ATHENS — The biggest difference between Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart as coaches has nothing to do with schemes or championship credentials.
It comes in roster building. Smart still champions high school recruiting, while acknowledging the transfer portal can be used to plug holes. Georgia brought in nine scholarship players via the transfer portal this offseason.
Ole Miss, conversely, brought in 26 transfers this past cycle. The transfer portal is a big reason Ole Miss is in a position to push Georgia as the two teams meet in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday.
“Lane’s done an incredible job of getting talented players, big, physical,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “The improvement on defense for them is extremely noticeable. These guys are disruptive, powerful, fast, tons of sacks, tons of tackles for loss.”
Ole Miss ranks first in the SEC in sacks and tackles for loss. While its top pass rusher, Suntarine Perkins, was a high school signee, its No. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ranked players in sacks all came to Ole Miss via the transfer portal.
Starting quarterback Jaxson Dart transferred to Ole Miss from USC. Its top pass catcher, Tre Harris, began his career at Louisiana Tech. Everywhere you look on this Ole Miss roster, there are major impacts made by transfers.
At Georgia, there hasn’t been the same reliance on transfers. Yes, running back Trevor Etienne leads the team in rushing this year after arriving from Florida. Wide receiver has been a spot where Georgia has consistently gone into the transfer portal, grabbing the likes of Dominic Lovett and London Humphreys.
But more often than not, Georgia elects to use the transfer portal as a long-term developmental tool, as opposed to instant gratification.
“We’ve got some guys in the secondary who came in that have probably helped some on special teams roles and helped some there,” Smart said. “I think it varies position to position and year to year, depending on what you need. We’ve also got some really good young, talented freshmen that have come in that are going to be good players that we took over some transfers.”
With Etienne dealing with a rib injury at the moment, Georgia has turned to one of those talented freshmen in Nate Frazier. There have been some growing pains — see Smart’s reaction to Frazier’s taunting penalty in the Florida game — but Georgia has already reaped the benefits of its No. 1 signing class for the 2024 cycle.
KJ Bolden started his first career game for Georgia this past week and has been a consistent contributor for the Bulldogs on a weekly basis.
“KJ’s been great. He’s been really confident in his checks,” Smart said of Bolden prior to the Florida game. “He’s extremely smart for a guy his age. He had no real issues picking up our defense. And that comes from his high school background and really from his just instinctiveness and intelligence. He’s a very bright kid, he communicates really well. He’s got a lot of confidence in the defense. He’s got confidence in his ball skills.
“So it’s been about physicality with him and maintaining his weight. We’ve really tried hard to keep his weight up. This is a long grind that he’s not used to. But I’m pleased with what KJ’s done at this point.”
There is a steep learning curve when transitioning into Georgia. That’s true though for transfers as well. Consider the case of tight end Benjamin Yurosek.
Lately, he’s begun to emerge as what Georgia envisioned they were getting when he transferred in from Stanford. But it took Yurosek some time to adjust to life in the SEC.
“We’re practicing against the best every single day. Every single day, you go against guys who are going to be better than the competition play,” Yurosek told reporters on Monday. “So I think that’s been the biggest thing, just every single day of preparing, and, yeah, practicing against the best.”
Yurosek has continued to improve as a blocker for Georgia, finally making an impact in that regard. That has opened his pass-catching opportunities, with Yurosek logging his first multi-catch game of his Georgia career this past Saturday against Florida.
“I think sometimes it takes guys, it takes freshmen a long time, but it takes transfers sometime,” Smart said. “They’ll say, golly, I didn’t really know what it was going to be like. Usually younger guys that come in, transfers, not necessarily older guys, but his ability to practice well has got better with every week. And then it’s translated to what he puts on the field. And he plays more physical, he practices more physical. He bought into the idea that, if I actually practice like a game, I’ll play better in the game. And that’s helped him, it’s helped us.”
Of Georgia’s transfer additions this offseason, Etienne, Yuorsek and Humphreys are Georgia’s top contributors at the moment. Colbie Young is currently suspended following his October arrest. On the defensive side Xzavier McLeod has emerged as a rotational piece on the defensive line. Quarterback Jaden Rashada, wide receiver Michael Jackson III and defensive backs Jake Pope and Collin Gill have worked as reserves. Georgia’s long snapper, Beau Gardner, did transfer into the program from UCLA.
Etienne’s status will be worth monitoring heading into Saturday as he deals with a rib injury. Georgia brought him in with visions of the running back being a major playmaker for the Bulldogs. That’s what the transfer portal represents, and it’s something Kiffin has used to his advantage.
“He felt good yesterday and did some things yesterday with our guys, and I don’t know a lot until we get out there and practice today,” Smart said of Etienne. " But we’ll certainly see how he feels. The trainer feels good about him. The big thing is just his ability to sustain and deal with a little bit of pain, he’s gonna have some there. But he is a tough kid, and I think he’ll do well with it.”
But Georgia has done as good a job as anyone of signing elite high school recruits so that it can withstand injuries. And in a game this late in the season, that may prove to make a major difference in two teams vying for a College Football Playoff berth.
