ATHENS — Kirby Smart was more than happy to talk about recruiting on Wednesday. The Bulldogs signed 28 recruits, giving Georgia the No. 1 signing class in the country for the 2024 country.

Smart spent time going in-depth on players like Justin Williams and Ellis Robinson, while also speaking on the future of the quarterback position.

Below is a full transcript of what Smart had to say on Wednesday. All 28 commits in the class ended up signing on Wednesday.

Opening statement...

“Certainly excited today, as I think I am every day. I think you could hit repeat on every time we’ve had this signing day press conference because we get our new kids coming in. I’m really excited about this class. Obviously it started long before this time last year. We’re really confident in our evaluations. We do a thorough job.

I think somebody told me on here — I was looking at this before I came out here — I think 24 of 28 guys worked out on our campus with our coaches. 25 of 28 guys were multi-sport athletes. 13 different states. No. 1 player in maybe four or five different states. More important than all that, it’s the kind of kids they are. I’m excited to get them to come in and work. We’ve already got, I really don’t know, 8 or 9 guys here working with us that are competing and hopefully more to come midyear. I think it’s something like 23 guys coming midyear, which seems to be the trend in all of college football, which is important because you cannot develop players if you don’t have them here. You can’t practice to develop the other players if you don’t have enough depth here. We have gone with the model of going through the high school ranks, developing players. The way it’s looking right now, somewhere around 40 percent, maybe 50 percent, maybe even 60 percent of our roster next year will be in its first two years in the program. That, you’ve gotta have spring practice. You’ve gotta have development to do.

A lot of credit goes to our staff. Our coaches have done a tremendous job in what is an extremely difficult time. But most of our class was done. I think this might’ve been the earliest class we’ve ever had the numbers committed. I’m really proud of them and looking forward to kinda indoctrinating these guys into our culture and getting them better. I guess that’s it. We’ll open it up for questions.”

On the physical traits you want in a QB and what Ryan Puglisi possesses...

“The physical traits are size, speed, intelligence. For the intangible traits, character, what the kid’s makeup is, the velocity with which he throws the ball. We have guys that throw it hard. We’ve had guys that can’t throw it hard. They’ve had different levels of success. The common denominator for us has been intelligence, ability to create and extend plays. So we look at all those things. He came down here, Ryan came down here, I bet 5 or 6 times. He checked the box every time for the right kind of kid, the right kind of competitor. He’s embraced the part about learning. He sees himself as a guy that needs to come in and develop under a system. He’s seen Carson’s success, so I think he understands that. He wants to grow and get better.

Quarterback is the leader of the team and leader of your class. He’s a really intelligent, fun kid to be around. He’s been out here at practices, competing. He’s got a really live arm. He’s another one of these baseball guys that can catch it and get it out really fast, which I think is really important in today’s day and age.”

On Carson Beck’s decision affecting the number of quarterbacks you signed and if you plan to sign more....

“I don’t think Carson’s decision had any impact on our quarterback recruiting situation. I think it was a lot of independent variables there. We’ve felt pretty good that Carson was coming back the entire time. He’s communicated with us. He did his research. He certainly had options, but he communicated that he wanted to grow and continue to get better. So he made that choice. .... That’s something we have to think long and hard about. Our hard number is four. We want to be at four, and we’re not at four. So again, we’ll look at our options and see what we can do there. We would like to be at four, but that’s our goal.”

On going out-of-state to get top recruits vs. staying in-state...

“No, you know, you go where you go. You go find the players. A lot of times it’s their interest level in us. We don’t target states and say we want to get one from this state or that state. I love getting kids from the state of Georgia. If I could sign every kid from the state of Georgia, I would love to do that. That would be great. That’s not realistic. It’s just not. Some years our state provides us speed, athleticism. Some years it supplies us size. Some years it doesn’t have a good — I don’t know what the right word is — it doesn’t have maybe a sample size of that position, so you’ve gotta go search outside of that.

We usually know that long before now. So from the ‘25 class, we can tell you the strengths of the state. Just like these guys, I call GMs all the time, and they say, this is a great linebacker class, but it’s not a great corner class in the draft. It’s the same thing for us in our state. So we know what we’ve gotta go out and look for outside that. We don’t look at where you’re from. We look at who you are, how you compete, how you behave when you’re here, what do people say about you, and what your makeup is. That’s it, and I really could care less if they’re No. 1 in their state or No. 2 in their state. I care a whole lot more about how they behave when they get here and do they buy into our culture. I don’t think the rankings matter. I just really don’t think they matter.”

On the wide receiver additions Nitro Tuggle, Sacovie White, and London Humphreys...

“Yeah, I’m excited about all those guys. Certainly you build your wideout room through high school. We feel like we should build every room through high school, but over the last I guess 2-3 years we’ve gone into the portal and been able to get some experienced wideouts. I think that’s critical. I do think you can play early in college football at wideout. I think people have proven that. George [Pickens] proved it, AD proved it, Jermaine [Burton] proved it. They’ve all proven — Dillon Bell proved it — that you can go out and play as a freshman, but it’s nice to get some SEC experience in the two guys we got last year. You know, we need more depth at receiver. It’s a position that we’re thin at that we’ve got to have enough people to surround Carson with to create weapons.”

On if there were any surprises as far as who entered the transfer portal...

“I don’t know that I can say it’s settled. You don’t know that. I certainly don’t know when guys make decisions they make. I mean, the window is what the window is, so those guys have those opportunities. I think for us, you know, we had conversations long before the SEC championship. We meet before the season, we meet during the season, we meet during the bye week, and then we meet again after the SEC championship. So probably 95% or 90% of those guys, that conversation had already happened.

I think everybody in the country will tell you you have surprises, and you guys can probably figure out who those are. They make decisions that they think fits what they need, and I respect that. That’s the rules we have, and that’s what we abide by. I feel good about the group we have, and I’m really worried about the guys that are here, not the ones that aren’t.”

On the size of Georgia’s offensive line class and what stands out the most to him...

“Yeah, Collier Madaleno [director of football performance nutrition] is going to need a raise. She’s in charge of our nutrition, and she’s got her work cut out for her based on some of these weights that are probably not even accurate, to be honest. I mean, let’s call it what it is. Some of these guys are too heavy, and they’ll be the first to say it. They think heavy is good, but how many 350+ [lb.] offensive linemen have started at Georgia that y’all know of? I can’t think of one. I can’t think of one guy that’s been 350+. I can’t think of a guy that’s been 345+, so whatever they are, they’re going to have to reel it in to be successful. Everybody can print all the ‘Big is better’ they want, but if they don’t lose weight they won’t play.

That’s the key is are they wired the correct way to lose the weight. I was just talking to a couple guys out there at practice. Earnest Greene came in here at 355, and Earnest Greene was at 320 by the first snap of spring ball. You know, he was committed to a process, and these guys will have to be, too.”

On the short version of the KJ Bolden recruitment...

“I mean, we did what we do on every kid. I mean, we recruited. I met KJ Bolden and his mom his ninth-grade year in the indoor and sat and talked to them for 45 minutes and just had a great appreciation for her and him. He was a young kid then. He actually had worked out at our camp as a wideout, and we knew that he was a really talented young man. And from that point on, I mean, I bet he’s been on this campus 20 or 30 times between coming over here for different events and 7-on-7s.

But there was no different recruitment for KJ. It was just consistent and a mutual respect probably is the right word, you know? I reached out to him when he committed elsewhere and just told him that I had a lot of respect for him and we weren’t going to stop recruiting him and that we thought this was the best place for him. I’ve always learned — Andrew Thomas’ parents taught me that consistency is the key. We were very consistent every time [KJ] was here. And, you know what, it worked out. It doesn’t always work out, but it worked out in this case and we’re not going to change our method of how we go about things.”

On the secondary signees and having guys who played both ways...

“Oh, it’s fast. I mean, they can go out and run a 4x1 team and probably win a national event because they can fly. They’ve all got good speed. Demello’s a track guy, can run. Ondre Evans can run, Ellis can run, and KJ runs track and can run. They all four have got great speed. They all four have really good length. I think the wing span on Ellis and those guys is extremely long. They’re all tremendous character kids. I mean, like, they’re fun to be around. Demello is a fun guy to be around. Those other guys are fun guys to be around.

You know, they’ll have growth to do. They’ll have to grow up, but we’re in need at that position. We’re under our — what I call our ‘quota.’ We’re under our quota there, and they’re going to get thrust into some opportunities to get to go out there and play and compete. But they all have toughness. They all have speed. You know, I saw KJ play one night, and he had a defensive touchdown, a kickoff return touchdown, a running touchdown, and a receiving touchdown, and I don’t know that I’ve ever, you know, witnessed that and seen something like that in person because he’s a dynamic player.”

On if there’s any concern when a large number of players enter the portal or is that the way it goes in today’s age...

“No, I mean, you can’t — you don’t control that. You don’t control that. What you do control is who you bring in here. You don’t control what goes out. So our messaging has been all along, ‘Let’s get the right guys in here.’ This group we just signed, I’m a lot more worried about the retention, and when I look at last year’s class, I think it’s 2 or 3 out of last year’s class [that has entered the portal]. That would be more concerning for me.

You know, the portal is a good thing. Let’s don’t make it a negative. If you’ve been in a program for three years and you’re not playing and you don’t feel like you’re going to play or you don’t feel like you’re being developed and it doesn’t look great, you might need to look somewhere else. And that’s an OK thing, OK? It’s when you’re a first-year and you’re doing that, it becomes a little bit, you know, more alarming. Why did you go there in the first place? You never really gave it a chance to grow.

So I evaluate the portal based on that, not the total number. I mean, the total number to me, it’s just not relevant because the day and age we’re in, you know, kids feel like the grass is greener, and sometimes it is and sometimes it’s not. We don’t control those decisions.”

On his impressions of the December enrollees...

“They’re lost, they’re overwhelmed, they’re high character, they’re very intelligent, they’re hard working, they’re out of shape, they’re winded, they’re enamored, but they won’t be in the spring. So I can’t wait to coach them.”

On Justin Williams and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, who were high school teammates, and what stands out...

“Size, speed, length. They both have tremendous length. Extremely high character. I mean, Justin, I have not been around many kids in a meeting like Justin Williams. This kid had everybody in the country recruiting him, throwing things at him and doing all kinds of stuff, and he never blinked. He was like, ‘I’m coming to Georgia. I want to be a linebacker at Georgia. This is my plan.’ Very intentional about everything. And his GPA’s above a 4.0. I mean, just incredible.

And Joseph is his teammate who has an incredible story. He’s really filling a need. You know, we’ve gone two years without signing a solid, like d-end. He and Justin Greene are two solid what we call ends, big ends. Mykel and Ty’s position, and we need some help there. So both those two guys are going to help us fill a role.”

On if it’s strange going through bowl prep not being in the Playoff...

“I wouldn’t say it’s strange to us. We’re in the same routine. You can say it might not have the same - we’ve tried to make it the same sense of urgency, but there’s times where you have to step back and look and take a deep breath and say, ‘We’re getting these guys better, we’re working really hard, we’re buying in.’ The leadership on this team has been absolutely incredible because what I hear from other coaches about these type of games, it’s been a nightmare for them. It has not been a nightmare for us.

We’ve got dudes out there practicing that this is their last go around. I’ve told them, the next time that about 15-20 of you guys are practicing, you’re going to be trying to make a roster. You only have about 10-15 practices to make a roster spot in the NFL, so use these practices to help you make a roster. Get better. The guy you might be competing against, he might not be getting to practice for a bowl game.

And they want to finish on top. A lot of them, they want to walk off the field for the last time on the winning side. There’s a lot of competitive character. So, it is different, but it’s not for the coaching staff. We’re going to do the same thing that we would and meet as if we were playing in the Playoffs. It’s a routine for us.”

On the three-RB class...

“They complement each other. They’re very different. You’ve got James Cook-Zamir White, Sony-Nick complementary package there. Dwight’s completely different all together. He’s got a very unique skillset, very elite skillset. How we use him will be very important. He’s not just a normal back. He can do a lot of things. He can create a lot of matchup nightmares. We don’t think he’s even seen his full potential. And then the other two kids, we think they complement each other really well and give us big backs. All three of those backs run sub-11 100-meters which sub-11 is rolling, and they’re big. We feel really good about those guys.”

On awareness from the players to maintain the standard and the various streaks they can extend in the Orange Bowl...

“Are we bringing up the bowl streak? Probably not. We have talked about the seniors being the winningest group of seniors ever. We’ve calculated the math, and we’re one away from beating last year’s group. So it’s really critical to me that we do that. That’s a motivating factor. I don’t think the streak is as much a factor because sometimes you don’t control that, and they weren’t part of some of those games.”

On Georgia’s portal approach...

“As far as being active in the portal, it’s like grocery shopping. You can’t go get groceries unless you know what you have at home. That’s the hardest part about the timing of everything. You’d say, ‘Well, you know what you have on your team.’ You don’t technically because it’s not over. We have to be careful that we don’t get more ‘bottled water’ than we need when we’ve got to get more ‘bread to match up with our sandwich meat.’ We can’t go about it that way. You can’t go out there and get all this when you need this. That’s the hardest part, not knowing. And another really hard part is the kids, you’re getting pressured in the portal to make a decision so they’re getting pressured into saying, ‘You’ve got to take this. You’ve got to take that.’ The window is so wide that it’s hard to know what you’re going to have.”

On Fran Brown’s help in recruiting this class and hiring Donte Williams...

“Fran was unbelievable. He came here with a purpose. He told every kid he recruited he wanted to be a head coach, said, ‘I want to be at Georgia until I’m a head coach, and I want to be a head coach, and if I get to be a head coach, then I’m leaving Georgia, but I’m going to leave Georgia in a better place than I found it.’ He did everything he said he was going to do, and we did everything we said we were going to do in terms of preparing him for that and giving him the pedigree of a National Championship and the way to run a program.

It was a very smooth transition. He communicated very well to the guys that he helped recruit, but it wasn’t like he lied to any of them. Every one of them, they told us, ‘Yep, he told us if he got a head job then he’d go but that you and Coach Muschamp were going to be in the secondary with us.’ So we then went out and looked for what we needed, really said, ‘We want somebody that can develop and teach corner play,’ because Coach Muschamp and I work hard with the safeties. And we wanted somebody that could form relationships like Fran. Fran was a very relationship driven person. He spent a lot of time communicating with kids, not just KJ but a lot of kids. He formed solid relationships and we wanted somebody that could do those same things. Donte has proven he can do that, and he’s a really good football coach.”

On Ellis Robinson...

“What stands out about Ellis? His length, his character, his family. His parents made sacrifices. They sent their son to IMG to grow and get better, and I don’t know if he’s the person he is and the player he is if he doesn’t go down there and get to go against the best in the country. He played with Daylen, played with all those kids. He’s basically been in college for two to three years. He’s a wonderful, wonderful kid who, he has high expectations and we have high expectations, but he’s going to work to get better and develop within our program. We’re very excited to have him.”