How Kirby Smart is prioritizing Georgia’s ‘bully’ identity on recruiting trail

If nothing else during his time as the head coach at Georgia — besides win two national championships, of course — Kirby Smart has built the Bulldogs into the “schoolyard bully” on the field. That gets done in the trenches by building up the offensive line, and that is continuing even after UGA got on a run on the recruiting trail.

Georgia recently landed commitments from two 2024 four-star offensive linemen in as many days. Nyjier Daniels committed July 7 and Marques Easley did so July 8. That makes six Bulldogs commitments on the offensive line to go with five defensive line commits as part of the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

What it shows is Smart sticking to his identity as a coach, according to On3’s J.D. PicKell. He wants Georgia to be the toughest team on the field — and it starts on the lines.

“Georgia, they have an identity,” PicKell said on The Hard Count. “They want to be physically dominant. Doesn’t everybody? Doesn’t everybody want to be the schoolyard bully? Well, that’s fine. Everybody can want that. You can say that. But to be able to recruit like that? That means something. And to take it a step further, Georgia is at a place where they have options. They have options to diversify their portfolio and to go after all the big-time wide receivers and go after big-time quarterbacks. They’ve got two already in this class. But even so, Georgia has added those key pieces to be dynamic offensively and defensively, but they’ve added the key pieces and still kept to who they are physically.

“You don’t add 10 lineman at this point in your class if you don’t have a distinct priority on being the bully. … It takes something extra to be the bully. You can’t lose any edge. If you’re the bully. You can’t control the line of scrimmage year in and year out if you don’t prioritize recruiting those pieces. Georgia, by nature of having double-digit linemen already in this 2024 cycle, is prioritizing being the bully and prioritizing their identity.”

Georgia hasn’t lost many games over the last two seasons — doing so once, to be exact. There are a few reasons for that type of dominance, but PicKell pointed to a specific recipe the Bulldogs use to be the best team on the field every week.

“Georgia has a formula that has always worked in football — and I promise you, as long as you execute it the right way, it will always work in the game of football,” PicKell said. “That is that big human beings move small human beings. Now the big human beings, they gotta be functional, gotta be athletic, gotta be dynamic to a degree.

“But we all understand this. If I can move you and you can’t move me, I’m probably going to win the football game. And having big human beings is a big part of being able to move the small human beings and being able to move the opposition how you want to move them.”

JD PicKell: Georgia’s ‘big human beings’ were evident at the 2023 national championship

PicKell shared a story from this past College Football Playoff media day. Players from both Georgia and TCU walked in the room for their respective press conferences as usual, sweat suits and all. But something stood out about the Bulldogs compared to the Horned Frogs.

“It was so evident when Georgia walked into that room who had the big human beings,” PicKell said. “And that’s not to knock TCU. I think it’s just a testament to who Georgia is and how they have made their mark. They are the bully. And as long as you’re able to be that bully, I don’t care how many receivers you have, I don’t care what kind of style of offense you run. You are always going to have a better than a puncher’s chance in that football game.”

Smart’s philosophy is also evident in the stat sheet. On offense, Georgia ranked No. 5 in the country with 5.5 yards per carry. Over on defense, the Bulldogs held teams to just 2.88 yards per carry to put them at No. 3 in the nation.

Those stats say it all, PicKell said, and proves Smart’s plan works.

“Mic drop. Period. The end,” PicKell said. “Those two stats tell you that Georgia when they want to use those big human beings to run the football, they’re getting a good push up front and those backs are getting just about six yards a carry. Defensively, we’re holding you at the line. You’re not moving us against our will. You might catch us a play here or a play there.

‘But for the most part, three yards a clip? You’re gonna be good just about every single Saturday if you’re Georgia.”