UGA Recruiting: Don’t Panic, Decommits Work in Our Favor 91% of the Time
Okay, let’s just start off with the truth. It isn’t any fun when recruits decommit from your school. It also isn’t something to panic over, especially in June and ESPECIALLY when Kirby Smart is your head coach. Starting with his first full recruiting class in 2017, the Dawgs have seen plenty of decommits. We’ve also seen plenty of them commit again. Kirby and company are also very good at replacing these decommits with another recruit with the saem or a higher ranking.
These are also unprecedented times with recruits finally able to visit again. Buckle up, because this will happen A LOT more this year. Just remember, the Dawgs usually come out on top.
In Kirby Smart’s first full cycle as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, we finished the 2017 class as third in the nation behind Alabama and Ohio State. Southern Cal and Michigan were fourth and fifth. UGA had five prospects with four star status that decommitted:
| DECOMMITTED | LANDED |
| WR DeVonta Smith | WR Jeremiah Holloman, Trey Blount, Matt Landers, Ahkil Crumpton |
| RB Toneil Carter | RB D’Andre Swift |
| ATH DeeJay Dallas | RB D’Andre Swift |
| ILB Breon Dixon | ILB Monty Rice, Nate McBride |
| PRO Bailey Hockman | PRO Jake Fromm |
| DeVonta Smith was obviously a huge loss, but we upgraded or already had better at every other position. | |
In 2018, UGA finished with the #1 class in the nation. Ohio State was second that year, Texas third, Southern Cal fourth, and Alabama fifth. We had four players with four stars or above that decommitted, one five star and three four stars:
| DECOMMITTED | LANDED |
| OLB Adam Anderson | OLB Adam Anderson |
| OT Max Wray | OL Jamaree Salyer, Cade Mays, Trey Hill, Warren Ericson, Owen Condon |
| WR Elijah Moore | WR Kearis Jackson, Tommy Bush |
| WDE Caleb Tannor | WDE Azeez Ojulari |
| Same as 2017, we upgraded or already had better at almost every position. Being honest, we pretty much screwed up at receiver again by letting Elijah Moore go and replacing him with Tommy Bush. Getting Adam Anderson back was huge. | |
In 2019, UGA finished with the #2 class in the nation. Alabama was first, Texas third, Texas A&M fourth, and LSU fifth. We had five players with four stars or above that decommitted, two five stars and three four stars. Four of the five decommitted in October:
| DECOMMITTED | LANDED |
| WR Jadon Haselwood | WR George Pickens, Dominick Blaylock, Lawrence Cager |
| RB John Emery | RB Kenny McIntosh |
| CB Jalen Perry | CB Tyrique Stevenson, DJ Daniel |
| QB John Rhys Plumlee | QB D’Wan Mathis, Stetson Bennett |
| LB JD Bertrand | LB Monty Rice, Rian Davis, Trezmen Marshall |
| You hate losing a guy like Haselwood, but give me Pickens 10 out of 10 times. Emery hasn’t shown much at LSU yet. Quarterback = yikes, but Bennett worked his tail off and did everything he could. Upgrade or already had better at every other position. | |
In 2020, UGA finished with the #1 class in the nation. Alabama was second, Clemson third, LSU fourth, and Ohio State fifth. We had four players with four stars that decommitted, and one three star:
| DECOMMITTED | LANDED |
| OL Aki OgunBiyi, Joshua Braun | OL Broderick Jones, Tate Ratledge, Sedrick Van Pran, Chad Lindberg, Austin Blaske, Devin Willock |
| DT Jamil Burroughs | DT Jalen Carter, Nazir Stackhouse, Warren Brinson, Cameron Kinnie |
| ATH Corey Wren | RB Kendall Milton, Daijun Edwards |
| Give me the right side of this table ALL DAY EVERY DAY. | |
In 2021, UGA finished with the #4 class in the nation. Alabama was first, Ohio State second, LSU third, and Clemson fifth. We had five players with that decommitted, two four stars and three players with three star status:
| DECOMMITTED | LANDED |
| Edge – Elijah Jeudy | LB Xavian Sorey, Smael Mondon |
| CB De’Jahn Warren | CB Nyland Green, Javon Butler, Kamari Lassiter, Derion Kendrick |
| iOL Jared Wilson | iOL Jared Wilson |
| DL Marlin Dean | DL Marlin Dean |
| S Bralyn Oliver | S Tykee Smith, Brandon Turnage |
| Got Wilson and Dean back. Glad to have room for Kendrick, Smith, and Turnage! | |
Just being honest and no disrespect meant to any of these guys, but out of the 23 decommits in Kirby Smart’s time in Athens only DeVonta Smith and Elijah Moore stand out.
There’s no reason to panic. It’s only June and Kirby Smart has a 91% success rate of getting his decommits back or getting someone better!