Tag: dawgnation

Twitter reacts to Georgia football landing No. 1 recruiting class

Georgia football raked in college football’s No. 1 class and here is how Twitter reacted.

For the second time in three years, Kirby Smart and Georgia football have landed the top ranked recruiting class in the country.

And that’s if you go by 247Sports team rankings. If you look at Rivals’ rankings, the Bulldogs have actually finished with the No. 1 ranked class three years in a row now.

That’s simply incredible. What Kirby has built in his short time in Athens is something that Georgia fans should never take for granted.

Before Kirby came, Mark Richt was doing a fine job in recruiting – consistently finishing anywhere between that No. 5 and No. 12 spot. But it just was not good enough, especially at Georgia, where even if you don’t want to leave your state to recruit you can still finish with a top-five class.

So Kirby came and he elevated recruiting to where we expect it to be. And look at Florida?

“We’re closing the gap! We’re closing the gap!”

Actually, no Gators, you’re not. Georgia is consistently finishing with the top ranked class in the country while in Gainesville they are celebrating the No. 8 ranked class. No. 8 is something to be excited about, sure. But think about the difference in talent between a No. 1 and a No. 8. The gap is not closing.

Recruiting is one of those things that get people so fired up that it’s actually hard to scroll through Twitter on big recruiting days. 50 year old men and women arguing with each other about where a 17 year old kid wants to go to college is…weird. But it’s college football. But man is it weird, too.

If you’re a Georgi fan, you’re loving every minute of Kirby on the recruiting trail. If you’re a rival, say Auburn or Florida, you despise Kirby for tasking your top recruits. Everybody will claim Georgia cheats, or whatever they’ll say to make themselves feel better.

But the reality of it is that Kirby and the Bulldogs spend the most money nationwide on recruiting expenses, they put in the most time and they build the best and quickest relationships with these prospects.

Following another day in which Georgia wrapped a ribbon on its No. 1 ranked class, elating DawgNation and pissing off the rest of America, I went through Twitter to take a look at the good tweets and the not-so-nice tweets.

The bad…

 

Kirby Smart on recruiting kids to Georgia: ‘How many lives did you change?’

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart discussed recruiting kids to come to UGA.

Kirby Smart has consistently been reeling in elite classes since he took over at Georgia in 2016.

How he does that is hard to pin down, but he tried to explain how past success helps pave the way for future success on the recruiting trail as well.

I’m going to hit you with the entire quote in a minute, but there’s a few things that stood out to me in it that I think you should look for.

Smart talked about how there’s not one major difference in Georgia compared to say, a Tennessee, which finished with the No. 10 ranked class compared to Georgia’s No. 1.

He spoke about how it helps when you have a great product to sell academically, which Georgia does.

Smart also mentioned how important it is to have some level of consistency on your coaching staff. Georgia loses different assistants each year, but Smart does a decent job of holding on to his staff for as long as possible.

Kirby also talked about how what platers do after they’re gone help recruit for Georgia also. He specifically mentioned Nick Chubb and Sony Michel in that regard.

Here’s the full quote with a lot to dissect.

Read it over a few times. You’d be surprised with how much you can learn from Kirby.

“Do I think this has something to do with it? Absolutely, it has something to do with it. What that ranking is? Or when that happens? Or how it plays about? I don’t think that necessarily correlates. I think that you having a complete staff, keeping your staff together and also being able to do it year after year is a level of consistency and a level of support that you are getting internally to make sure that we can do the things we can do. It’s hard to go out and recruit at a high level year in and year out because so many people recruit against you based on who you signed. You better have good product to sell which academically we do. Really, there’s not going to be a separation between one through 10 in these recruiting rankings that really matters. What matters when they leave is, number one, how many of them are present? How many have graduated? How many lives did you change? They’re not going to be judged just on wins and losses. They’re going be judged on what kind of people [they are] when they leave your program, because that’s what’s going to allow you to recruit the next kid. When Nick Chubb and Sony Michel leave your program and do great things, that’s what’s going to sell to the next kid who wants an opportunity to come in and do those same things.”

The talent gap between Georgia football and Florida is growing

The talent gap between Georgia football and the Florida Gators is actually growing, contrary to what UF fans are saying.

The Georgia Bulldogs have officially secured college football’s top-ranked recruiting class, according to both 247 and Rivals.

For the third time in three years, the Dawgs cemented a top three group of pledges on National Signing Day. Main rival Florida, in the same time span, has not ranked higher than eighth.

Across the two programs’ storied history, Florida maintained the edge in recruiting for a majority of this millennium. Georgia, however, has been the clear winner in such battles since the appointment of head coach Kirby Smart.

To present a hypothetical question:

Would the Bulldogs’ coaching staff be disappointed in landing anything outside a top-three recruiting class? Yes. Absolutely, unequivocally, yes.

So how do the Gators feel about the good-but-not-great recruits they’ve had since the departure of Jim McElwain?

According to head coach Dan Mullen, who has never beaten the Dawgs in his head coaching tenure at both Mississippi State and Florida, they’re content with being only good for the time being.

Mullen famously loves to make what he sees as subtle jabs at Georgia, but will he ever land a solid blow? Like, in terms of out-coaching Kirby Smart?

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart comments on nation’s No. 1 recruiting class

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart discussed the UGA football recruiting class, which ranks No. 1 in the nation for 2020.

After securing the nation’s No.1 recruiting class for the second time in three years, University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart addressed DawgNation on filling specific needs and the long-term process of recruiting.

From a class of 25 commits, Georgia signed four, 5-star recruits and 15, four-star preps. The 2020 class is truly a national class with players hailing from California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and eight from the Peach State.

Coach Smart thanked the Georgia fans that help create the amazing atmosphere in Sanford Stadium and singled out the Notre Dame game environment as a key contributing factor in securing the commitment of several players. The game day experience in Athens is like no other and it has to be witnessed live to fully appreciate the electricity, pageantry, excitement and passion.

Following are some of Coach Smart’s comments during his press conference, as released by georgiadogs.com:

“I’ll open with the excitement around this signing class, which started probably well before this day last year. I don’t think a lot of people really understand what goes into a signing class, because most of these kids that signed — two or three years ago was the first time we met them, and it is a long, tough process. It’s a great day for these guys. Kind of anti-climactic with the early signing period. I like to think the early signing period is 70-80 percent what you sign, and this late signing period is more of an adjustment to what maybe you lost or early outs or where you think you have holes. So, we feel like we have been able to fill a lot of those holes. We feel like we have a very balanced class across the board — probably a little bit more out of state than it has been in the past. Also, probably a little less linebacker heavy. Those are the two areas, as far as outside linebacker and inside linebacker, that we probably didn’t feel like we had to have as much immediate help. Those will be huge opportunities for kids in the next signing class that want to play outside linebacker, inside linebacker, because now we do have holes to fill.

One of the biggest areas was offensive line. With the guys we had leaving early and the transfers we’ve had, seniors, we knew and anticipated this being a large offensive line class. I’ve been very pleased with the transition from Coach [Sam] Pittman to Coach [Matt] Luke in being able to recruit these kids and bring them to our place. They want to compete and play at a high level, so the offensive line unit — I am really proud of that.

I also want to take this time to thank everyone in our organization — I am talking about administration, I am talking about fans — that helped bring this signing class. The Notre Dame atmosphere was one of the keys to this signing class. The academic people at the University of Georgia who sacrificed their Saturdays and their Sundays and their countless hours. I don’t think people really understand that recruiting never sleeps. Everybody is fired up today and they are thinking that you can relax. 2021 — We have already had two or three junior days. We have already had a prospect to come in. We are doing phone calls with these kids. It has already begun, but this group really goes back to sacrifices that everybody made to give their time. It really takes a team effort when you have kids coming from Texas and California and all over the country. People have to sacrifice their time to give you an opportunity to sign players like this.

We’ve got mid-year guys in who are working with us now.  I have been excited to see those guys work. They have done a tremendous job. To have guys that are at defensive back — I feel like we have a very complete defensive back class. I will always reiterate — you have to sign four or five defensive backs a year in order to stay where you need to stay from a depth standpoint. We were very unique last year. We were one of the only teams in the country to play over 37 players 100 snaps or more on the defensive side of the ball. So, a lot of players were playing and we need a lot of depth on that side of the ball.

Wide receiver was an area that we had to address. I am excited about the wide receivers we have been able to make as an addition to this signing class, and those guys are expected to help us. With Justin being here now and also went through a couple of bowl practices with us. It’s been a big addition to get those guys.

Getting a second back in this class was key for us. We are excited about this young man. We have known about him for a long time. He has come up through a lot of camps. He plays in what is probably one of the toughest divisions and regions in our state and he has played at a high level. You talk about the people he has had to play against — he has been a really good player. Talking about Daijun Edwards and then obviously Kendall (Milton) joined us mid-year has been a good addition, too. So, I am really excited about this class from an academic character standpoint, which to me matters as much as anything. But this class will be judged based on how they finish, not where they rank right now, which is not any concern of ours. With that, I will open it up for questions.”

Offensive line coach Coach Matt Luke’s transition to Georgia–

“We’re excited about the offensive line class. First of all, it ranges from large and wide to a little bit lighter and athletic. These guys will have to develop. I have always said, the offensive line position is probably the toughest to come in and play right away if you just rank all the positions on the board. Andrew [Thomas] was very unique to be able to do that, but that is very rare to be able to do that at that position. These guys are going to have to develop, lift, work—what’s going to be unique for us is a lot of these guys maybe are going to be living across the two-deep just because our numbers are really down at the offensive line. These guys are going to have an opportunity to come in, compete and start, but they also will be going against guys this spring that are going to get better and grow. Coach Luke was a big part of that energy. Getting him on staff fast was probably one of the critical roles to that transition. It wasn’t a long time and a process where they had to sit in the unknown. Two, three days after Coach Pittman left these kids had somebody new to meet and [Coach Luke] getting to meet them before the middle dead period—the Christmas dead period—was critical to be able to communicate with them throughout that period and keep that relationship. He’s got a lot of energy, and he’s been a blessing for us—an addition that helps me from a head coach standpoint. It did help a lot with the offensive line.”

Signing grad transfer Jamie Newman and what he brings to Georgia–

“We had researched the entire year with the thought that Jake [Fromm] would have the opportunity to come out early. We had a pool of 30 to 40 guys that would be potential whether they were transfers, whether they were grad-transfers, whatever it may be, we knew we could be possibly be in the quarterback market. That included high school kids. Certainly, we are excited about Carson [Beck] and what he can do for our team. He came in and got to practice with us for the bowl game, for a couple of practices as well. Once Jamie went into the portal and we knew that he was going to be a graduate-transfer we started communication, immediately. It was a process of finding out if what he wanted aligned with what we wanted, and also wait and see what Jake was going to do. I know Jamie has been very mature about the process. He is—these grad-transfers, number one, the fact they have graduated college and he graduated from Wake Forest, these kids understand what they want. They are very driven in what they want. They’re not really into the whole recruiting process. He handled it that way and was very professional about it. We are looking forward to putting him to work and letting him go out and compete this spring.”

Being able to consistently sign top-classes and how that benefits future recruiting cycles–

“Do I think this has something to do with it? Absolutely, it has something to do with it. What that ranking is? Or when that happens? Or how it plays about? I don’t think that necessarily correlates. I think that you having a complete staff, keeping your staff together and also being able to do it year after year is a level of consistency and a level of support that you are getting internally to make sure that we can do the things we can do. It’s hard to go out and recruit at a high level year in and year out because so many people recruit against you based on who you signed. You better have good product to sell which academically we do. Really, there’s not going to be a separation between one through 10 in these recruiting rankings that really matters. What matters when they leave is, number one, how many of them are present? How many have graduated? How many lives did you change? They’re not going to be judged just on wins and losses. They’re going be judged on what kind of people [they are] when they leave your program, because that’s what’s going to allow you to recruit the next kid. When Nick Chubb and Sony Michelle leave your program and do great things, that’s what’s going to sell to the next kid who wants an opportunity to come in and do those same things.”

The importance of retaining the commitment of five-star OL Broderick Jones–

“It was a lot more important a year ago to sign Xavier Truss. It was a lot more important a year ago to sign Warren McClendon because, when you have Andrew Thomas and Isaih Wilson, you understand there’s an opportunity for these guys to leave. I’m not a big believer that the next guy was going to walk in and play for Andrew Thomas have to plan these things a year out. We’re looking at this plan and saying, ‘Okay, these guys have to be ready to play, possibly next year, but really the next year.’ It’s the same thing at defensive back. We’ve got a lot of defensive backs coming back this season. A lot of them are some good football players, but we’re a year away from what could look like the O-Line because we have some potential guys coming. What you’re doing to develop the guys you’re signing now is more of my concern. It’d be foolish for me to sit here and think that two of these tackles we just signed are going to walk in here and play. You guys are going to print that, but I’m also a realist. That’s probably not going to happen, based on the history of the SEC. You do the study of how many freshman offensive tackles have played. That’s tough to find. It’s hard to do. They’re the athletic or the best guys, or we have injuries— those guys will provide us great depth, and I certainly think a lot of these guys we just signed are talented enough to come help us but they’re not meteor guys, and they’ll have to come in a compete for it.”

The recruitment of OL Cameron Kinnie and the type of recruit Matt Luke is seeking–

“There’s no criteria We sign based on who gives us the best opportunity to be successful. We look at what kind of person they are. How are they academically? How are they athletically? How many positions can they play? There’s no size criteria, big or small, that we’re necessarily trying to change. That’s not the case. You’ve got to be able to pass break, and you’ve got to be able to run block. There’s not a philosophical difference there. Cameron Kinnie was a kid we targeted and felt like was, number one, extremely high character. [He is] extremely high academically and a really good athlete. He played both ways and played at the highest level of football where he played. We’re fortunate to get him to sign with us, and we’re excited about it. I think he’s a guy who is going to be a program player in that he’s always going to be doing the right things, on and off the field, and that he plays at a high level on multiple positions. This guy played 4I-techniques, played 3-technique, played center. I’ve got a lot of respect for the program he comes from and what he can provide to our depth on the offensive line.”

Todd Monken’s presence and how it contributed to recruiting–

“We’re excited about what Todd brings to us. As far as the recruiting process, he got involved in most of these late. Most of the work had been done on a lot of these guys. If you think about it, I think all of our wideouts signed early, so that was not a major factor in this recruiting class. and you think about it a lot out, like every one of them signed early. So that was not a major factor in this recruiting class. I am excited about this class, and I think that these guys are going to have an opportunity to grow and play at our place, and I’m excited to see what they do.”

The expected differences with the 2020 offense–

“I don’t know the answer to that. The roles on our staff still aren’t complete with an assistant coach spot open. I think that will play out as we go along. Certainly, I’m excited. I know the kids are excited for an opportunity and looking to see where that goes. I can’t honestly say right now. I think everybody wants to hear some grand speech opening this up and doing that. What you need is to be productive offensively, score points, and do explosive plays, which we talk about consistently.”

On previous interactions with Coach Monken–

“We really want this to be about our signing class, but Coach Monken and I crossed paths at LSU. He came in with Les Miles’ staff, and I was there for a month, or three or four weeks, before I came here. So, we were briefly on the same staff. We’ve crossed paths through our time at speaking engagements, recruiting on the road, the Southern Miss job, lot of interactions in different ways.”

Special teams coaches for next season–

“Like I just mentioned, 2020 staff roles have not been completely defined yet. We still have a staff spot available and really all options are still available on that.”

The increase in out-of-state recruits–

“Two-fold there, probably. Number one, we had more interest from out-of-state kids. We had some national interest from players that came to camp and really performed well that in the past, we might have lost out on. We might have been second or third on a national kid that was a really good player. Say a Darnell (Washington), say a Kendall (Milton), say a Kelee (Ringo). But we won a lot of those. The other part is we lost some great battles that were really, really good players. So, I think the two of those merged to make that unique position where we would’ve taken the in-state guy or the out-of-state guy. It just so happens we took the out-of-state guy. But we’re excited for those players. There are a lot of good out-of-state players that play here at the University of Georgia. There’s no limitation to your borders. But we respect and understand how good our state is.”

On the personnel and coaching changes in the offseason–

“For me, with both coordinators going last year was much greater than this offseason. We’re still in the offseason, so all things are not done yet, so it’s part of the process. I think you being able to reinvent yourself, being able to reinvent your program, and also develop the players in it is what’s going to set you apart, make you different. We’re not completely done yet. This class doesn’t completely wrap it up. There’s still moves to be made for us from a hiring standpoint, moving people around. It’s a work-in-progress—constant improvement, constant growth. That’s what we’re trying to do. I think winning the Sugar Bowl was a big bump for us. It helped kickstart us into the second part of the recruiting season.”

On the role of character in recruiting a player–

“More each and every year. It should never be the only thing, but it’s definitely the most important thing. The older I get, the wiser I get, and the more you realize that chasing guys that don’t believe in the same principles and values of your university and of your program, they’re just not worth it. There’s too much time spent on guys that if you’re having to chase them around, it’s just not worth it. Take the guys that want to be there and go play with guys that want to be there. Number one, you’ll enjoy your job day-to-day. Your staff will enjoy it more, as will the other players. It’s very important for us.”

Social media reacts to 4-star RB Daijun Edwards committing to Georgia football

Social media reacted to the news of Daijun Edwards picking Georgia football.

On Thursday, Georgia football received a commitment from 4-star running back Daijun Edwards, out of Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, Georgia.

The commitment of Edwards gives the Bulldogs 22 players in 2020 and helped moved UGA to the No. 1 spot in the class rankings, overtaking Alabama.

The commitment of Edwards likely means 5-star ball carrier Zachary Evans will not be a Dawg after all. Evans signed with Georgia originally but Kirby Smart granted the No. 1 back’s request and released him of his National Letter of Intent.

Related: Georgia now has the No. 1 ranked recruiting class

Related: 4-star RB Daijun Edwards commits to Georgia

Related: Tennessee’s visit with Zach Evans did not go as planned

Regardless, Georgia gets a great player in Edwards, a 5-10, 200 pound beast.

Following the news of Edwards’ commitment, social media erupted in excitement over the addition of a great player and that new No. 1 ranked recruiting class.

 

UGA’s Ben Cleveland reaches NFL Draft decision

Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Ben Cleveland is returning to UGA for his senior season

The Georgia Bulldogs have lost numerous starters along their offensive front heading into the 2020 season. The Dawgs have lost four of their previous five starting offensive lineman from the 2019 season: LT Andrew Thomas (NFL), LG Solomon Kindley, RG Cade Mays (transfer to Tennessee), and RT Isaiah Wilson (NFL). UGA need all the help they can get at offensive line with the line only returning starting center Trey Hill.

Fortunately for Georgia, offensive lineman Ben Cleveland is returning to Athens for his senior season. Cleveland is projected to start at right guard for UGA this season. Cleveland returns as a key lineman with sixteen games of starting experience.

Cleveland announced his decision to return on the last day to declare for the 2020 NFL Draft. DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell initially reported Cleveland’s return:

Georgia additionally got good news earlier this week: lineman Justin Shaffer has been cleared following a neck sprain. Ben Cleveland missed the Sugar Bowl due to an academic issue, but will look to get that sorted out ahead of the 2020 season opener against Virginia.

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Twitter reacts as Jamie Newman transfers to UGA

Former Wake Forest QB Jamie Newman is transferring to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Georgia Bulldogs have lost their fair share of quarterbacks to the transfer portal over the years: Justin Fields, Jacob Eason, Nick Marshall, Zach Mettenberger, and more. It’s about time UGA landed somebody in return: Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman.

Newman is the most talented transfer QB on the market and Georgia needed somebody to start while talented UGA QB signee Carson Beck learns the system and adjusts to the speed of college football. Newman threw for 26 touchdowns and ran for six more last season. He also threw eleven interceptions. He’ll have to cut down on the picks in Athens. Jake Fromm threw just five interceptions last season and eighteen in his UGA career.

Here’s how Georgia Bulldog fans, former coaches, and the college football world reacted to the signing on Twitter:

Former UGA coach Mark Richt predicts Newman will be the SEC’s best quarterback. Richt knows his football, so I’d trust him on this one:

Newman put up some impressive numbers according to PFF:

Newman must be careful around the notorious folding chairs in Athens:

This reminds me of politics:

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Georgia football fans reveal their favorite Christmas gifts

UGA football fans share their favorite Christmas gifts from the holiday

The time has come for our annual Christmas post, featuring Georgia-themed gifts from around the Bulldog nation, which include bowl tickets, jerseys, new gear and much more.

We always love sharing the spirit of the Dawgs with our readers and this is no exception.

Below, you will find some of the items Georgia fans far and wide received over the holiday. Who knows, maybe you’ll want to take a peak at some of the items too.

– Christian Fanning

Merry Christmas! And as always, Go Dawgs!

UGA photographer provides positive update after scary collision

Georgia football photographer Chamberlain Smith gave an update after the injury from the UGA vs Auburn game.

An eerie silence fell across Jordan-Hare Stadium late in the second quarter of UGA’s 21-14 triumph over Auburn. It came after Georgia running back Brian Herrien was shoved out of bounds, where he collided with UGA photography intern Chamberlain Smith, knocking her unconscious for a few moments.

Smith was ultimately taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital after the scary collision.

However, it appears that things are looking hopeful for Smith, as she posted an encouraging update about her health on Twitter.

Smith revealed that she is doing okay and left the hospital with nothing more than a concussion and some bruises.

It’s a hopeful update after an incident that appeared that it could have been much, much worse than it was. Dawg Nation wishes Chamberlain Smith a speedy and healthful recovery from her injuries.

Brian Herrien following photographer injury: ‘I prayed for her well being’

Georgia football RB Brian Herrien discussed the injury to the UGA photographer during the Auburn game and how he prayed for her.

It was a scary moment on Saturday as UGA running back Brian Herrien collided with photographer Chamberlain Smith, an intern with the Georgia Athletic Department.

Georgia was deep in Auburn territory as Herrien caught a short pass and was pushed out of bounds, where he was unable to avoid a collision with Smith.

She was knocked unconscious and the game came to a halt as medical personnel attended to her on the sideline. A few minutes later, Smith regained consciousness and was taken off the field in a stretcher.

Herrien, who is known among the Dawg Nation as one of the hardest workers on the team and a guy who’s always willing to engage with fans, was visibly shaken up after the incident. He did not want to leave the area until he knew Smith was ok.

With a bruise by her eye, Smith was later transported to East Alabama Medical Center. A few hours later, she was released by the doctors.

“[Herrien] was pretty upset in the locker room,” CBS sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl reported at halftime.

Following the game, Kirby Smart discussed Herrien’s emotions as well.

“It was really a scary moment,” Smart said. “Brian felt very sick about it. It was a tough deal, but hopefully she’s going to be OK. I think she is.”

When Herrien found out that Smith had been released from the hospital, it’s a safe bet to say that he was relieved.

“My heart goes out to her and her family I prayed for her well being as we took a knee,” tweeted Herrien, who prayed for Smith alongside Jake Fromm at halftime, reported Erdahl.

Herrien went on to score on the first play after the game resumed. On 7 carries, the senior from Douglasville tallied 24 yards and found the end zone on a reception. Georgia won the game 21-14 and clinched its spot in the the SEC Championship Game for the third year in a row.