Georgian football winners and losers after the National Signature Day

Georgian football winners and losers after the National Signature Day

by

Welcome to Good morning UGA, your one stop shop for Georgia football news and news. Consult us every morning of the week for everything you need to know about football, recruiting, basketball and more in Georgia.

Georgian football winners and losers after the 2021 National Signature Day

Winner: 2022 recruiting class in Georgia

The Bulldogs’ only appointment on the National Signature Day came for their next recruiting class. Georgia won the commitment of a 4-star defensive tackle Bear Alexander. He is player number 140 overall in the 2022 recruiting cycle, player number 22 in Texas and the 9th defensive player.

Related: What Georgian football is gaining from Bear Alexander

Alexander, 1.8 meters tall and 325 pounds, is the second defensive striker in the 2022 cycle in Georgia, joining Tire West. Georgia has a chance to build an elite defensive line in the 2022 cycle, with 4-star targets Mykel Williams and Chrisitan Miller set to announce in the coming months.

Georgia now ranks 2nd in the 2022 recruitment cycle, second only to the state of Ohio. The Bulldogs started this cycle much faster than in the past, as the Bulldogs had only three commits to the 2021 class at this point in the past season. In 2019, Bulldogs had three commitments for 2020 on National Signature Day.

With the early subscription period allowing programs to finish their work early, they used the month of January to really focus on the next recruiting class, 2022 in this case, as teams try to put the finishing touches on the current one.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart explained why Bulldogs have been more successful in this cycle when it comes to working forward than in the past.

“We just have a little more time now because you are fewer students in 2021 because your class is almost complete,” said Smart. “We always put a lot of emphasis on the next class. It didn’t change, it just seemed to be so. These children are making early decisions with the prospect of not receiving visitors or having the opportunity to go places and do things ”.

Loser: Recruitment against Alabama

The rich continue to get rich in college football, and Alabama is Jeff Bezos. Crimson Tide officially closed the best recruiting class ever on Wednesday. Then he went out and added the 4 star safety Terrion Arnold on top of him.

Related: Terrion Arnold explains why he committed to Alabama

Georgia ended up as runner-up for Arnold, making him just the latest prospect in the 2021 cycle where that has been the case. Alabama beat Georgia by players like 5-star pass striker Dallas Turner, defensive tackle Tim Keenan and striker Terrence Ferguson.

Alabama, however, did not just beat Georgia by a few candidates. They beat everyone. Nick Saban landed an offensive 5-star tackle Tommy Brockermeyer outside of Texas. Alabama landed a 5-star defensive tackle Damon Payne from Michigan.

Crimson Tide also dominated the state of Florida. Alabama signed seven of the top 15 candidates in the state, although one of JC Latham played at the IMG Academy after coming from Wisconsin. Florida, State of Florida and Miami combined for four of the top 15 candidates from the state of Florida.

The 2020 Alabama team was one of the most dominant in recent memory. He has to replace several key players on that team. But with this 2021 autograph class, it’s clear that the Crimson Tide has staying power.

Winner: Dan Lanning

The Georgia defensive coordinator made the decision to stay in Georgia instead of assuming the position of defensive coordinator in Texas. That decision seems to have been worth it, literally.

Lanning was one of three Georgia assistants who received a raise. Dell McGee went from $ 675,000 to $ 800,000. Todd Harley saw his salary jump from $ 400,000 to $ 450,000 in the 2021 season.

Both balked compared to the $ 550,000 raise that Lanning received, as he will now earn $ 1.7 million. This is more in line with some of the other main defensive coordinators of the sport.

Related: Georgia announces giant increase for Dan Lanning, releases Jahmile Addae salary

Georgia has also hired several high-defensive candidates in the 2021 hiring class, such as 5-star linebackers Xavian Sorey and Smael Mondon, as well as 4-star defenders Nyland Green and David Daniel.

Georgia’s defense did not live up to the hype in 2020, but it still led the country in accelerated defense and the SEC in yards per permitted play. It made no difference against the best teams in the country, but Georgia’s defense was still one of the best units in college football.

Lanning will have his work cut out for him with the new secondary look in 2021. But it is clear that he is seen as a first-rate defensive coordinator in the country, as his salary now reflects this.

Loser: Excitement

Smart acknowledged that yesterday did not seem like a normal signing day. Georgia did not sign a pledge, much less sign a prospect for the 2021 cycle, as the Bulldogs signed with all 20 members of their number 3 hiring class in December.

“It is kind of anticlimactic to talk about the autograph class, because we have been focused on them since they arrived in the middle of the year and were able to practice, enroll at school and start training with us,” said Smart.

Of the 20 signatories from Georgia, 16 are already on campus and can do spring exercises with the team. This number is higher than traditionally due in part to the pandemic.

From Georgia’s game against Missouri on December 12 through Wednesday, the Bulldogs managed to get only one player who would sign with the class, Sorey. In the 2020 cycle, Georgia obtained commitments from 10 players who would sign with Georgia after the December 7 game against LSU in the SEC championship game.

Georgia was far from the only team to have an uneventful Wednesday, as neither Ohio State nor Clemson added possibilities to their respective classes. It will be worth monitoring from now on whether the lack of signings on the National Signature Day is a by-product of COVID-19 or if COVID-19 only accelerates more and more player subscriptions in December, once the pandemic is controlled.

Winner: Will Muschamp

South Carolina gave Muschamp $ 12.9 million to cease being its head coach. Now he will earn $ 300,000 to work in Georgia next season, off the field.

“He has already made many strides in terms of helping me [and] helping our team, ”said Smart. “He will be able to help train the coaches and will work with the defensive side of the ball. It is very useful to have a guy who was technician in two places at our conference. “

Muschamp had several reasons for being in Georgia. Your son is a walking quarterback. It is also his alma mater and he has a longstanding relationship with Smart.

As a head coach, Muschamp did not work in Florida or South Carolina as a head coach. But he is still one of the main defensive minds in the sport. He also has a strong history of developing defensive backs, something that Georgia could really use now.

Smart thinks Muschamp’s training days on the pitch are not over. And just look at Alabama to see how a season or two as an analyst can help rehabilitate and reinvigorate a coach.

“His family has been his focus here recently, because I know he feels he has moved his family around the country,” said Smart. “This is an opportunity for him to come back to come back to them and be with them and be able to watch his son play.”

More Georgia football stories around DawgNation

Dawgs on Twitter

Good Dawg of the Day

Source