Kirby Smart refutes the idea Georgia isn’t spending enough to add top talent

TAMPA, Fla. — Kirby Smart made his thoughts loud and clear when it comes to Georgia’s ability to acquire talent. Resources, specifically money, have not been a worry as it pertains to roster building.

“We have no issue with resources, facilities, availability,” Smart said Tuesday at SEC media days. “I mean, there’s never been something that I asked our administration to do from a number to go to, to get a player out of the portal or get a player in high school that they weren’t willing to do. That’s not the case at all.”

Georgia ranks 12th for the 2027 recruiting cycle per the 247Sports Composite rankings. That would be the lowest of Smart’s tenure. This comes on the heels of the Bulldogs having the No. 6 recruiting class in 2026, which tied for the lowest-ranked recruiting class Smart has signed in his 10 years in Athens.

Despite signing the second-most blue-chip prospects in the country last cycle, Georgia’s haul was lacking the best players in the class. Offensive lineman Ekene Ogboko was the only 5-star signee. He and tight end Kaiden Prothro were the lone Top 50 prospects.

The 2026 recruiting class had the fewest 5-star signees and Top 50 players of any recruiting class signed by Smart.

Georgia wasn’t all that aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason, signing just nine players. Two of those have suffered serious injuries: Auburn outside linebacker Amaris Williams and Kentucky running back Dante Dowdell.

“That’s probably more a wrestling of that, more in-house for us, philosophically how we want our roster to look, how we want our money to be spread across,” Smart said. “I don’t think it’s — I mean, high school players nowadays aren’t any cheaper than portal players, so there’s an expense for both, especially good players. But we put our money where we think it’s best and put the best product we can on the field.”

Smart again made clear that the bulk of the money on Georgia’s 2026 roster was spent on retaining players.

The Bulldogs had only 12 players from last season’s roster leave via the transfer portal. That is the fewest of any SEC school.

Georgia spent big to bring back the likes of quarterback Gunner Stockton, running back Nate Frazier and linebacker Chris Cole.

“I choose to retain. I mean, there’s coaches out there that don’t choose to retain,” Smart said. “What do you mean? Their players choose to leave, not always. They get encouraged to leave. So, we think that our investment in our player is better than your investment in your player that I would get from you in the portal. So, we just keep thinking that if we pour into our guys, that our development is going to be better than taking a guy that’s second, third, fourth year that somebody else developed.”

Smart knows that strategy won’t always work, which is why the Bulldogs used the transfer portal to add players at wide receiver and the secondary.

Georgia Tech wide receiver transfer Isiah Canion has impressed for the Bulldogs. As for the secondary, Georgia targeted players with real playing experience. It landed Oklahoma cornerback Gentry Williams and Clemson safety Khalil Barnes.

“When we went in, we had to find a starter,” Smart said. “We had to find someone that could play multiple positions and start in our secondary. We were losing a lot of experience there. We were young there. We had some good, young players up and coming, but we needed a veteran.”

Smart knows with how he builds his roster, he’s always going to have a young team.

The longest-tenured coach in the league still follows that strategy, knowing it’ll be an annual talking point.

“When you’re upgrading at the expense of telling somebody they’ve got to go and that happens, then maybe that’s not culturally and ethically, morally right and we don’t really want to do that,” Smart said. “We’ll be honest with the kid if he’s been in the program three years and he hasn’t played, we’ll also tell him, hey, you’ve got a better chance to play somewhere else.”

Smart prefers to build through what he calls the high school model. The Bulldogs signed 32 players out of high school a season ago. The maligned 2027 class will be smaller than that; the Bulldogs have 19 commitments.

Georgia does have more veterans on this team — it has 34 players who have spent at least three seasons in Athens compared to just 25 a season ago — which could lead to greater roster turnover come the end of the season.

If that happens, perhaps Georgia leans more heavily on the transfers than it has in recent years. But a lot will change between now and when the portal opens in January.

And even if players such as Cole, Frazier and KJ Bolden forgo eligibility to head to the NFL, Smart knows next year’s team is still going to mostly be made up of players the Bulldogs signed out of high school.

“The best part is the continuity we were able to keep through our retention,” Smart said. “People say you’re just a retention team and you don’t believe in the portal. … Our most explosive offensive player last year was out of the portal. Or second-most explosive player last year was out of the portal.