2024 TE Colton Heinrich commits to Georgia: 'It checked all of my boxes'

Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons tight end Colton Heinrich had offers from the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, UNC, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Miami. He liked what each of those programs had to offer, but there was one program that surpassed them all: Georgia.

The Bulldogs and tight ends coach Todd Hartley offered him in late January, then got him back on campus twice in the past three months.

The most recent trip over the weekend during Georgia’s recruiting ‘Scavenger Hunt’ sealed the deal. On Monday, he publicly committed to UGA.

“Georgia checked all of my boxes,” he told On3. “They are able to offer me a top education while competing for national championships year in and year out. Athens is an absolutely amazing college town and is exactly what I’m looking for.”

The energy at Georgia was just different to Colton Heinrich

The other programs in contention for Heinrich have had plenty of success on the field and developing players for the next level. But nobody is doing in quite like Georgia is, in his mind.

“This past weekend was my third time visiting Georgia and every time it was better and better,” he said. “They really are one big family but they are constantly competing, which keeps the energy great.”

Heinrich joins an already loaded UGA recruiting class, which ranks No. 1 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings and still has some major targets on the board.

The Bulldogs landed Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Dylan Raiola earlier this month, and Heinrich will get to play alongside and practice against the best every single day in Athens.

On top of that, he’ll be developed by Hartley, who has had no shortage of success in recent years with the likes of Darnell Washington and Brock Bowers.

“Coach Hartley and Coach Smart are both some of the best coaches in the game,” he added, “and they will push me everyday to do my best. Throughout my whole recruiting process I found myself comparing every tight ends coach to Coach Hartley. I fully believe he will help me reach my fullest potential and prepare me for the next level.”