Brock Vandagriff explains why he didn’t enter transfer portal

Brock Vandagriff would’ve had a litany of offers if he decided to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

In a day and age where players will leave a program for even the slightest inconvenience, Vandagriff stayed and Georgia and waited his turn, getting better while watching Stetson Bennett do his thing. Now embroiled in a battle with fellow Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck to see who has the honor of replacing the two-time NCAA title winner, Vandagriff explained why he opted to stay in Athens through it all.

“With my mindset, what I put into that was just like, I’m learning stuff, I’m getting better under Coach [Todd] Monken, and Coach [Mike] Bobo. If I wasn’t getting reps, if I wasn’t getting better, then yeah, I would’ve left,” explained Vandagriff. “But just being able to know that my game’s getting better, mentally and physically. I’m learning so much about the game of football, and I’m going up against one of the best defenses, one of the fastest-paced defenses in the SEC and in the nation, I was being a better player for it. That’s one of the main reasons.”

Moreover, Vandagriff is a former-five star recruit from the 2021 recruiting cycle, who was also the No. 22 overall recruit in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. In short, he would’ve had plenty of suitors and opportunities throughout the college football world had he decided to enter the transfer portal.

Nevertheless, it’s a breath of fresh air to listen to what Vandagriff had to say. Now, he’s more prepared than ever to try to take the open quarterback position and run with it, as he knows exactly what Kirby Smart is looking for.

“Demeanor, communication,” Smart told the media, asked what he’s looking for in Bennett’s replacement. “It’s like, a true quarterback is a decision-maker. In our system, because some of the systems take all the pressure off the quarterback and they just go really fast, we don’t do that.

“We’re a quarterback driven offense. So can you process the information, that means get the signal. Get people lined up. Then see what the defense is in, and figure out are we in the right situation, which of these three choices Coach [Mike] Bobo is giving me am I going to utilize on this play? Then the play happens. There might be a mistake or a breakdown. Do not go Full Metal Jacket and catastrophe mode and put us in a bad situation.

“So decision making is the one thing I want to see from the quarterback position. Can you make consecutive decisions over and over that don’t cost our team games? Because we have enough play-makers, and we have enough plays that you will make a play inevitably. Don’t make a bone-head play. That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

Time will tell if Brock Vandagriff is able to convince Kirby Smart he’s Georgia’s guy over Carson Beck, but it’s to be commended that he waited his turn and now has a golden opportunity in-front of him. Perhaps other college football players will look at him as a lesson moving forward.