This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 4-star Chace Calicut of North Shore High in Texas. He ranks as the nation’s No. 13 S and the No. 162 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 11 S and No. 127 overall.
While listening to Kirby Smart over the years, it is crystal clear that the former safety would love to have a secondary one day consisting of five or six players who can all hit and tackle like safeties but cover like elite corners.
Who wouldn’t, right? Versatility rules the day.
That’s basically what they’ve got in elite cornerback commitment Justice Fitzpatrick.
That’s the same thing the Bulldogs are seeking in 4-star Texas prospect Chace Calicut. He’s rated as a safety by the national recruiting sites because of his 6 feet, 3 inches and 195 pounds.
Georgia sees Calicut as a cornerback. That’s because he can run and hit and, like Fitzpatrick, he can really shadow a receiver.
The North Shore High School product said he measured in at UGA over the weekend at that 6-foot-3 mark and 195 pounds.
He’s down to a final group of basically Georgia and Texas. Michigan is also in his final three, but Calicut told DawgNation this week that he’s basically either going to be a Bulldog or a Longhorn.
That wasn’t all he had to say. Consider this Intel:
- “I would say I’m down to two,” he said. “Texas or Georgia.”
- “Honestly, when I came in, I did not think Athens was going to be like that,” he said. “I didn’t think Georgia was, well, they were in my top three, but I didn’t see myself going down there until I actually got down there.”
- “I think they are definitely up there now with Texas.”
- “Georgia is the only school recruiting me as a cornerback. But other schools want me to play both. It is not just a solid safety. Other schools want me to play both. Georgia wants me to play corner.”
- “I’m committing at OT7,” he said of the 7-on-7 event this month in Fort Lauderdale. “It will be on the broadcast. Like the All-American Bowl games and stuff. Like how they do it. They pan to a player and he commits on live. It is going to be the same thing like that at OT7.”
Calicut said he will still take an official visit to Michigan this weekend and see Texas on June 20. That means the home-state Longhorns will get the last visit.
What is he looking for?
“I’d say my biggest thing is the coach’s development of players,” he said. “I want to see what their plan is for me and how they are going to develop me into an NFL player. Like, take me to the next level. I want to see what school can do that the most and realize my potential.”
He’s in Houston. That means he’s gotten the chance to pay attention to former UGA great Kamari Lassiter on Sundays, playing for the Texans.
“You mean K3?” Calicut said. “Yeah.”
But that’s not the biggest player connection for him with Georgia. He pointed to another Bulldog on the current roster.
“I would say really, Ellis Robinson,” he said. “That’s my Dawg. He really opened my eyes. He showed me all about Georgia and what it is from a player’s standpoint. You know he was a 5-star. Number one corner coming out. So he knows exactly how it is, and he told me they were treating him exactly the same as if he were a no-star anything. That’s what I really like about Georgia, too.”
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Chase Calicut: He’s wired differently
Hitting people. Physicality. Calicut loves that part of football.
“I’d probably say that’s my why,” Calicut said. “That’s just the type of guy I am. I’m physical. I’m aggressive. I don’t know, but I just need something to cool me down.”
He’s got to smack somebody.
“Exactly,” he said. “You feel me? Exactly.”
What does he love the most about football?
“I’ll say the feeling it gives me,” he said. “The adrenaline rush. The thrill it gives me when I’m just out there on the field with the guys and stuff. I feel like it is just a better feeling than any other thing I would be doing.”
“It is my favorite hobby.”
Calicut knows that he’s blessed to get NIL and revenue share payments now to play the game. In spite of the fact that his social media handles are “Chacedahbag” on his accounts, he said he’d play the game for nothing.
Would he really play the game for free if that’s all it had to offer?
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Most definitely. I feel that my decision will definitely not be 100 percent NIL. I think I will be leaving money on the table. I’m already leaving money on the table with these two teams.”
“I’ve been offered a crazy amount of money, but it’s not all about NIL. It’s about development and trying to get to the next level. I think that’s where Georgia comes in. They are at the top of that. They develop so many DBs. They develop so many NFL-ready guys. It’s a no-brainer.”
What sticks out the most to him now about Georgia?
“I’ll say Kirby Smart and the staff,” he said. “I’ll say they really do care about you. It’s bigger than football, and they will really be trying to take it to the next level with mental health and everything. They really do care about their guys. I’ll say that’s one of my favorite things about it.”
“Because we already know they can get you to the next level. We already know that they can develop you in this and that. It’s all about football this, that, and the third, but it’s not always all about football, and they know that too, and they do a good job of making relationships with the guys and making it feel like home.”
He wore the all-red uniform for his photo shoot. That caught the attention of many on his social media. That, to him, also felt right.
“It is just those North Shore colors,” he said. “Them all reds are pretty nice. I don’t know. I like all-red, and they don’t even wear the all-red.”
Calicut already knows a lot about UGA. He knows that all-red and all-white variants are just for the official visit pictures.
He said Kirby Smart really laid it down on his visit.
“In our meeting, he was like, honestly, we would have offered you and we would have come and got you way earlier, but he just said he didn’t think he would have had a chance with me,” Calicut said. “So I was like ‘Nah, come on now, this is Georgia. Ya’ll know you’ve got a chance’ and he really showed me where I would fit in in the program and he showed me the depth, the corner’s depth and he showed me where I could really play at.”
“So he definitely showed me that I was a priority.”
Do the Dawgs really have a chance here with the home-state Longhorns?
“Oh yeah,” Calicut said. “Most definitely.”
He had a lot of fun on the visit. What was the most fun?
“Really, the guys,” he said. “The guys there were cool. It really felt like back home. They showed just how things go. It was really good. There were a lot of good things about the visit, but I’ll probably say when we were all chilling and stuff. The way Kirby Smart just seemed like a cool guy. He’s just very level-headed. He’s not too above it. He doesn’t act like that. He’s a really cool guy. I’d say that was one of my favorite things about the visit.”
“He’s a real deal coach. He’s a player’s coach.”
What sort of challenge does Texas present here for Georgia?
“Really, it is two hours from the house,” Calicut said. “There have been plenty of good DBs coming from Texas. Coach [Duane] Akina has developed so many good guys coming out of there, and yeah, I think they’ve got a good chance of winning the natty soon.”
Calicut also mentioned he’s familiar with current Georgia Bulldogs Joseph Jonah-Ajonye and Justin Williams from growing up playing ball and going to camps in the Houston Metro area.
Want some entertainment? Check out his junior film below:
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
SENTELL’S INTEL
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