How did Georgia football wind up with the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class?

We are right on the front step of August. Somehow, the Georgia football program has the nation’s No. 1-rated recruiting class on the 247Sports Composite.

Some might regard that bit of news as saying that’s what always happens with Kirby Smart leading the program. Georgia’s average recruiting class ranking has been No. 2 nationally since Smart’s first group in 2016.

But the Bulldogs have had to improvise this cycle.

Coaches like to use the term “sudden change” in their practice scripts where they interrupt a planned practice period with a turnover, and all of a sudden, the offense has to go on the field and win in the red zone against the No. 1 defense.

That’s what it has been like chronicling the 2026 class.

When we wrote in April about how the 2026 recruiting cycle needed to unfold for UGA, there was only one thing that happened.

Georgia scored a recommitment from the nation’s No. 1 QB prospect in Jared Curtis. The five-star was the top-rated guy on the board for the Bulldogs this cycle. Georgia also nailed down the commitment of five-star TE Kaiden Prothro.

But very little else went according to plan in terms of the biggest fish.

Five-star OT Jackson Cantwell? Miami won a bidding war.

Five-star TE Mark Bowman? When USC made its offer, reportedly ranging from $8 million to $10 million for his college career, Bowman dropped the mic on his recruiting conversation. He didn’t even take any official visits.

Five-star longtime priority Tyler Atkinson? Texas won its bidding war there. The Horns also flipped five-star DT James Johnson and pulled the rare who-needs-an-official-visit-trick to lasso former five-star UGA commit Derrek Cooper, too.

Top RB target Savion Hiter? That’s still in the midst of a pricey tug-of-war between longtime suitors Michigan and Tennessee.

Elite receivers? The state of Georgia had an early pair of top-15 overall prospects at receiver, but the Bulldogs went 0-for-2 there. The goal of adding a five-star WR to this class for the second consecutive cycle also never really took flight.

Anchor commitments? The Bulldogs couldn’t hold onto two of their long-standing early pledges. Hurricane winds also claimed WR pledge Vance Spafford. He flipped to Miami to join Cantwell. That also was where four-star Jontavius Wyman of Jonesboro wound up, despite committing to UGA this time last summer.

If a random program assembled a board of only the players that Georgia either had committed to or once led for, then those “misses” would be a top-15 class.

It was like the Bulldogs were playing the classic board game “Risk” this cycle, but it was being challenged on all fronts by Miami, USC and Texas.

Somehow, as Smart likes to tout, the Bulldogs kept chopping.

Miami’s class is ranked 10th. The Longhorns come in at seventh nationally. The USC balance sheet is ranked No. 2. The Trojans could very well overtake the Bulldogs this weekend.

The Bulldogs are on top right now. Somehow. It’s not a surprise Smart pulled something like this off on the trail again. Nor will it ever be.

But this was an entirely new ballgame in the transitioning NIL inducement to revenue-sharing era.

How did they do it?

As we scan the class by positions, we see the Bulldogs still scored a top-of-the-board target at quarterback, offensive tackle, tight end, edge, defensive line, cornerback and safety. They also have landed the nation’s No. 1 punter and kicker prospects. Still, those vital additions do very little to boost the overall recruiting ranking.