ATHENS — This was not a typical early signing period for Kirby Smart this week.
Instead of getting to focus on the 25 signees that Georgia welcomed to the program on Wednesday, he was far more focused on how Georgia would perform in the red zone.
That’s where his time is usually spent on the Wednesday of a game week, which Georgia has this weekend against Texas.
Smart feels that his team is somewhat at a disadvantage due to having to focus elsewhere, instead of putting the finishing touches on Georgia’s signing class.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Smart said during the SEC Coaches teleconference on Wednesday. “I think it’s hard to navigate, but we try to recruit kids that, you know, that when they say that they’re coming, they’re coming. And we’ve had a large sum of commitments for quite a while. And it doesn’t keep teams from reaching out to them and throwing things at them late. And it’s never different than it was. It’s only higher-priced and more money being thrown now, which is unfortunate, but fortunate.”
Georgia did see one member of the class flip elsewhere, with running back Ousmane Kromah flipping his commitment from Georgia to Florida State.
The only commitment that Georgia added on Wednesday was 3-star defensive back Daniel Okonkwo out of Hillgrove High School. Georgia was unable to flip prospects like Tavion Wallace, Kevin Wynn or Jeramiah McCloud, who all stuck with their original schools.
As of Thursday, Georgia does have the No. 4 ranked recruiting class in the 2025 recruiting cycle. It could add to it on Friday if the Bulldogs are able to land 5-star defensive lineman Justus Terry, who is considering Georgia, Auburn and Texas. The Longhorns actually have the No. 1 ranked recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
“It’s not really a good time to, I mean, there’s no good time to have it,” Smart said. “So it’s, do you wait longer into December where we were and you’re dealing with not knowing your roster? The point in moving it up was to solidify your signing class and be sure of that, and then focus on your own roster. So it may be the lesser of two evils. I’m not sure.
“It was tremendously tough, I’m sure, with Sark and Texas as well. You got a lot going on and you’re trying to manage a tough situation in terms of prep for a game and a signing class. So, you know, others weren’t in the game they probably like it better because they’re not dealing with issues that will be coming up next week.”
The transfer portal does open up on Monday, though Georgia has already had to deal with that as cornerback Julian Humphrey entered the transfer portal this previous Sunday. Humphrey played every snap in Georgia’s 30-15 win over Texas earlier in the season but he did not play at all against Georgia Tech.
Of the teams ranked at the top of the recruiting rankings, No. 1 Texas, No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Georgia all play this weekend.
This is the first year that the signing period has been moved to the beginning of December. It traditionally had been the week before Christmas since the two signing periods were introduced back during the 2018 recruiting cycle.
Before Georgia can fully turn its attention to the future of its roster, the Bulldogs know they have to take care of Texas this coming Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. ET start on ABC.
A win could give Georgia some much-needed time off, which should allow them to rest and spend more time focusing on the future of its roster.
“I’m a SEC enthusiast that believes in an SEC title as a significant marker to your season and the kind of season you had,” Smart said. “It also gets you a bye and it gets you an opportunity to rest and recover while others play formidable opponents and tough opponents and removes you from that. So you’re playing for an opportunity to rest, possibly.”
