Georgia lands top-10 class but dealt with a couple of late misses

ATHENS -- Kirby Smart didn't have it easy with trying to finish off Georgia's recruiting class of 2016.

He was hired to replace a head coach, Mark Richt, who established a great rapport with many of the recruits already committed. Smart had to do his part to bringing in players of his own, all while dealing with coaching his previous employer Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

As a result, Smart couldn't do all of the recruiting alone.

From the onset, he realized how vital it would be to recruit the players planning to enroll early, so that they could help shore the rest of the class up.

Smart's ability to keep quarterback Jacob Eason in the class helped keep the key components together, considering he built relationships with other recruits during the past two years.

"That helped to have somewhat of a bond there," Smart said. "Those guys, it's also a bit of a credit to the rest of the staff that remained, the guys that were here already and that stayed. They had a lot of relationships in the building with guys from coming over here a lot. That helped tremendously. Going in those home visits, it's a little awkward at first. You're trying to sell yourself and sell the program, which is easy to sell here at UGA. I think those six staying in place gave confidence to the rest of the class that everything's good, everything's going to be OK."

Georgia's class was initially headlined by Eason, along with tight end Isaac Nauta, offensive lineman Ben Cleveland and defensive lineman Julian Rochester -- all of whom are early enrollees. Eason's insistence on sticking with Georgia was the glue that helped the class stick, while adding new members.

And Eason's commitment helped ease any butterflies other recruits got when it came to dealing with the coaching change.

"I went through (Richt and former offensive coordinator Mike Bobo)," Eason said. "I went through (last year's offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer). I went to (current offensive coordinator Jim) Chaney and Coach Smart. Couple of weight room guys -- (Scott) Sinclair, (former strength and conditioning coordinator Mark) Hocke. I think now, the new staff, we're rolling and getting into new things."

Georgia made two major splashes Wednesday morning by landing five-star athlete Mecole Hardman (Elbert County) and flipping receiver Tyler Simmons (McEachern) from Alabama.

Georgia also beefed up its defensive line by snagging four-star Michail Carter (Jackson), who chose the Bulldogs over Alabama, Clemson and Georgia Tech. It also secured defensive lineman Tyler Clark (Americus-Sumter County), who dealt with a late surge from Tennessee.

While Georgia started strong, it ended on a sour note by the late afternoon. The first blow came when four-star offensive lineman E.J. Price (Archer) announced he was heading to USC instead of Georgia or Auburn. The second, only 10 minutes later, came when five-star defensive tackle Derrick Brown (Lanier) chose Auburn over Georgia.

Both Price and Brown are considered top 10 players in the state, according to the 247Sports.com composite, which makes their decisions tough for Georgia to handle.

Georgia finished the day with 20 signed players and will go after at least one more in receiver Demetris Robertson (Savannah Christian Prep), who did not sign Wednesday and will take an official visit to Georgia this weekend.

Smart said he's comfortable with the players Georgia signed Wednesday and that next year's class will prove to be more important since he'll have a full year to recruit it.

"We're not in desperation mode by any means," Smart said. "I'm not in a hurry, I'm not in panic mode. I'm completely comfortable if we end up anywhere from 18, 19, 20, 21 -- anywhere in there, I'm good with that.

"We're not going to rush off and make any reaches. I think it's important in your first year to have those. To have those spots available for next year when you get a full recruiting cycle -- I've talked to a lot of guys that have been in a similar situation I've been in. A mistake they made was to try to fill holes, fill spots, and when you do that you hurt next year's signing class, which I anticipate being one of our better ones because it's our first full recruiting cycle."

While Smart wasn't able to ink Price or Brown, the big names who committed early stayed with the team. He also was able to bring Nauta to the fold in January and also helped flip defensive lineman David Marshall (Upson-Lee) from Auburn to Georgia.

Rochester said Smart's approach to secure his standing worked perfectly, considering his parents were able to buy what he was selling.

"It blew my mind away," Rochester said. "I didn't expect him to be like that. I'd only talked to him once on the phone when he was trying to recruit me at Alabama. He came to the house all fired up with (former assistant coach Thomas) Brown. We ate dinner, talked. I just remember seeing the smile on my momma's face and the smile on my daddy's face. I was sitting back thinking, 'OK, I like this.' "

Smart's class finished ninth in the nation and fourth in the SEC, according to the 247Sports.com composite. It's a solid start to the Smart era, even if there were a couple of late high-profile misses.

"(Wednesday), for you guys, may be about stars and rankings," Smart said. "To me it's about new Bulldogs, new members of the family and making sure these kids understand what's important to their success is graduating and becoming great players and becoming productive players as a whole. That's what this class will be judged on."

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Georgia lands top-10 class but dealt with a couple of late misses ."