Kirby Smart has been keeping a low profile since UGA’s loss in the Sugar Bowl.
However, the Bulldogs coach quietly served as the keynote speaker at the Macon Touchdown Club Jamboree awards banquet on Monday evening.
Well, it wasn’t quiet to the Macon area. As word quickly spread about Smart’s impending appearance on Monday, the banquet sold out by noon.
What was in it for Smart? Recruiting opportunities, or exposure to many of Middle Georgia’s top football players. As I’ve said before, Smart is “hardest-working recruiter” I’ve personally ever seen in all my years in the business.
If there’s anything closely resembling an opportunity for Smart to impress future recruits, Smart will almost always be there. In fact, this was his third year in a row to serve as the keynote speaker for the Macon Touchdown Club.
Who was there in Macon? For starters, UGA 5-star signee Travon Walker was honored as the club’s Player of the Year. Walker is a defensive lineman from Upson-Lee High School.
For future recruiting, 2021 offensive tackle Amarius Sims was honored as one of the “Super Seven Players of the Year.” Sims is a 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive lineman who reports early offers from UGA. Florida, Penn State, South Carolina and Tennessee, among others. On top of that, there were other younger players being awarded or in the crowd who could develop and grow into major-college prospects. You never know.
It was a busy day for Smart, who earlier on Monday was the keynote speaker for an event called “Georgia United Team Day 2019.”
Smart hasn’t been available to the media since the Sugar Bowl. He made the unprecedented step of skipping a Signing Day press conference in early February, and did not have a press conference or media availability a few days ago to announce UGA’s new defensive coordinator, Dan Lanning.
