In college football, perception is everything. One minute, you’re the king of the sport, hoisting national championship trophies and stacking recruiting classes like bricks in a dynasty. We are talking about a Georgia Bulldogs football head coach who agreed to a 10-year, $130 million contract last May, making him the highest-paid coach in the sport. Still, it was a busy week for Kirby Smart. The former Alabama (DC) came to Athens in 2016, spending the last week of the winter contact period visiting a boatload of Bulldog targets. Finishing the 2024 season 11-3 after the Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame.

Smart’s travels took him across multiple states as he worked to see as many prospects as he could. He spent the final week on a relentless recruiting blitz, UGASports looks at which prospects received a visit from Smart over the past week. Visiting 24 prospects across multiple states in just seven days. This wasn’t just a routine scouting trip—it was a high-stakes, high-speed mission to ensure that Georgia’s future remains as dominant as its past. Welcome to the week in the life of a 2x back-to-back natty winner coach. For the Dawg Nation, a drop-off isn’t an option, and Smart knows it.

The Bulldogs already boast a recruiting haul that most programs would envy. Ranked No. 2 nationally and in the SEC by 247Sports, Texas taking the No. 1 spot. Georgia has amassed 34 commits, including three five-stars and 23 four-stars. But for Smart, the work is never done. One of his biggest priorities this week was securing a commitment from a generational talent in the trenches. Standing at 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds, Nixa High School offensive lineman Jackson Cantwell is the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 class, and Georgia isn’t alone in chasing him.

Smart made sure to personally follow up on offensive line coach Stacy Searels’ visit, knowing that landing a player of Cantwell’s caliber could be the difference between a good recruiting class and a legendary one. But it wasn’t just Cantwell. Smart’s week began in Michigan, checking in on four-star tight end Lincoln Keyes, a key piece of Georgia’s offensive puzzle who committed after witnessing the Bulldogs’ electric atmosphere in Athens against Tennessee.

The early part of the week saw a heavy emphasis on the offensive line, with Smart making trips to South Carolina for visits with top targets Malcolm Gaston and Desmond Green. Green, a highly coveted lineman, recently told Rivals that Georgia is leading in his recruitment—a direct result of Smart’s aggressive approach.

The glaring question of an elite QB remains. Sure, 4-star Ryan Montgomery; QB; 6-3; 215; Findlay, Ohio, is a highly rated recruit, but he lacks experience. As National Signing Day looms on Feb. 5, the urgency only intensifies. For Kirby Smart, recruiting isn’t just about selling a program—it’s about maintaining an empire.

Joel Klatt still believes in Kirby Smart and Georgia

Despite a “down year” by their lofty standards, Georgia isn’t falling off anytime soon—at least not if you ask Joel Klatt. The FOX Sports analyst ranked the Bulldogs No. 4 in his “way-too-early” Top 10 for 2025, and he made it clear why he’s still betting big on Kirby Smart’s squad.

“Georgia, and what they’ve done from a roster-building standpoint, is just flat-out impressive,” Klatt said. “That’s why they’ll continue to be right here at No. 4. I felt like it was just a down year for Georgia, and yet they navigated the hardest schedule in the country, won the SEC and they were sitting there in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals with a backup quarterback. So, if we think Georgia is going anywhere, that this is some sort of a trend in the wrong direction, I think that we would all be sorely mistaken. Kirby Smart is far too driven.”

Even in what many considered an off year, the Bulldogs fought through one of the toughest schedules in the country, won the SEC, and were a College Football Playoff contender—with a backup quarterback. The race to secure elite talent never stops, and neither does he.