ATHENS, Ga. — The day KJ Bolden committed to Florida State last August, he got a text from Kirby Smart. The short version: Smart still had a lot of respect for Bolden, he was still going to recruit him, and he still thought Georgia was the best place for him.
“I met KJ Bolden and his mom his ninth-grade year in the indoor (facility) and sat and talked to them for 45 minutes and just had a great appreciation for her and for him,” Smart said Wednesday night. “We knew he was a really talented young man. And from that point on, he was on our campus 20 to 30 times, coming over here for different events.”
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And so Smart and Georgia quietly stayed in the running for Bolden. For months it was publicly considered a lost cause. Then the early signing period approached and the whispers began, turning soon to the story of the week.
The rest of Georgia’s signing class was done long ago; Smart called it “maybe the earliest class we’ve ever had in numbers committed.” Ten days ago, Georgia was expected to sign 28 players, one of them a five-star at Buford (Ga.) High. And that’s exactly what happened. No drama at all!
Well, maybe a little bit. Quarterback Dylan Raiola went from the headliner of the class to signing with Nebraska. But Bolden went from a symbol of in-state frustration for Georgia to the finishing touch on the No. 1 class.
“I’ve always learned, Andrew Thomas’ parents taught me, that consistency is the key,” Smart said, citing the offensive tackle and future first-round pick they signed in 2017. “We were very consistent every time (Bolden) was here. And you know, it worked out. It doesn’t always work out. But it worked out in this case. We’re not going to change our method, how we go about things.”
This is Georgia’s third recruiting crown since Smart became coach and the seventh time it has finished in the top three. So yes, keeping the same strategy seems wise. Some thoughts on the Bulldogs’ 2024 class:
Blue-chips in the secondary
Smart’s defensive strategy, given his druthers, would be to focus on the run and let his defensive backs win in man coverage. But to do that, you need good defensive backs, and Georgia got some Wednesday.
Bolden was the nation’s top-ranked safety. Ellis Robinson IV was the nation’s top-ranked cornerback. Demello Jones was the fifth-ranked cornerback, Ondre Evans the 10th-ranked. That’s a whole lot of potential.
Ideally, they won’t have to contribute too much next year. Safety Malaki Starks returns for his junior year, Javon Bullard is thinking about coming back for his senior year, and Georgia has stacked previous classes with guys it hopes can play cornerback and nickelback. But whether it’s next year or further down the road, the Bulldogs have to feel good about their secondary.
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Loading up in the trenches
The biggest names were at other spots, but there was more quantity — without sacrificing quality, it would appear — on both lines.
Five defensive linemen signed, and four of them ranked among the top 23 at the position: five-star Joseph Jonah-Ajonye (No. 7) and four-stars Jordan Thomas (No. 20), Nasir Johnson (No. 21) and Justin Greene (No. 23). And because this is the program that has already turned one three-star D-lineman from North Carolina into a first-round NFL Draft pick, we must mention Nnamdi Ogboko.
The defensive line is an area in immediate need of impact players, and Jonah-Ajonye might be the only candidate for that. But young depth was also a need, and that has been filled.
“We’ve gone two years without really signing a solid D-end,” Smart said. “(Jonah-Ajonye) and Justin Greene are two solid what we call ends, big ends, at Mykel (Williams’) and Ty (Ingram-Dawkins’) position. We need some help there. So those guys are gonna help us fill a role.”
The offensive line, meanwhile, was about size: weight and numbers. Georgia’s six O-line signees have an average weight of 344 pounds, and none were listed under 6 feet 5. Rankings-wise, none ranked in the top 100 overall — Daniel Calhoun (119th) came the closest — but five were ranked among the top 30 offensive tackles. (Which means some will move to guard, which Georgia has done with others.)
There shouldn’t be an immediate need for freshmen to start on the offensive line, so this gives offensive line coach Stacy Searels time to develop.
Another strength: Tailback
Georgia signed three, including Nate Frazier, the second-ranked tailback in this class. Dwight Phillips Jr., a four-star, is the son of the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the long jump. And Georgia also got Chauncey Bowens, the No. 16 tailback.
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It’s been a good cycle for Dell McGee, who missed on some of the past few cycles. And he might not be done: Georgia is the favorite to land Florida transfer Trevor Etienne, who would slot in as the starter next year.
Smart couldn’t talk about Etienne yet, but he said the high school trio complemented one another: Frazier and Bowens complement each other the way Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and then Zamir White and James Cook did in the past for Georgia. Phillips is in a different category.
“He has a very unique skill set. But how we use him will be very important. He’s not just a normal back,” Smart said. “He can do a lot of things and create a lot of matchup nightmares. We don’t think he’s even seen his full potential.”
And another strength: Inside linebackers
Signing two top-50 prospects (Justin Williams and Chris Cole) and another top-150 player (Kristopher Jones) would normally be heralded as the centerpiece of the class. But Georgia has done it so much under defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann that veteran starters (Jamon Dumas-Johnson) and former five-stars (Xavian Sorey Jr.) are transferring for playing time.
What could have been
Receiver is a position at which Georgia just hasn’t won many battles, and it lost some more this cycle. But it did get a top-100 overall recruit in Nitro Tuggle and four-star Sacovie White. It was just a deep receiver class (Tuggle was ranked only 17th at the position), and Georgia missed on in-state guys Mike Matthews (fifth) and Ny Carr (12th).
But just as it did last year, Georgia is trying to make up for those lost battles in the portal. London Humphreys was under-recruited last year, became Vanderbilt’s second-leading receiver as a freshman and will be at Georgia next year. The Bulldogs are also trying to get in the race for Evan Stewart, the Texas A&M transfer, and are eyeing Miami transfer Colbie Young, among others.
Smart said that, ideally, Georgia would “build (its) wideout room through high school,” just as you’d like to do at every position. But the program has found success in the portal for experience.
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“I do think you can play early in college football at wideout. People have proven that,” Smart said, citing George Pickens (2019), Jermaine Burton (2020), Adonai Mitchell (2021) and Dillon Bell this year. “But it’s nice to get some SEC experience. And the two guys we got last year. So we need more depth at receiver. It’s a position we’re thin at. We’ve got to have enough people to surround Carson with great weapons.”
One quarterback, not two
Smart sounds happy with Ryan Puglisi as the one quarterback in this class, praising the Massachusetts passer’s “lively” arm the Bulldogs have already seen during bowl practice.
Of course, the loss of Raiola came up, at least indirectly, when Smart was asked whether he thought starter Carson Beck coming back had an impact on only one quarterback ending up in the signing class.
“I don’t think Carson’s decision had any impact on our quarterback recruiting situation. I think (there are) a lot of independent variables there,” Smart said. “We felt pretty good that Carson was coming back the entire time. He’s communicated with us. He did his research. He certainly had options. But he communicated he wanted to grow and continue to get better.”
Georgia might sign another quarterback just to be at four scholarship quarterbacks. That probably wouldn’t happen via the high school route, given the timing, but the window for players to enter the transfer portal remains open through Jan. 4, then opens again after spring practice.
“That’s something we have to think long and hard about,” Smart said. “Our hard number is four. We want to be at four, and we’re not at four. So, again, we’ll look at our options and see what we can do there.”
(Photo of Kirby Smart: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Seth Emerson is a senior writer for The Athletic covering Georgia and the SEC. Seth joined The Athletic in 2018 from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and also covered the Bulldogs and the SEC for The Albany Herald from 2002-05. Seth also covered South Carolina for The State from 2005-10. Follow Seth on Twitter @SethWEmerson
