How is Georgia stacking talent atop talent in recruiting? Kirby Smart gives his take

On Thursday night, Georgia’s latest commitment in the Class of 2019 propelled the Bulldogs to No. 1 in the recruiting rankings. The team’s ability to stack talent on top of talent may surprise some, but Kirby Smart is not among them.

Smart spoke about Georgia’s ability to bring in some of the top high school prospects despite the talent the Bulldogs already have in house. Smart compared Georgia’s recruiting to the current trend in the NBA, where top players are banding together to compete for titles.

“I mean, do you see what’s going on in basketball right now?” Smart said. “You see guys who value a championship over maybe playing as much. I mean, they put the other stuff aside, and to me if you recruit the right kind of kid, he’s saying, ‘Can you win a championship? I want to win a championship. It’s really important that I win a championship.’

“Those are the kinds of kids you want in your organization. You want guys who want to win a championships. You want guys who want to be the best they can be. Does that necessarily mean they play every snap as a freshman? Not necessarily.”

Georgia landed the No. 1 class in February and continue to impress on the recruiting trail with the Class of 2019. As far as the last class’ signees are concerned, Smart made it evident their stars and ratings mean nothing to him.

“A lot of the accolades that were given to this [Class of 2018] signing class, they weren’t earned — they were given,” Smart said. “They were given by people who may or may not be able to rate players, I don’t know. I certainly think that’s a judgment call. What we’ve driven home to those guys is, ‘Everything you get here, you will have to earn. You will have to go out there and earn it.’”

Some of the Class of 2018 signees are expected to compete for starting spots during camp. Across the board, Smart pointed to special teams as a common way for any of the newcomers to affect the Bulldogs this fall.

Smart said on Thursday he watched film of then-freshman Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster tackling LSU running back Leonard Fournette, then-freshman Alabama running back Trent Richardson making a tackle on a kickoff and then-freshman Georgia running back Sony Michel making a tackle against Clemson.

Smart pointed out the trio had three things in common: none started in their freshman year, all played on special teams as freshmen and all three were eventually taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.

“The first place you impact as a freshman is usually on special teams,” Smart said. “That’s the challenge for this unit — can they buy into that? Did they dream last year about coming in and making a tackle on punt team? Is that something they can see themselves doing and have value in that?

“Our job as a coaching staff is sell that and make sure we have those guys helping our team wherever that may be. I mean, it may be starting, but that’s not what you see all the time.”