ATHENS — Georgia does not look at the transfer portal in the same way as its contemporaries.

Kirby Smart does not want to constantly flip his roster, shuffling players in and out annually like hockey line changes.

The Georgia coach wants to keep his recruiting classes together. That is what makes the departure of Dominick Kelly so noteworthy.

“For a while it’s been, like, intrinsically looking at ourself and asking each player, ‘Did you come here to develop? Did you truly come here to develop because if you did — all your buddies are out there right now,” Smart said in December. “Everybody’s announcing what they’re doing. I’m announcing that I’m going in the portal. I’m announcing that I’m re-signing. How about you announce that you’re getting better and you’re going to practice and, like, actually do what the 20 and 30 years of college football players did before you, which was practice in December when they’re on good teams, and get better?”

Most casual fans may not know much about Kelly. He appeared in 10 games this past season, picking up 3 tackles and 3 pass breakups as a backup cornerback. In terms of starting experience, defensive back Joenel Aguero and Bo Hughley may seem like more important losses to the transfer portal.

But Aguero and Hughley had spent three full seasons at Georgia. For better and worse, Smart’s stuaff knew what it had in both players. Aguero has transferred to Ole Miss, while Hughley is now at Colorado.

Kelly spent just one season in Athens. He becomes the first member of Georgia’s 2025 recruiting class to enter the transfer portal. While Georgia could still bring Kelly back, the recent addition of Oklahoma cornerback Gentry Williams seems to make a lot more sense with Kelly now looking for playing time elsewhere.

With Ellis Robinson and Demello Jones in the fold, Kelly was unlikely to start for the Bulldogs next season. Both played significant snaps this past season, with Robinson leading the conference in interceptions.

“As he’s played more, he’s gained more and more confidence,” Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann said. “He’s had a lot of ability from the beginning. There’s multiple layers to your growth as a football player, right? It’s, hey, learning what to do, how to do it, and why I wanna do it that way. And then also, hey, what’s going on on the offensive side? So I think in all areas, he’s gained more and more confidence.”

Georgia does have to replace Daylen Everette, as the three-year starter moves on to the NFL. Jones seems like the most obvious candidate to step into that role. He was on the field for Georgia’s most important defensive snaps of the season, even if the Ole Miss game didn’t go the way Jones would’ve hoped.

Kelly didn’t have a clear path to playing time next season, which makes it understandable as to why he might have looked elsewhere. Especially with Georgia adding USC cornerback Braylon Conley earlier in the transfer portal. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining, the same as Kelly.

Georgia landed Kelly in the 2025 recruiting cycle after he reclassified from the 2026 recruiting class. But it seems he’ll be gone from Athens before the rest of the 2026 signees take part in their first practice.

Kelly becomes the 14th player to transfer out of the Georgia program this offseason, but the true number is actually 11. Nyier Daniels had been dismissed from Georgia, while Pearce Spurlin and KJ Smith had to transfer from Georgia after previously having to medically retire.

As it stands, only Vanderbilt has lost fewer players to the transfer portal among SEC teams than Georgia. That’s a positive sign for the Bulldogs, as its goal with the transfer portal is to keep its strong recruiting classes together. No SEC program has landed fewer players out of the transfer portal than Georgia, as it has brought just seven additions.

One only needs to look at the 2023 recruiting class to see the problems that arise when top recruiting classes don’t make it deep into their time at Georgia. Of the 26 signees in the class, 13 were no longer a part of the roster prior to the start of the 2025 season.

The 2024 Georgia class is in much better shape as it enters its third season in the program. Of the 29 signees, only five have transferred out of the program. Georgia signed the No. 1-ranked high school recruiting class in that respective cycle.

The 2025 recruiting class ranked No. 2 in the country. It produced plenty of instant contributors, from defensive tackle Elijah Griffin to tight end Elyiss Williams.

Kelly was not one of those, yet he still flashed plenty of potential. Georgia brought Kelly in because it believed in his long-term growth. With Robinson and Jones both draft eligible next year, it wasn’t hard to envision Kelly taking over in the 2027 season.

Instead, Kelly will now likely be suiting up for someone else. All that time Georgia invested in Kelly this past season all goes for naught for the program.

The positive for the Bulldogs is that with the transfer portal closing on Friday, Georgia has seen just Kelly leave the program after one season. The Bulldogs have largely done a good job of keeping their talented roster intact.

That Kelly is the only player of his kind to leave to this point is largely a win for Georgia. It helps put the bigger picture into better context when it comes to how the Bulldogs have gone about managing the transfer portal thus far.