Georgia began 2025 by landing a pair of brothers, Zachariah and Zion Branch.
The two came to Georgia from Southern California but had been playing and training together since the very beginning of their respective football careers.
“We look at them as separate players,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We’re looking at Zion and say, where does he fit in our safety roster? We look at Zach and say, where does he fit in our receiver roster? And then they’re both good players. They’re both in positions of need. We need depth. We need good players.”
Since the addition of the Branch brothers, Georgia has continued to add siblings to the roster. Micah Bell transferred in from Vanderbilt and he will now play with his brother, Dillon, a senior wide receiver.
In the 2026 recruiting cycle, Georgia has landed four commitments from prospects whose older brother played for Smart. Lawson Luckie and Nnamdi Ogboko are on the 2025 team and will see their brothers Carter Luckie, a four-star defensive lineman, and Ekene Ogboko, a four-star offensive tackle, join the team next season.
“I definitely think they wanted to isolate me and show I was a top priority,” Ogboko said following his commitment on June 20. “On the last (official visit), it definitely showed me that I was the priority for them and that they’re going to continue to make me the No. 1 tackle on the board right now.”
Earlier in June, Georgia added four-star cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of NFL All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Smart coached the elder Fitzpatrick when the two were at Alabama for the 2015 season.
The fourth brother Georgia added came on Monday, when Georgia beat out South Carolina and Ohio State to land PJ Dean. He is the younger sibling of Jared Wilson, who was taken in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft after spending four seasons at Georgia.
Georgia’s 2025 roster has several brothers who were walk-ons, such as Henry Delp (younger brother of Oscar Delp), Ali Hall (older brother of Jordan Hall) and Luke Bennett (younger brother of Stetson Bennett).
“We grew up playing football together in the backyard and for it all to come to life and doing it on the biggest stage in the world, it’s just awesome,” Oscar Delp said of playing with his brother prior to the Sugar Bowl.
Carter Luckie, Ekene Ogboko, Justice Fitzpatrick and Dean are all blue-chip prospects, with the latter three all ranking in the top 100 of the 247Sports Composite rankings.
But having that family experience definitely helps Georgia.
“I’m going to go with the best relationship I’ve got with the program with the coaches and where I think I am wanted the most, honestly,” Carter Luckie told DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell earlier this year.
“Lawson and I, even if I ended up going somewhere else, that wouldn’t affect our relationship. He supports me going wherever I decide to go. He tells me to check everything out and go where you feel like God is taking you and just follow your heart, honestly.”
Still, it’s undeniably meaningful to those who earn the opportunity to play with their brother. Zachariah Branch, who was a five-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class and one of the top players in the transfer portal in this cycle, recognized that and wanted to experience that at Georgia.
Georgia is counting on Zachariah Branch to be the team’s most explosive wide receiver, while Zion Branch is seen as a key piece in Georgia’s secondary.
Smart often speaks about the importance of connection — playing for one another and seeing your teammates as brothers. And for a handful of Bulldogs, that will be more literal.
“This program, I feel like, has already established that culture and that toughness and that mentality,” Branch said. “So I feel like it’s going to sharpen each other up as we keep going through the journey.”
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