best recruiting programs.

However, if Tennessee can continue to take advantage of the down time and bring in more 5-stars, it may be able to compete for the top spot when the 2021 recruiting cycle comes to an end next year.

As for Georgia, Kirby Smart has the Bulldogs sitting at No. 16 in the country, but we are not nearly close enough to signing day to think about hitting the panic button. Kirby has finished with the No. 1 class for three consecutive seasons now, so it’s safe to bet on the Dawgs turning up the heat as we creep closer to December’s early signing day.

UGA trending for two 4-star offensive linemen from Georgia

UGA football recruiting is putting in work and is now trending for two 4-star lineman out of the state of Georgia.

Georgia appears to be trending for two of the top offensive linemen in the class of 2021.

Both are from the state of Georgia and both are listed as offensive guards. Terrence Ferguson and Dylan Fairchild are projected to commit to Georgia, per their 247Sports profile pages.

Rusty Mansell, a leading recruiting analyst for 247Sports, recently submitted his crystal ball picks for Fairchild and Ferguson.

He projected both to Georgia, which is good news for the Bulldogs given Mansell’s reputation of being one of the most accurate at predicting where a recruit will go.

Terrence Ferguson:

Ferguson is a four-star guard out of Fort Valley, Georgia. He attends Peach County High School.

Ferguson ranks as the nation’s No. 51 overall prospect, No. 3 offensive guard and No. 5 player from Georgia.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound lineman made visits to Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. Sam Pittman and Arkansas offered him as well in December.

Dylan Fairchild:

Fairchild, out of Cumming, Georgia (West Forsyth HS), is a 6-foot-5-inch, 298-pounder who plays both guard and tackle.

Per the 247Sports composite rankings, Fairchild is the 211th ranked player in America, the 10th ranked guard and the 22nd player in Georgia.

The Bulldogs offered Fairchild in early March. He has received a great deal of recruiting interest recently, including from Florida State, Auburn and Texas A&M.

Georgia football makes big jump in 2021 national recruiting rankings

Georgia football made a big jump in the recruiting rankings following a commitment from 4-star DE Elijah Jeudy.

After a commitment by 4-star defensive end Elijah Juedy on Sunday, Georgia moved from No. 14 to No. 7 in the 2021 national recruiting rankings according to 247Sports.

That makes seven total commits in the 2021 Bulldog recruiting class:

5-star QB Brock Vandagriff

4-star OT Micah Morris

4-star ATH David Daniel

4-star RB Lovasea Carroll

4-star SDE Jonathan Jefferson

4-star WDE Elijah Jeudy

3-star DT Marlin Dean

Ohio State currently leads the 2021 recruiting class rankings followed by North Carolina, Clemson, Florida, USC and Notre Dame.

Georgia recruiting: Notable changes in 247 Sports’ updated player rankings

Here are some notable changes in the 247 Sports recruiting rankings as it pertains to Georgia football.

On Wednesday, 247Sports updated its 2021 recruiting rankings for the top high school football prospects in the country.

Georgia, which holds six commitments in the class of 2021, has five players ranked in the top 247.

Remember, these rankings are different from 247’s Composite Rankings. The Composite Rankings take into account all four primary services in the industry, while the 247 rankings are created by the company’s own analysts. 

Here are the new rankings for Georgia’s commits:

QB Brock Vandagriff out of Bogart, Ga.

Vandagriff, a 4-star in 247’s rankings, moved down one spot to No. 32 overall. He is the No. 2 ranked dual-threat QB. He remains a 5-star in the composite rankings.

OT Micah Morris out of Kingland, Ga.

Morris, a 4-star OT, remains the 92nd overall player in the nation. He’s America’s No. 17 ranked OT and No. 10 player in Georgia.

RB Lovasea Carrol out of Warrenton, Ga. (currently attending IMG Academy)

4-star RB Lovasea Carroll remained the No. 106 overall prospect. He did, however, move up one in the running back rankings from No. 8 to No. 7.

DB David Daniel out of Woodstock, Ga.

Daniel is a 4-star defensive back who saw a slight change and is now the No. 134 overall prospect.

SDE Johnathan Jefferson from Douglasville, Ga.

4-star SDE Jefferson dropped five slots and is now ranked as the nation’s No. 171 overall prospect.

A few notable players who are uncommitted:

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Georgia football: Projected offensive 2020 depth chart

The Georgia Bulldogs’ offense will miss multiple familiar faces in 2020.

The Georgia Bulldogs’ offense will miss multiple familiar faces in 2020.

Offensive line guru Sam Pittman accepted the head coaching role at the University of Arkansas prior to Georgia’s Sugar Bowl victory over Baylor. With Pittman left starting offensive linemen Isaiah Wilson, Solomon Kindley, Andrew Thomas, and Cade Mays.

The first three declared early for the NFL Draft while Mays, the son of Tennessee Volunteer legend Kevin and brother of Vol freshman Cooper decided to return home to Knoxville.

In the backfield, D’andre Swift declared early. Jake Fromm declared early. Brian Herrien exhausted his eligibility.

On the outside, receivers Lawrence Cager and Tyler Simmons have also exhausted eligibility. Tight end Charlie Woerner, known more for blocking than catching, has also graduated. Transfer TE Eli Wolf’s one year of eligibility in Athens came and went.

This leaves the Dawgs with starters Dominick Blaylock, Trey Hill, and George Pickens.

Missing a myriad of starters, what will the Dawgs’ offense look like in 2020?

Following the departure of Swift and Herrien, the Silver Britches’ ground game will be left unto Zamir White, James Cook, and Kenny McIntosh. The two underclassmen played behind Swift and Herrien while combining for an average of 8.5 yards per carry in 2019.

For a team rebounding from an off-season ripe with attrition, White and McIntosh need major help from an unproven group of offensive lineman.

In the offensive trenches, center Trey Hill will be the only constant in between seasons.

Matt Landers, Kearis Jackson, and George Pickens all return in at receiver.

Without a proven threat at tight end, Florida State transfer Tre McKitty arrives in Athens predicted to be the Silver Britches best option at the position.

In the absence of Fromm, Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman enrolled at Georgia last month.

As of today, the Bulldogs’ 2020 offensive depth chart appears to be:

Quarterbacks:

  1. Jamie Newman (graduate transfer)
  2. Stetson Bennett IV (redshirt junior)
  3. D’wan Mathis (redshirt freshman)
  4. Carson Beck (freshman)

Running backs:

  1. Zamir White (redshirt sophomore)
  2. James Cook (junior)
  3. Kenny McIntosh (sophomore)
  4. Kendall Milton (freshman)

Z receivers:

  1. Demetris Robertson (redshirt senior)
  2. Matt Landers (redshirt junior)
  3. Trey Blount (redshirt junior)
  4. Makiya Tongue (redshirt freshman)
  5. Justin Robinson (freshman)

Slot receivers:

  1. Dominick Blaylock (sophomore)
  2. Kearis Jackson (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Demetris Robertson (redshirt senior)

X receivers:

  1. George Pickens (sophomore)
  2. Tommy Bush (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Marcus Rosemy (freshman)
  4. Arian Smith (freshman)

Tight ends:

  1. Tre McKitty (graduate transfer)
  2. John FitzPatrick (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Darnell Washington (freshman)
  4. Ryland Goede (redshirt freshman)

Left tackle:

  1. Xavier Truss (redshirt freshman)
  2. Warren McClendon (redshirt freshman)
  3. Owen Condon (redshirt freshman)

Left guard:

  1. Justin Shaffer (senior)
  2. Clay Webb (redshirt freshman)
  3. Devin Willock (freshman)

Center:

  1. Trey Hill (junior)
  2. Clay Webb (redshirt freshman)
  3. Warren Ericson (redshirt sophomore)

Right guard:

  1. Ben Cleveland (senior)
  2. Warren Ericson (redshirt sophomore)
  3. Netori Johnson (redshirt junior)

Right Tackle:

  1. Jamaree Salyer (junior)
  2. Warren McClendon (redshirt freshman)
  3. Owen Condon (redshirt sophomore)