This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting shares a conversation with Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley about what he looks for in the next great TE in Athens.

Todd Hartley was hired to coach tight ends at UGA in January of 2019.

When he’s had more than a month to recruit a class, the Bulldogs have signed at least one of the nation’s top four TE prospects in every cycle. That’s starting with the 2020 signees.

How does he do it? That answer is the “secret sauce” in why the Dawgs have recruited tight ends better than anyone in the country since he was hired.

Hartley breaks it down in the same way Larry Munson went on about cigars and fishing trips.

“Size profile,” Hartley says first. “Can they be big enough to play in the SEC?”

That’s the first box.

“Physicality profile,” he quickly moves on. “Do they have an edge about them from a physicality and violence standpoint? Do they show something in high school that shows they’ll be willing to throw it around and put their butt on the line in our conference day in and day out?”

That’s the second marker.

“Then as much as we do with our guys in the passing game in our offense, I would like to think that we are a somewhat tight end-centric offense. You’ve got to have the ability to run and catch and show you can do something with the ball in your hands after the catch.”

“You’ve got to be able to show you can make plays one-on-one. Contested catches.”

He keeps rolling.

“That’s what we call competitive excellence,” he said. “Do you have competitive excellence? Can you make the play one-on-one? When your number is called? And then do you have the character, the gumption, about you? Like do you have that ‘it’ factor that allows you to thrive in our culture? Not just our TE room. But what Kirby has built at Georgia. Like there’s a certain type of profile that it attracts, okay? Do you fit in that profile? As you know most of the kids, I would say most all of the kids that we have right now, they do. I love our room. I love the kids that are coming into our room. They fit all those criteria.”

At that point, his standard of what it takes to be a tight end at UGA sounds like it will last longer than a Kardashian relationship.

But that’s how he finds his Dawgs.

“You know what?” he asked. “Sometimes it is hard to figure that out 100 percent during the recruiting process. But you try to do your best to hit as many markers as you can.”

That full answer, in its entirety, is why there are so many Dawgs in Hartley’s room. He usually has to find a thing that “pops” for him on film.

It is usually athleticism.

“Usually, the first thing you look for is can you run and can you catch?” Hartley said. “If you can’t run and you can’t catch, then you probably can’t play in our offense. That’s probably the most easily identifiable trait off of a high school tape. Can you run? Can you catch? Can you make plays when the ball is in the air? Once you find that, then does he show some type of trait of physicality, toughness and violence?”

“Can he finish? Does he want to put his hands on people or does he avoid contact? Does he even want to be around it?”

Hartley, who graduated from UGA in 2008, seeks out the ones who are willing to embrace everything that makes up the program’s championship culture. His keywords there sound like non-negotiables.

“Embrace everything about Georgia football from a toughness, resilience, discipline and connection standpoint,” he said.

That first-year player will then have to show he wants to be the best version of himself every single day.

“If you can run and you can catch and then we can verify size, speed and profile and then you show a little bit of toughness and you’re willing to be a blocker and allow me to help you to become a better blocker, then you’re probably going to have success at Georgia at tight end,” Hartley said.

Todd Hartley: The “secret sauce” in an ace recruiter

He’s been described as “persistent” and “relentless” by the prospects he has prioritized over the years. Hartley not only signs his priority targets, but locks those public commitments down well in advance of their senior seasons.

He had commitments from both of his 2025 signees before they finished their junior seasons. How does that happen? It all starts at the top.

“Kirby is huge on the identification process,” Hartley said. “He’s huge on the evaluation process and again, that’s not an exact science, all right? But most of the time you can tell who’s going to be the one that you want pretty early on from a tape standpoint, and then you try to get an in-person eval as well.”

“But I’ll say this, we are in a people business, okay? This is a people business and when it gets down to it, there’s a lot of things changing in college football. From a NIL standpoint and a lot of other factors are maybe what’s driving those decisions that didn’t used to.”

“But when it comes down to it at the core, alright, it is still about the relationships that you have with that kid, with that kid’s parents, or with that kid’s decision makers. Alright? And when it comes down to it, if you get to know them for two years, three years, and by the time they’re making a decision by the senior years, they’ve known you for three years and they feel like that you have their best interests at heart, alright? Now, you’re going to have to make other things work. NIL. Whatever. Playing time. Whatever. But that relationship wins out more time than not.”

That’s part of the recipe in how a Georgia tight end has been taken in every NFL Draft since 2019. Hartley coached all those picks save for Isaac Nauta in 2019.

Georgia should extend that streak to seven straight NFL Drafts in April with graduate transfer Ben Yurosek.

Prior to Hartley’s arrival, the NFL had only taken two Georgia tight ends in the previous 11 NFL Drafts. That was fifth-round pick Arthur Lynch in 2014 and fourth-rounder Orson Charles in 2012.

The program is in the midst of its best run at that position since the NFL drafted four Georgia TEs from 2002-2007, including first-rounder Ben Watson in 2004.

That said, this whole “TEU” stuff at UGA really started with Hartley.

Let’s present two quick charts. The first shows the tight ends that Todd Hartley has signed since he’s coached that position for Georgia.

Todd Hartley signees since the 2020 cycle at Georgia

(With their 247Sports Composite rankings)

That’s a substantial run. Our second list here shows the number of tight ends Hartley has sent to the NFL. (Side note: The six tight ends that Georgia has in the NFL now leads all college programs.)

Todd Hartley coached tight ends drafted by the NFL

During his time in Athens, there have been two instances in which one of Hartley’s players was taken among the first five tight ends off the board.

It gets a little deeper. There have now been seven occasions where one of the tight ends he coached in college was taken among the first 10 tight ends in the draft.

That figure also includes former Miami TE Brevin Jordan. Hartley signed Jordan for the Hurricanes as the nation’s No. 1 TE back in 2018.

Have you subscribed to the DawgNation YouTube channel yet? If so, you will see special 1-on-1 content with key 2025 prospects like Ethan Barbour, Ryan Montgomery, Elijah Griffin and Justus Terry

SENTELL’S INTEL

(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)