This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star IOL Reis Russell. He ranks as the nation’s No. 60 IOL and the No. 950 overall prospect for 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking has him as the No. 77 IOL and No. 921 overall.
Reis Russell took his first visit to check out Georgia football over the weekend. It was also an official visit. The 3-star IOL has future OVs planned to Miami, Washington and USC to come this spring.
It is always daunting for that first OV to win out. Especially when Russell won’t make his college decision until the end of June. That first OV has to hold serve for an extended period to earn a young player’s college commitment.
For that to happen, UGA better have had a telling moment that sticks for the potential future center. While we don’t yet know whether the Dawgs will eventually win out, we do know the program stacked up several signature moments for Russell over the weekend.
What was the biggest one of those?
“I definitely will say it was when I put that Georgia helmet on,” he said. “I was looking at it in the mirror. I was there with my Dad and I put that Georgia helmet on and I kind of looked at him and said, ‘Well, we’re getting somewhere now. The plan is coming together,’ and honestly, well, we’re far from there. There’s a lot more work to be done. We’re just getting started, but putting that Georgia helmet on, well, it was definitely a special moment.”
It stood out because his father had his own glory in the game. Matt Russell played LB for Colorado. He won the Dick Butkus Award for being the most outstanding linebacker in college football in 1996.
Reis Russell is set to be wooed by Washington, Miami and USC. If it does eventually come back to a “special” UGA visit, he was able to clearly state why he would eventually be a Dawg.
His answer was basically a commercial for Kirby Smart’s program.
“It comes down to the toughness of this program and the staff,” he said. “I think that the product of Georgia football is something different from every other program. I mean, you see Jalen Carter coming out and Nakobe Dean and Jordan Davis and all those [Philadelphia] Eagles guys. They come out [for the NFL Draft]. They’re tough. They’re strong. They know they’re farther ahead than other people coming out of other programs, I think. I think that speaks volumes about Coach Smart and this whole program and the way they do things.”
“Then the things they put you through, I mean, it’s going to be really hard, and they’re going to push you really dang hard. But I think when you come out of Georgia football, you’re a stronger person than when you were before, and that’s a really appealing thing to me. Then you’re not only coming out stronger than you thought you might ever be, but you’re coming out with genuine relationships throughout this coaching staff because that’s the kind of people they are. Those two things to me are really important and Georgia football definitely is excelling in those areas.”
Russell is well-versed in all the “Philly Dawgs” because his father works in personnel with the Eagles. For the two of them, this weekend was a chance to see how the UGA sausage is made, so to speak, on the front side. Before Georgia’s players come out of three or four really hard years in the UGA football crucible.
“His biggest thing about this process is relationships,” Reis Russell said. “Seeing him walking throughout the building. Meeting new people. Those are the people you are going to spend the most time with, so you’ve got to be locked in with them. Got to have that relationship with them. I think that’s one of the biggest things to him, alongside me. That’s a priority for us. He had a great time going around meeting different people on the staff. He really enjoyed meeting the new people, everyone up there and Coach Smart and connecting with [offensive line] coach [Phil] Rauscher again and all of them. That whole O-line room is really special, though, and he really enjoyed talking to all of them.”
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Reis Russell: Things to keep in mind after the OV
Georgia sees the 6-foot-3, 295-pound Russell as a center. There would be a need for him to cross-train at guard, because, well, that’s what Georgia does with versatile and intelligent OLs.
Russell would be a strong character based on the way he’s wired. He’s a strong communicator who buys into the team-first and “eat off the floor” mantras of Georgia football.
DawgNation has written previously about the connection he’s had with first-year line coach Phil Rauscher, dating back to his NFL days with the Denver Broncos, when Russell’s father worked in personnel for that franchise.
There’s an anchor relationship there that goes back a decade.
“Coach Rauscher is awesome,” Reis Russell said. “Being all over the place. Having that NFL experience. He knows what it takes to get to the next level and what you need to do to prepare for the next level, so that’s really important to me. Having that relationship with him is also awesome because my Dad and I, and especially my Dad, have known him for so long, so it’s definitely really cool to have the opportunity to play for him. Knowing what I’m going into. I don’t need to do my homework on him. We’ve known him for so long. I know he’s a great guy and a great coach, so that’s really cool.”
If there’s one other thing we’ve learned about Russell, it is that he’s a fun character. He loves music of all kinds and trains with a homicidal maniac OL genius sherpa at Six Zero Academy back in Colorado.
He believes Buc-ees is the best place in the world. That’s why he wore a camo Buc-ees shirt on his official.
“I kind of wear that a lot,” he said. “I always try to be myself on these visits. I don’t want to dress up as something I’m not. Whether that is a camo T-shirt or a fishing shirt or some nice shoes, I put on some nice shoes, actually, but that’s kind of what I wear. That’s who I am. I feel it is really important to be yourself out there.”
Russell went on about the prime rib he ate in Athens. He described a “special texture” in the way only an O-line prospect in a Buc-ees camo T-shirt could.
He appreciated seeing so many UGA fans in the hotel elevator before the game.
“I was like ‘Damn, this is crazy like this is SEC football’ and when you’re on that field, when you’re taking it all in, it’s definitely pretty special and pretty crazy to think that you have the opportunity to be out there next year. So that’s really special to see, and for my family and me, it’s really cool to be out there looking around and checking things out because it’s definitely a special moment down there.”
Reis Russell: What will stick with him about UGA
When Georgia offered him, it meant a lot.
“Having the opportunity to play at the University of Georgia is very special because when they offered me, that was really special because it felt like my dreams were coming true. It is one of the best, if not the very best, programs in college football. They’re winning SEC titles. They’re winning national championships. So when you have the opportunity to play for them, it’s really cool and really special because I mean I grew up watching Alabama and Georgia and all these programs, and finally seeing my dreams come together to have the opportunity to play for them, it’s really cool and special to me for sure.”
He thinks all four of those programs would be able to pull great football out of him. Russell said he can’t really go wrong with any of them and they are all great options. Some of those are better at some things than others, he said.
He’s been to Washington the most. Miami is a wild card in any recruiting race. USC was the last to offer him.
That said, Russell had a strong feeling when he left Athens on Sunday.
“I was leaving, going ‘Dang, I could see myself there’ because I mean, you could definitely say that,” he said. “Never going down there before. That being my first time, it was really cool to see everything, and I could totally see myself fitting in there very well alongside these other schools.”
“It only makes the decision harder because I truly love all these schools in so many different ways and for different reasons. But you know, leaving Athens was definitely a moment where I was like I could totally see myself ending up here.”
