BOGART -- Georgia is poised to lock down its fifth consecutive top-5 recruiting class Wednesday, which is the first day of the early signing period for football. If they do, the Bulldogs will owe Brock Vandagriff special thanks.
Not only is Vandagriff a 5-star-rated quarterback prospect and one of the highest-ranked players in Georgia’s 2021 class, he also served as a de facto recruiting coordinator and tour guide for the Bulldogs as they navigated their way through staff changes, then a global pandemic.
Intentionally or unintentionally, Vandagriff served the dual roles of bell cow and ringleader, rallying the best prospects in the state and region to follow him to Athens. It was something, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback said just sort of happened organically.
“I can personally say I’ve texted with pretty much everyone in the class, whether I met them in person or not,” said Vandagriff, who lives in Bogart, 12 miles from Georgia’s football complex. “That’s difficult now anyway because of the ‘corona.’ But if guys were coming into town, a lot of times they’d hit me up, and I’d always try to go over there and have lunch with them or take them around campus.”
NCAA rules during the pandemic prevent recruits from taking official or unofficial visits to schools. But there’s nothing that says a prospect can’t come town to check out the campus and town on their own. When they did, Vandagriff often found out about it and would make a point to meet them.
As a result, Vandagriff’s social-media pages are crowded with pictures of him posing with some of the top prospects in the country and their families.
“I just try to do my part and meet some of these people,” Vandagriff said. “I’ve had to educate myself on UGA’s campus because if somebody asks me a question, because there’s no tour guides over there or anything. So, if I didn’t know something, I’d try to find out. I’ve tried to educate myself, and I’ve actually learned a lot about Georgia I didn’t know.”
Georgia hopes to learn more about Vandagriff and the rest of the Class of 2021 in the coming months and years. Heading into the signing period, the Bulldogs’ class includes 20 commitments and was ranked No. 3 overall in the nation in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Vandagriff is one of three consensus 5-star prospects pledged, with several more elite-level recruits hanging in the balance.
“They’ve got a really strong class, especially in landing the guys they just couldn’t miss on,” said Rusty Mansell, lead recruiting analyst for Dawgs247. “They couldn’t miss on Brock Vandagriff or Amarius Mims.”
Wednesday’s drama will be in finding out whether 5-star outside linebacker Xavian Sorey, 5-star defensive tackle Maason Smith or 4-star running back Donovan Edwards end up coming Georgia’s way. Two other defensive end types – 5-stars Korey Foreman and Elijah Jeudy – are going to sign Wednesday, but won’t reveal their decisions until Jan. 2 on the All-American Bowl’s TV special.
It’s likely that Vandagriff has an idea where one or more of those players are going. But if he does, he’s not about to give it up.
“There’s some things I know,” he said slyly, “but I have to keep it classified because this is those guys’ special day, and I don’t want to ruin that.”
Vandagriff is given a lot of credit for the Bulldogs’ landing Mims. If you’re planning to play quarterback somewhere, who wouldn’t want a 6-foot-7, 315-pound tackle to play with you? The 5-star prospect from Bleckley County committed to Georgia on Oct. 14. He also attended Vandagriff’s quarterfinal playoff victory over Eagle’s Landing Christian on Friday night at Prince Avenue Christian School.
Oh, there’s also that. In addition to recruiting, Vandagriff can play a little, too.
A dual threat
Vandagriff was a big reason that the Wolverines were able to vanquish the beast known as ELCA. Most of Prince Avenue Christian’s playoff runs in the past have ended under the cleats of the Chargers, who won the past five Class A private-school state championships, and six since 2012.
But Vandagriff and the 2020 Wolverines put an end to that. He passed for 330 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more in what ended as a 38-0 rout. Prince Avenue Christian will play Wesleyan – a team it defeated 52-26 earlier this season -- in the semifinals Friday.
That’s why you’re not likely to see Vandagriff join the Bulldogs for bowl practice, like you might Mims or several of the mass of early enrollees who sign with Georgia on Wednesday. Vandagriff plans to stay busy pursuing his school’s first state championship. To do that, his season won’t end until Dec. 28.
At this point, few are doubting that it won’t be Vandagriff’s Wolverines. Coached by his father, longtime Woodward Academy defensive coordinator Greg Vandagriff, Brock enters Friday’s game having thrown for 3,638 yards and 41 touchdowns (with only six interceptions) and rushing for 15 more scores.
Such production is why Vandagriff is ranked the nation’s No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the 247Sports Composite. And that’s what differentiates him from most of the quarterbacks currently on Georgia’s roster. He’s a true dual-threat QB.
Well, he used to be anyway.
A posterior cruciate ligament injury in Game 4 of the season against Holy Innocents’ cooled Vandagriff’s desire to take off running, previously considered his greatest attribute. He still executes some designed runs, though mainly in short-yardage or goal-line situations. The majority of his yards on the ground this season (390 on 83 attempts) have come evading the pass rush.
Meanwhile, Vandagriff said his right knee will heal completely, and he goes to regular weekly rehab appointments.
In the meantime, Vandagriff said he believes his passing game improved by intentionally remaining in the pocket more.
“I’m not relying as much on getting out of there,” Vandagriff said. “It makes you be more aware of where your hot-reads are and reading defenses better, things like that. It’s not always about me running and making people miss.”
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Changing direction
That said, occasionally running with the football is what attracted Vandagriff to Oklahoma, where he committed in June 2019. That’s also what eventually led him back to Georgia.
After the 2019 season, coach Kirby Smart and his staff ramped up their recruitment of Vandagriff and emphasized that change was soon coming to Georgia’s offense. That notion was further enhanced when Smart brought in Todd Monken as offensive coordinator in mid-January.
Monken was hired by the Bulldogs on Jan. 17. Vandagriff committed to Georgia on Jan. 21.
Vandagriff was asked what his impressions have been of Georgia’s offense under Monken’s guidance this season.
“He’s letting the quarterback be the quarterback, and he’s really letting them throw it around,” Vandagriff said. “You still have to run the ball. That’s a Georgia staple; you’re always going to feed the running backs coming in. But that’s the offense now, trying to get yards through the air and ground.”
More than occasionally, Vandagriff pointed out, that can be the quarterback running the ball as well.
“They’ve always had some zone reads, Vandagriff said. “You can’t tell you if the coach is telling them to hand it off or not. But, just from my perspective, there have been a lot of times where it looked if he ran, the quarterback could bust it for 30. I also believe the quarterback running in the red zone is a good virtue for an offense.
“But I’m up for anything that coach Monken and coach Smart want me to do. In the end, I just want to win an SEC championship or national championship. Whatever they need from me, whether that’s running or passing, I’m willing to do it.”
Vandagriff’s dad likes what he has seen from Georgia, too, but he insists his son going to UGA has more to do with family that it does the Bulldogs’ offensive philosophy.
“We were having a Christmas dinner with the in-laws (in December 2019), and his grandparents started talking about they’d probably only get to see Brock play about once or twice a year since he was going to be way out there in Oklahoma,” Greg Vandagriff said. “It was just a casual conversation; nobody meant anything by it. But that got Brock to thinking, and he sort of took it to heart. He’s a confident kid, and he feels like he can have success in any offensive system. That being the case, he figured he should stay close to home, where his family could see him play.”
Seeing the future
So, what’s the expectation of Vandagriff at Georgia? Good question. You’ll note that the Bulldogs currently have a quarterback. In fact, they have several of them.
JT Daniels is the one currently getting the job done. The sophomore transfer has made quite a splash since taking over as the starting quarterback in Game 7 of the season. In the three games since, Daniels has gone 3-0 and jumped to No. 1 in the nation among FBS quarterbacks in third-down efficiency, with an otherworldly QB rating of 307.79 (6 TDs, 0 INTs).
That has propelled Daniels ahead of scholarship quarterbacks Stetson Bennett, Carson Beck and D’Wan Mathis, the latter of which recently transferred to Temple.
About all that, Vandagriff said he not is only undeterred, but encouraged. In fact, he said he has been a fan of Daniels for a while now.
“I have not personally met or talked to JT Daniels, but growing up in middle school, ninth, 10th grade, I would always watch him play at Mater Dei on YouTube,” Vandagriff said. “I used to do stuff like that all the time. So, I’ve probably seen a lot more of his games than the average college football fan. I love how he plays. He slings that thing. He trusts his receivers, which is something I think I can take from him to my game.
“Sometimes I feel like they’ve got to be a step or two open before I throw to them. Maybe that’s just chemistry, but I just need to let it go. With his 50-50 balls to George Pickens, it’s like an 80-20 ball. I guess I’ll have to get used to that at the next level.
“But I’m glad to see that we’re airing it out because, when you’re a quarterback, that’s what you want to do.”
