With the nation's No. 1 overall prospect Dylan Raiola in the boat, Kirby Smart continues to deliver on his promise that Georgia is 'built to sustain'
“Who’s that coming down the track? It’s a mean machine in red and black.”
I don’t know if Kirby Smart was humming the fabled Georgia theme song Monday when 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola went public with his commitment to the Bulldogs, but I can’t say that he wasn’t.
Since losing the national championship to Alabama in 2017, Smart made a promise that Georgia “is gonna be a force to be reckoned with” and “we’re not going anywhere.”
Clearly.
The Bulldogs are a locomotive that is showing no signs of slowing down. They’ve won back-to-back national championships, with Kirby Smart becoming the current top dawg in the sport. Nick Saban is still the GOAT, but suddenly Alabama is staring up at UGA as the best program in America.
Georgia has the best facilities, per a January survey of blue-chip recruits at the All-American Bowl in Texas. The Bulldogs have the greatest financial commitment when it comes to recruiting. They have the nation’s best coach, and now, they have a transcendent No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class committed — a potential pied piper for fellow 5-star prospects that might produce an avalanche of commitments for a class that already has seven other Top 100 commitments and is, you guessed it, No. 1 in the country currently.
What was it that Smart said after G-Day last month?
“We’re built to sustain here. That’s my motto.
“We’re not trying to be a one-hit wonder. We put a really good football team out there each year, and we’re well on our way to doing that this time. We’ve probably got the most cohesive unit we’ve had, in terms of the guys love being with each other, they like practicing hard.”
Yea. Georgia isn’t going anywhere.
The Bulldogs are no strangers to signing top-flight recruits — even 5-star quarterbacks. Smart secured the commitment of Jacob Eason when he took the job in 2016, and he landed Justin Fields two years later.
But Dylan Raiola’s commitment is different.
Not just because he’s viewed as a generational prospect — one college coaches believe has a higher ceiling than any prep QB prospects since Caleb Williams — or his ties to various 5-star recruits across the country. Both points are quite significant to UGA’s future, but Raiola’s commitment is different because of where Georgia is as a program now compared to when Smart took over in 2016.
Clemson became Clemson because it landed 5-star QBs Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence, but then it stopped recruiting at an elite level on an annual basis.
After winning the national in 2018, the Tigers have signed just two Top 10 classes since. The Tigers are now seen as a fringe title contender.
Georgia? The Bulldogs landed the No. 3 class nationally after ending their 40-year title drought two years ago, and then inked the No. 2 class in 2023, with 12 Top 100 signees.
They’re stacking talent at historic rates, and they’re the favorites to three-peat this fall. As for the future, they’ve added a potential game-changer at quarterback after winning two consecutive titles with a former walk-on.
By beating out USC for Raiola, Smart is 2-0 in his career against Lincoln Riley, as Raiola opted to go to Athens over Los Angeles because of where Georgia is as a program. It’s a stamp of confidence in Smart and in the future of UGA’s offense under new OC Mike Bobo.
“The substance behind [Georgia’s] success is the biggest factor,” Raiola told ESPN on why he committed to the Bulldogs.
“Coach [Kirby] Smart has built this program to last.”
The Bulldogs are deeply talented with no drop-off in sight. Complacency, for now at least, doesn’t appear to be an issue at all. Maybe they won’t win three straight national titles this fall, but with Raiola on board and a 12-team playoff looming (which will only negate the fact that UGA’s annual schedule will toughen with no more SEC divisions), Smart & Co., do not look done winning championships anytime soon.
Seven years ago, Georgia was seen as the Charlie Brown of College Football. A sleeping giant cursed by the football gods.
Today?
It’s the rest of college football is slumping their shoulders and muttering, “Good grief” after Georgia landed its best quarterback prospect since No. 1 overall draft pick Matthew Stafford.
Kirby Smart has been proven right. Georgia isn’t going anywhere, and the Bulldogs’ current stranglehold on the sport is only getting stronger.