Kirby Smart considers how NIL has changed recruiting process with quarterbacks, others

It’s no secret that NIL has significantly changed the recruiting landscape in college football, now playing a critical role in which programs players decide to take their talents to. Many highlighting quarterback as the marquee position in terms of NIL’s impact regarding recruiting.

But Georgia head coach Kirby Smart offered a different perspective on this narrative when he was recently asked about how NIL has effected the recruitment of quarterbacks following the Bulldogs’ first scrimmage of spring practices.

“I don’t know that it’s changed, we go about recruiting quarterbacks by evaluating quarterbacks,” Smart said. “We watch them play high school, we bring them over here, and have him throw for us. We watch their games, which is by far and away the most critical thing we can have.”

The evaluation process has clearly not changed for Smart and the Bulldogs because of NIL, which probably rings true across the country for college football staff and personnel. But Smart believes that off the field the quarterback position is no different from the next in terms of NIL being a new element of the recruitment process that differs in priority from player to player.

“But I mean it would probably be a bigger picture of why are we singling out quarterbacks?” Smart asked. “Because NIL has impacted the recruitment of every player in terms of where does that rank on their scale. It’s one of the first questions of is that is that number one priority? Is that number two, three, four, five, six? And do you list it that way because you actually feel that way or you just think it’s the right answer?”

“It used to be every kid came in and said, ‘well, most important thing to me is my education.’ Well, I don’t know many universities you get a bad education, they don’t hand out bad educations,” Smart added. “So is that truly what people were coming to school for 10, 15, 20 years ago? Is it truly what they’re coming to school for now in NIL?”

Smart’s statements are fascinating, harping on the new balance that coaches and players are looking to maintain between the various important priorities in recruiting now that NIL has been included in the mix. But all in all, Smart doesn’t see a large difference in NIL’s impact on recruiting quarterbacks versus any other given position despite the outside narrative on the premium price tag for the nation’s top passers.

“I’m dancing around the question because I don’t really understand why specifically it’s about quarterbacks,” Smart admitted. “Our recruitment of quarterbacks or any position hasn’t changed what we look at because of NIL, it might change what their motivating factor is, certainly, but not what we look for in terms of criteria.”

“I want a self-starter, I want a guy that’s committed to the program, that’s selfless. I want all the same things. Size, speed, I want all the same things. It’s more, be more selective over kids you pick and choose from that the NIL’s not the number one narrative.”