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On "locking down the state"
Posted on 2/4/16 at 6:50 am
Posted on 2/4/16 at 6:50 am
Not necessarily on this site, but I have seen several people upset that we had so much trouble keeping talent in state while LSU routinely gets nearly all their top guys to stay home. Unfair comparison.
Louisiana has a cultural border, as well as being somewhat geographically isolated. Families have had roots there for longer than a lot of Georgians (probably more specifically Atlantans) can comprehend. I would argue it is a unique recruiting situation in that regard. When you compare our situation with other places with lots of transplants and several competing schools in the area, such as TX/FL/CA, we do as well as them in most cases. We will always lose a fair amount of talent, but the nice thing is that we don't need to keep it all to win big. I think Kirby's comments about specifically addressing areas of need will prove that to be true sooner rather than later.
Louisiana has a cultural border, as well as being somewhat geographically isolated. Families have had roots there for longer than a lot of Georgians (probably more specifically Atlantans) can comprehend. I would argue it is a unique recruiting situation in that regard. When you compare our situation with other places with lots of transplants and several competing schools in the area, such as TX/FL/CA, we do as well as them in most cases. We will always lose a fair amount of talent, but the nice thing is that we don't need to keep it all to win big. I think Kirby's comments about specifically addressing areas of need will prove that to be true sooner rather than later.
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Posted on 2/4/16 at 7:06 am to ATLdawg25
Georgia is a huge arse state. Over 10 million people. There's something like 400 (or 200) D1 players who come out of Georgia every year. If Georgia got the top 25 out of the state every year, we'd still lose out on recruits.
Posted on 2/4/16 at 7:15 am to ATLdawg25
The one thing to keep in mind is some of these kids played football in GA but were not born here and feel little to no admiration for this state and its flagship university. take for instance Derrick Brown...kid was born in Mississippi...hell his parents went to MSU. While we should keep the majority of these guys, its just not feesible to keep them all.
Posted on 2/4/16 at 7:17 am to athenslife101
quote:
There's something like 400 (or 200) D1 players who come out of Georgia every year. If Georgia got the top 25 out of the state every year, we'd still lose out on recruits.
This. Even in Texas' glory years they lost out on several key TX recruits every year. SC got a fraction of California's great players while they were winning titles. And neither of those programs have the competition from surrounding programs than we do. We do great in in-state recruiting honestly.
Posted on 2/4/16 at 7:11 pm to BranchDawg
I think the point of locking down the state is not that we sign all 200 or so guys out of GA, but more realistically go after the top guys in our state and land a high % of those.
With Richt, it seems like we would be hit or miss on the top 10 talent in GA. Next year, we will see what Kirby can do. Richt would still get top talent out of state, but it would be nice to get lock down a larger % of the top talent within the state.
With Richt, it seems like we would be hit or miss on the top 10 talent in GA. Next year, we will see what Kirby can do. Richt would still get top talent out of state, but it would be nice to get lock down a larger % of the top talent within the state.
Posted on 2/4/16 at 8:08 pm to DawgGONIT
quote:
With Richt, it seems like we would be hit or miss on the top 10 talent in GA. Next year, we will see what Kirby can do. Richt would still get top talent out of state, but it would be nice to get lock down a larger % of the top talent within the state.
I'm having this discussion on 247, it's my opinion that UGA shouldn't expect to more than 5 of the top 10 in a given year (probably 3-5 range). We should focus on 10-15 of the top 20 in state, cherry pick talent we think will develop, and grab 3-5 top guys out of state. That's what I'm looking for from Kirby.
EDIT: And no fricking holes the size of four left tackles either...recruit to field complete teams dammit!
This post was edited on 2/4/16 at 8:10 pm
Posted on 2/4/16 at 8:51 pm to DawgGONIT
That was my original point - it is unrealistic to expect to land a high percentage of the top talent in the state. Very few kids from Atlanta have deep roots here, and that's where the talent is most concentrated. Half the SEC is a few goes away by car, and that doesn't even take the non-SEC powers into account.
Everyone recruits here. I know we all think UGA is the greatest, but there are 10ish schools very close by that also have compelling programs.
In this modern recruiting era, we have "locked down" the state once that I can remember. I don't know why people expect it to happen every year.
Everyone recruits here. I know we all think UGA is the greatest, but there are 10ish schools very close by that also have compelling programs.
In this modern recruiting era, we have "locked down" the state once that I can remember. I don't know why people expect it to happen every year.
Posted on 2/5/16 at 9:04 am to athenslife101
quote:
If Georgia got the top 25 out of the state every year, we'd still lose out on recruits.
No problem with losing out on recruits not in the top 25.
The problem is getting those top 25. 2015 - 2016 was definitely one of our better recruiting seasons yet we did not get the 2 most highly ranked linemen coming out of our state. Weakness in the trenches has been a problem for UGA football for the last 10 years.
Posted on 2/5/16 at 9:09 am to GurleyGirl
I've posted the research before that Richt did a pretty admirable job of keeping in state talent home. The rise of auburn/bama/clemson/sc during his tenure only makes things harder, but he still did pretty well.
I think Kirby will do a VERY good job in state, but it's simply not possible to get 9 out of the 10 top guys in state. That just isn't ever going to happen.
I think Kirby will do a VERY good job in state, but it's simply not possible to get 9 out of the 10 top guys in state. That just isn't ever going to happen.
Posted on 2/5/16 at 9:55 am to WG_Dawg
Anybody who thinks we "gotta lock the borders down" has chosen to not understand how things work.
Posted on 2/5/16 at 10:37 am to ATLdawg25
quote:
Louisiana has a cultural border,
Ok. I was born in Baton rouge, and grew up a LSU fan. To say they have a cultural advantage is an understatement that cannot be overstated. The cajuns pretty much came from the French Canadians, and they take HUGE pride in being Cajun. It is imbedded in their state. The whole Nahlins, Cajun, etc. thing is played up there. Even in their food with Crawfish, Boudain, Po Boys etc....it goes from history, food, culture.....everything. It is ingrained from the time they are small right through adulthood.
That said, Louisiana is a good place to be FROM. I don't care for the place, and think the whole place (ESPECIALLY New Orleans) is overrated. But they kids don't know this unless they live in another state to compare it with. When we moved from Louisiana and had seen what other states had to offer (I also lived in Texas and Georgia) my mother (Who was born and raised in Louisiana) said if she could help it, she would never move back to Louisiana. I share those sentiments.
ETA
Sorry. This was WAY too long and not nearly interesting enough!
This post was edited on 2/5/16 at 10:42 am
Posted on 2/5/16 at 10:47 am to DawgsLife
quote:
But they kids don't know this unless they live in another state to compare it with
Unfortunately, this is why it's so difficult to pull from there. 100% agree with you... Great place to visit, food is phenomenal, the people are great, but would not want to live there for any extended period of time. I would say mid to south Georgia is the only part that really has a strong "Georgia culture" if you will, and even still it's hit or miss. When you look at where most of the D1 prospects are coming from in GA, it's the Metro Atlanta area, so locking that down is next to impossible. As others have said, if Smart can identify the 10-15 guys in state that he thinks fill needs and makes the program better, we're in good shape so long as we don't stop pulling some top talent from out of state as well. Put a winning product on the field and guys will want to come to UGA to "build the next Bama"... while I don't think we will see anything at the same level, it's definitely possible to start leveling the playing field a bit. Some key recruiting battles against Bama won this year (and others lost with Ben Davis and Mack Wilson)... will have to stake our claim to the guys Kirby wants to have the kind of success we all want.
Posted on 2/5/16 at 11:07 am to Peter Buck
quote:
Anybody who thinks we "gotta lock the borders down" has chosen to not understand how things work.
I'm not naive enough to think it's even remotely possible to secure 8 or 9 of the top 10 every year, but I do agree that keeping the bulk of these in state kids home is pretty important.
Posted on 2/5/16 at 7:37 pm to WG_Dawg
When I hear " lock it down" I don't think it means 4 out of top 10
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