Tag: NSD

OT Jamal Meriweather signs with UGA football

Georgia has signed only five in-state recruits in the class of 2023.

The Georgia Bulldogs have signed another player in the class of 2023. Three-star offensive tackle Jamal Meriweather had been committed to Georgia and now has signed with the Bulldogs.

Meiweather flipped his commitment from UCF to Georgia in December. The three-star offensive tackle is the 26th player to sign with the Bulldogs in the class of 2023. Kirby Smart and Georgia has the second-ranked recruiting class in the country behind Alabama.

Will Georgia sign another player in the class of 2023? The Dawgs missed out on four-star tight end Walker Lyons. Additionally, five-star tight end Duce Robinson is delaying signing and waiting to see what happens in the MLB draft and is frankly not ready to decide where he would play college football.

Jamal Meriweather is ranked as the No. 475 recruit in the class of 2023 and the No. 31 player at his position. The 6-foot-7, 290-pound offensive tackle is the No. 51 recruit in Georgia.

The three-star offensive tackle is one of only three three-star recruits to sign with Georgia in the class of 2023. Meriweather played football for Brunswick High School in Brunswick, Georgia.

Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searles has helped the Bulldogs land  three-star offensive guard Joshua Miller, four-star offensive guard Kelton Smith, four-star offensive tackle Bo Hughley, four-star offensive tackle Monroe Freeling, and now Jamal Meriweather.

The Bulldogs are signing only five in-state recruits in the class of 2023. Kirby Smart and Georgia will need to sign more top recruits in the Peach State in the class of 2024 recruiting cycle.

Georgia football announced its signing of Meriweather via Twitter:

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4-star DL Jerod Smith names top schools

Jerod Smith and his twin brother Jacob Smith have named their top 10 schools.

Class of 2024 defensive line recruit Jerod Smith has named his top 10 schools. Smith, a four-star prospect, visited Georgia in early June 2022 and received a scholarship offer from Kirby Smart.

It appears Smith and his twin brother, Jacob Smith, plan to play college football together. Jacob Smith is a four-star recruit and is an edge rusher. Jacob Smith is the top-ranked recruit in Connecticut and the No. 97 recruit in the country.

The duo appears to have the same top 10 schools: Georgia, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Alabama, Penn State, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Ole Miss and Michigan.

The Smith brothers and other defensive line recruits must be impressed with Georgia after the Bulldogs won back-to-back national championship and had a record-breaking 2022 NFL draft.

Jerod Smith and Jacob Smith play high school football at The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut. Jerod Smith is the third-ranked Connecticut prospect in the class of 2024. The junior is the No. 220 overall recruit and the No. 23 defensive line prospect in his class.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound defensive lineman will continue to add to his frame throughout his high school career. Jerod Smith has already committed to playing in the 2024 Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Florida.

Jerod Smith has scholarship offers from elite college football programs Alabama, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and UNC among others. The four-star recorded 12 sacks as a sophomore and 10 sacks as a junior. Jerod Smith primarily plays defensive tackle.

Jerod Smith would be a 3-4 defensive end or 4-3 defensive tackle at the next level. Smith has some impressive film:

The Loomis Chaffee star announced the twins’ top schools via Twitter:

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Running back TreVonte’ Citizen announces his commitment

TreVonte Citizen chose to leave Louisiana to continue his football career.

One of the best recruits in the state of Louisiana will be taking his talents elsewhere.

TreVonte’ Citizen, regarded as the best running back in the state, opted to sign with Miami on Wednesday morning.

Citizen choose Miami over LSU, Florida, and Auburn.

Citizen’s decision came as a bit of a surprise, with virtually all predictions having him slated to join Florida’s class.

There were some rumblings that Miami was also in a good position, with LSU and Auburn being out of the race.

LSU could have used a running back in this class. The Tigers added Noah Cain from the transfer portal and have Armoni Goodwin, Corey Kiner, and John Emery back, but now the pressure is on to add a couple of blue-chip running backs in next year’s class.

Citizen is yet another top 10 player in the state that won’t be staying home. This was to be expected in a transition year. What the new staff has done to this point is impressive, but they already lost too much ground with Citizen to make up.

It’s still never a good sight for LSU fans to see that many players leaving the state.

It’s an impressive get for Mario Cristobal’s staff at Miami, who is also putting a class together in a transition year.

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart talks increase in out-of-state recruits

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart discusses the increase in out-of-state recruits committing to UGA.

One of the biggest perks of being the head coach at Georgia is that even if you don’t leave your own state you can still finish with one of the nation’s top recruiting class. 

If Georgia only signed the top players in the Peach State, it would still result in a damn good class signing class.

However, Kirby Smart knows that’s not realistic, so he reeled in 25 players from nine different states and together they formed the nation’s No. 1 overall ranked recruiting class.

Georgia’s often had success recruiting from other states, most notably South Florida. Then there’s the superstar running backs to come from North Carolina. Or the big arm of Jacob Eason from Washington. If Kirby Smart sees talent, he will go to any corner of the map to bring it to Athens.

This year’s class broken down by state:

Georgia: 8

Florida: 5

Texas: 3

Louisiana: 3

California: 2

Nevada: 1

Arizona: 1

Washington D.C.: 1

New Jersey: 1

On the topic of out-of-state kids, Smart said:

“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.”

Kirby Smart on what Todd Monken brings to Georgia’s offense, recruiting

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart discusses what new UGA OC Todd Monken bring to the Bulldogs offense and to recruiting.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart went to the professional ranks to find his next offensive coordinator.

After allowing longtime assistant James Coley a year to run Georgia’s offense, it was evident that Smart had made the wrong decision and took little time to make a change.

Smart demoted Coley and brought in Todd Monken to call the plays for Georgia’s offense.

Monken came to Georgia after serving as offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. Monken is well-known for his successful air attack offenses that he’s orchestrated over the years.

By the time Monken stepped foot in Athens, Georgia, most of the heavy lifting had already been done as far as recruiting goes.

But for a new face to step into the picture that late in the recruiting process can be a scary sight for young prospects and their parents.

However, Monken and Smart handled the situation smoothly, not allowing Coley’s departure to have a negative impact on recruiting.

In fact, Monken helped Georgia to land the nation’s No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2020.

“We’re excited about what Todd brings to us. As far as the recruiting process, he got involved in most of these late,” Smart said. “Most of the work hadKirby Smart on what Todd Monken brings to Georgia’s offense, recruiting 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.”

Smart also commented on his previous relationship with Monken, however, pointed out that he would prefer to talk about the new signees.

“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.”

When asked about what we should expect from Georgia’s new-look offense in 2020, Smart sounds just excited to figure out as we do. But right now, he would not give us much information regarding that.

“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.”

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart discusses importance of ‘character’ in recruiting

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart talks about a player’s character.

Georgia landed the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class for the 2020 cycle, making that the second time in three years that Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have done so.

For Kirby, the talent level of a player he is recruiting is obviously a big deal, but to him nothing is as important as getting a player of high character.

Kirby spoke about that in detail during his signing day press conference.

“It should never be the only thing, but it’s definitely the most important thing,” Smart said, referring to a player’s character.

“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.”

You don’t have to be a football coach for that advice to impact your life.

Well said, Kirby.

NSD around the SEC: How’d each team do?

How did each SEC team do during the 2020 recruiting cycle? Georgia football holds the lead.

Georgia football closed out National Signing Day with the No. 1 ranked class in the nation, making that the second time in three year that the Bulldogs finished with the top class.

As it always does, the SEC dominated recruiting, with the conference occupying seven of the top ten spots in the team rankings.

Georgia had some tough competition for the No. 1 spot but was able to fend off powerhouses Alabama and Clemson to remain America’s top dawg.

The numbers do not lie, though. Georgia has spent more money on the recruiting trail than any other team in the country. And apparently it’s working well for them.

From Bleacher Report:

Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald (h/t USA Today) cited Georgia’s annual NCAA financial report that covered the fiscal year of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, and noted the Bulldogs spent $3.7 million on football recruiting expenses.

That represents a jump of more than $1 million from the previous fiscal year when they led the country in the same category.

Here’s a look at how each SEC school did in the 2020 recruiting cycle:

In order of SEC ranking

1. Georgia (No. 1 in country)

2. Alabama (No. 2 in country)

3. LSU (No. 4 in country)

4. Texas A&M (No. 6 in country)

5. Auburn (No. 7 in country)

6. Florida (No. 8 in country)

7. Tennessee (No. 10 in country)

8. South Carolina (No. 18 in country)

9. Kentucky (No. 24 in country)

10. Mississippi State (No. 27 in country)

11. Arkansas (No. 33 in country)

12. Ole Miss (No. 38 in country)

13. Missouri (No. 48 in country)

14. Vanderbilt (No. 56 in country)

So, the next closest SEC East school to Georgia is Florida, which sits at No. 8 in America. Then there’s Tennessee, which is No. 10. Is the talent gap really closing as much as Gator fans say it is?

DJ Shockley interviews the Georgia football early-enrollees

Former Georgia Bulldog great DJ Shockley sat down with six early enrollees from the 2020 football class including Carson Beck, Justin Robinson, Kendall Milton, Jalen Kimber, Major Burns, and Warren Brinson on how they are adjusting to college life, …

Former Georgia Bulldog great DJ Shockley sat down with six early enrollees from the 2020 football class including Carson Beck, Justin Robinson, Kendall Milton, Jalen Kimber, Major Burns, and Warren Brinson on how they are adjusting to college life, what enrolling early means to their success, and a whole lot more.

To watch the interview, click here.

CB Daran Branch flips from Ole Miss to UGA; Georgia announces signing

Georgia football announced the signing of 3-star CB Daran Branch today, an Ole Miss flip.

Georgia football has announced the signing of 3-star cornerback Daran Branch today, National Signing Day.

Branch made news today when he flipped his commitment from Ole Miss to Georgia, adding to there Bulldogs’ already No. 1 ranked recruiting class.

Branch, out of Amite, Louisiana, committed to Ole Miss in November of 2019, but today decided he wanted to be a Georgia Bulldog.

At 6-2, 180 pounds, Branch is described as a physical cornerback.

Branch took a visit to Georgia on January 24th.

The University of Georgia announced the signing on Twitter.

Georgia football flips Ole Miss CB commit

Georgia football was able to flip an Ole Miss CB commit.

Georgia was able to flip cornerback Daran Branch from Ole Miss.

Branch is a 3-star cornerback out of Amite, Louisiana who ranks as the nation’s No. 672 overall player and, until today, was committed to play at Ole Miss.

Georgia had been coming for Branch, though. He took an official visit to UGA on January 24th and then visited Ole Miss last weekend.

Georgia offered the 6-2, 180 pound cornerback at the end of December and had been gunning for the Rebel commit hard, Branch told 247.

We predicted this yesterday when we outlined two players that could commit to Georgia today. The other, Cameron Kinnie, also committed to UGA today as well.