Kirby Smart understands why Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer are coming to his backyard to hold satellite recruiting camps. And if the SEC begins allowing them, Georgia has a plan to hold its own.
“It’s waiting in the brink,” Smart said after Tuesday’s practice. “If it happens, we’ll be ready to go.”
A satellite camp is when a school holds a recruiting event at a different campus in another recruiting territory, hosted by another school. Right now the SEC has a rule prohibiting that. But with so many other schools coming into SEC territory to hold such camps, the conference may end its rule, assuming the NCAA doesn’t step in to halt the camps everywhere.
Michigan’s Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Meyer have both announced plans for satellite camps in Georgia this summer. Harbaugh announced plans two weeks ago for a camp on June 2 at Cedar Grove High School in Ellenwood. Then word came out Thursday that Meyer will hold a camp on June 16 at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, less than an hour from Athens.
Smart was asked what he thought about those two coaches coming to his backyard.
“I think it’s very smart on their part. They’ve got a right to do it,” Smart said. “Like I said, we’ve got a plan ready. You’ll see soon enough.”
It’s unclear where Georgia would hold camps. It might feel good to retaliate by going to Michigan or Ohio, but whether it would actually be productive is debatable. And it’s not certain that the SEC would be happy with its schools invading fellow schools within the conference blueprint.
Whatever the plan, Smart made clear there is one.
“We’ve got to be prepared. That’s there. That’s like waiting in the brink, and who’s going to be first, and who’s going to be where,” Smart said. “Everybody’s lobbying, but we’ve got to be careful, because we’re not going out there right now and saying where we’re going. We’ve got to wait and see what happens. If it happens we’ll be ready for it.
“We’ve got some decisions to make, because it’s tough decisions. Ultimately every SEC school wants these kids on their campus. I don’t want to have to go to them. But if it gives somebody a competitive advantage to go to them, then we may want to do the same thing.
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