Toward the end, the most-voiced reason for keeping Mark Richt was because Georgia’s 2016 recruiting class was shaping up nicely. Well, signing day has come and gone, and Georgia’s 2016 class …
Shaped up nicely.
Yes, there were some disappointments. There invariably are. But the Bulldogs changed coaches and still managed — as of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday — a top-10 class according to Rivals, Scout, ESPN and 247 Sports. They kept quarterback Jacob Eason, on whom much depends. Two months ago, none of that was a given.
Georgia should always recruit well, and Richt recruited very well. Still, there was no guarantee such success would be transferable. And it mightn’t have been — had not Athletic Director Greg McGarity moved with alacrity to secure Kirby Smart, who apprenticed under Nick Saban, the greatest recruiter ever.
It was Saban who said, after Alabama beat Notre Dame for the BCS title, “That damn game cost me a week of recruiting.” It was also Saban who, when asked what he did with his championship rings, said: “Sometimes I throw them on the table (for) the recruits.”
Smart arrived in Athens with three such rings and a fourth awaiting delivery. Apparently that impressed Eason and other touted teenagers enough for them to honor commitments made to a different coach. Two five-star prospects — tight end Isaac Nauta and “athlete” Mecole Hardman Jr. — pledged themselves to Georgia after Richt was fired.
At issue is whether the Bulldogs will win bigger under the new man, which is as yet unknowable. For now, all we can say is that recruiting didn’t suffer. But recruiting at Georgia rarely has been the issue. Coaching ’em up has.
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