UGA’s Smart visited Savannah
Kirby Smart has made recruiting in Savannah a priority and the Georgia football head coach made his rounds in the Hostess City on Wednesday, causing a stir at at Savannah Christian and Calvary Day as he landed on campus in a helicopter.
Smart made a stop at Savannah Christian as he touched down on the baseball field before meeting with Raider head coach Baker Woodward.
SCPS has a couple players with offers from UGA with a pair of defensive linemen in junior Elijah Griffin and freshman Damion Guyton, and they were on UGA’s radar early on as they each received offers before they even played a down of high school football.
Smart was at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to see the Raiders play in the Class 3A state title game against Cedar Grove in December, and he followed it up with a face-to-face visit with SCPS head coach Baker Woodward on Wednesday.
“We knew he was coming today, but you never really know exactly when it’s going to happen,” Woodward said. “So we had some of our coaches out there to greet him. We have a lot of coaches coming by today including Lincoln Riley of USC and Josh Heupel of Tennessee, so it’s definitely an exciting day at Savannah Christian.”
Woodward has met Smart a few times, and he’s come away impressed by the way Smart carries himself.
“I obviously have so much respect for him as a coach. But he’s such a great guy. He’s down to earth, and deep down -- he’s a Georgia boy just like myself, except he’s the head coach at the University of Georgia,” Woodward said with a laugh. “He has so many great stories and was telling us about when he coached with Nick Saban at Alabama.
“He's so personable and relates so well with the kids. Right away he develops a relationship with them like he's their buddy, but the respect is always there. It's a privilege to have Coach Smart, and all of the coaches on campus to talk about our players. It's a great problem for us to have, and we want all these coaches to feel welcome here and be coming to Savannah Christian for years to come.”
Smart then flew across town to visit Calvary. The Cavs have a few players holding offers from UGA including star junior receiver Thomas Blackshear, who announced his Top 3 teams of Georgia, Florida State and Tennessee last week.
Junior defensive lineman Buddy Mathis has a plethora of offers including Georgia and Alabama, while junior receiver Doopah Coleman has Georgia on his list of his Final 6 schools that he announced last week.
It was a busy day for Calvary head coach Mark Stroud as Smart came to visit along with Heupel, Riley and Georgia Southern's Clay Helton, along with assistant coaches from Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Georgia State.
“It was a fun day -- it's no longer like a celebrity thing when people like Kirby Smart show up because we've been lucky enough to develop relationships with them over the last few years,” Stroud said. “You have that common denominator of being a coach -- you have those football roots. The kids were really excited and the coaches are very respectful. They come to see certain kids, and sometimes they'll find another player who makes an impression and gets on their radar. It's a great experience for everyone at our school.”
Benedictine coach Danny Britt hosted Heupel, Helton and Stetson head coach Brian Young, along with assistants from LSU, Kentucky, Duke, Georgia Tech and Georgia State. “The top guys they are coming to see are Third Scroggins (the rising senior 4star linebacker) and Jacobe Ward (a rising senior offensive tackle),” Britt said. “But they are also interested in guys like (defensive lineman) Kam Cody, (offensive lineman) Carlton Hall, (rising junior quarterback) Stephen Cannon and (rising junior receiver) Bubba Frazier. As a matter of fact, Bubba just got his first offer from Georgia Southern, and I'm going to get to tell him about in just a few minutes.”
Jenkins coach Tony Welch had Helton visit, with coaches from Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia State and Shaw making appearances -- and had a Clemson coach set to come later in the afternoon. He said rising junior offensive lineman Camron Thompson, whose offers already include Tech, North Carolina State and Kentucky, is a top target.