What sort of head coach will Kirby Smart be at UGA? DawgNation would sure like to know, but will have to wait until at least spring practice to find out.
One person who already has an idea is 4-star signee Julian Rochester. The defensive tackle from McEachern and the U.S. Army All-American has already signed his financial aid papers with UGA and will enroll early in about 14 days.
Dab on ‘em? Yeah, Rochester can see that at UGA.
“I look at Kirby and he reminds me of another Dabo Swinney type,” Rochester said. “He’ll be very rah-rah and high energy and ‘Let’s go’ all the time. Coach Richt was a clap your hands and come on kind of coach, but Coach Smart is more of a pump your fist and ‘Let’s go now’ hyped-up smack-your-hand type of dude. Always ready to go. That’s going to be exciting to play for a hyped-up young coach who is always jumping around.”
Rochester said that Alabama was trying to get him late, but realized that they couldn’t secure him.
He’s also thankful for the turn of events despite the transition at UGA.
“I feel real good about Kirby and am blessed that coach (Tracy) Rocker and coach (Kevin) Sherrer are staying,” Rochester said. “Those are the guys that recruited me so I really don’t have to learn anybody new other than the new defensive coordinator. The dudes that recruited me and the dudes that I know the best are still going to be at Georgia. I still feel at home.”
Rochester has targeted Jackson 4-star defensive lineman Michail Carter as a missing piece for this year’s class.
“I feel like recruiting at Georgia is really going to pick up when me, Jacob (Eason), Ben (Cleveland) and Chad (Clay) get there and everybody starts taking their officials and sees what we are already doing and liking up there is really going to help Kirby’s first recruiting class at UGA.”
Rochester said the immediate goals for the Class of 2016 is to win the SEC East and play for the SEC Championship in their freshman seasons.
“Georgia hasn’t changed,” Rochester said. “That’s what I would say to any recruit that’s on the fence this year. It is still Georgia. It is still the same school you fell in love with. You get attached to coaches — yeah — but coaches can can get fired or leave tomorrow, but it is still Georgia. Georgia won’t be going anywhere. That’s my message to anyone about Georgia now.”
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.
