ATHENS — KJ Bolden has been everything Kirby Smart wanted.

The now-junior is one of the best defensive backs in the country, if not the best safety in the sport.

He’s already come a long way from the quiet freshman trying to soak up everything he could from current Baltimore Raven Malaki Starks.

“I feel like his leadership definitely improved, especially this season,” linebacker Chris Cole said of Bolden. “I remember when Malaki (Starks) was with him, he didn’t really say too much. But now, he’s basically one of our best leaders on the defense and the team.”

Bolden arrived as one of the more hyped recruits of Kirby Smart’s tenure. Bolden was the first recruit out of Buford High School to sign with Smart at Georgia.

He was a 5-star recruit, ranking as the No. 13 overall player, No. 1 safety and No. 1 player in the state of Georgia in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the 2024 recruiting class.

He is the type of player that schools would, and have since, go above and beyond to sign. Florida State and Auburn attempted to do so. The type of player Georgia hasn’t landed as much on the recruiting trail in each of the previous two recruiting cycles.

Bolden could very well be one of the last of his kind to come through Georgia.

Yet Bolden, as he said on the December day he committed to Georgia, left money on the table to play for the Bulldogs.

“I tell all the recruits, ‘If you don’t love football, if you’re not really bought into it, don’t come here,” Bolden said. “If it’s about NIL, don’t come here.’ Like, we really care about football and growing as a person and as a man, and that’s what he (Smart) does for us.”

Bolden has done both, emerging as a leader as the Bulldogs get set to enter the 2026 season. For someone who had the impossible task of replacing Starks, he’s done everything that has been asked of him.

“Well, he started and played and was very effective as a freshman,” Smart said. “So I think he’s handled that well. I think the greater side that he’s grown in is the maturity to understand what leadership looks like. He had the blessing of playing with Malaki and Dan (Jackson). So he learned what it was to be a good teammate. He has been an extraordinary teammate since being here. He helps so many guys in the secondary. I always hear him coaching back behind me, being positive with guys and being a leader.

“Those are the expectations I have for him, to be the best version of himself, not live up to everybody else’s expectations.”

Bolden can both execute his job at a high level while explaining the intricacies of the Georgia defense to younger teammates.

Smart couldn’t point to a specific standout moment for Bolden when it comes to his abilities as a teacher. But it is something he sees every day.

The junior safety credits his relationship with Starks and current Detroit Lion Dan Jackson.

“You know, I didn’t know a lot. I didn’t know the playbook like that. I didn’t know where to get lined up,” Bolden said. “And I feel like they helped guide me through that and made me feel more comfortable while being up here. So I know the young guys probably feel the same way that I felt when I first got here, so I’m just trying to replicate that,”

Starks was a first-team All-American in 2024, Bolden’s first season in Athens. Chris Smith was a unanimous All-American in 2022, his final season in Athens. Lewis Cine, a first-round pick, was the defensive player of the game in Georgia’s first title win.

The Bulldogs have had a long line of great safeties under Smart. It’s part of the reason Bolden picked Georgia.

Yet that level of development doesn’t mean what it used to for top recruits. Georgia signed the No. 7-ranked recruiting class in the 2026 recruiting cycle, the lowest of Smart’s tenure. That class had just two top 50-overall players per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Georgia’s current class ranks even lower, as the Bulldogs have the No. 9-ranked class. The highest-rated defensive commit is safety Adryan Cole, who is the No. 166 overall player in the class.

The highest-ranked safety is a Peach State native in Kamarui Dorsey. He is from Hampton, Georgia, and someone the Bulldogs wanted.

Yet he’s headed to Texas A&M, instead of replacing Bolden. The No. 1 player, Georgia legacy DJ Jacobs, committed to Ohio State. The 2026 recruiting class saw the state of Texas land more top-10 Georgia recruits than the home-state Bulldogs.

Smart spent considerable time during SEC media days discussing Georgia’s ability to spend the money needed to land top talent.

Through Bolden’s own previous admission, Georgia didn’t spend top dollar to bring him in as a 5-star recruit. What the Bulldogs have done is paid him a premium to remain at Georgia, given what he’s shown on the field.

Last season, Bolden finished second on the team with 74 tackles. He came down with 2 interceptions, broke up 5 passes and added 2.5 tackles for loss

Bolden means more to Georgia than any balance sheet or box score can capture. While there were greater offers out there for Bolden, what he’s gotten from Georgia so far extends well beyond the money in his pocket.

“If you don’t love football — if you don’t wanna eat, breathe, sleep it, don’t come to Georgia,” Bolden said. “Coach Smart’s gonna push you to your limit every day. He’s gonna get it out of you, and I feel like that’s what you want out of a coach, though. Like, you want him to push you every day and bring you to the best you can be.”

Bolden knew that his time at Buford meant nothing when he stepped on campus. Not just at Georgia, but any school he could’ve picked.

Perhaps that’s why he was so comfortable turning down more lucrative offers. Bolden carries a rare perspective that most people, let alone elite football players, lack.

He earned that through his time playing metro Atlanta rec leagues as a kid and then for Buford in high school. He’s long been going against the best, well before he was a starter on back-to-back SEC champions.

“I think back to a play he made on the Texas overtime game that people don’t talk about where they ran a cross screen to the back and he came out of the top,” Smart said. “One of the most instinctive plays I’ve seen a player make, and he made that as a true freshman.”

For all his athletic gifts, his mental approach to football and life explains why he’s been as advertised for Georgia.

“KJ’s one of the most prepared kids on the team,” tight end Lawson Luckie said. “He knows everything about our defense. He knows everything about our offense, honestly. He flies around, and he does such a good job of preparing that he’s able to just play off instincts. He gives himself the freedom to play at a really high speed.”

Starks, Smith and Cine were all national champions. Bolden still believes Georgia offers him the best chance to achieve the same goal.

If he’s able to help guide the Bulldogs back to the top of the sport, perhaps Georgia will have more success attracting players like Bolden. Those high-end recruits who don’t feel the need to instantly be one of the top earners on their college team.

Bolden knew to get on the field in college he was going to have to make sacrifices. Not just financially but in other aspects of life.

Taking less early allowed Bolden to do more for Georgia than he could have hoped.

Entering his junior season, there’s only one way for Bolden to be happier with his college decision.

With a win in the last game of the season and the feeling of confetti raining down on his Georgia jersey

“This year, man, I’m just really bought in,” Bolden said. “Attack mode, leadership, just trying to help the team grow anyway so we can win it all.”