Kirby Smart is turning up the recruiting heat as Georgia’s 2026 Rivals Camp Series kicks off. With the first camp held at Carrollton High School in Atlanta, over 150 players competed, mainly from the 2028 and 2029 classes. Among them, 10 elite prospects are already very high on the Bulldogs.

Georgia is making a strong push for in-state talent, with prospects like safety Casey Barner and receiver John Matthews already high on the Bulldogs’ board following the Rivals Camp in Atlanta.

Barner is quickly making a name for himself in the 2028 class following an impressive performance at the Atlanta Rivals Camp. Casey has received offers from top programs like Alabama, North Carolina, SMU, and Virginia Tech. He’s also shown interest in Ohio State, Georgia, and LSU.

Georgia’s track record of developing elite safeties, especially into NFL starters, particularly impressed him, exemplified by Malaki Starks becoming a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Likewise, the 2028 class 3-star wide receiver John Matthews from Newnan High School. He currently has 12 offers from teams like Florida State, Florida, Georgia, and Georgia Tech on his top-priority list. While no visit dates are set, he plans to visit all of these programs soon.

“Florida State, Florida, Georgia, and Georgia Tech are the ones I’m really looking at,” Matthews told Rivals. “I have a lot of interest in those schools just off the relationships I’ve built with them since they offered me.”

Jamir Lee, a three-star defensive lineman from Carrollton in the 2028 class, is another player on the radar. He has 13 offers from USF, Texas, ECU, and Wake Forest. But Kirby Smart’s in-person visit left a lasting impression on him.

“Coach Smart from Georgia and Coach Clark from Texas both made big impressions on me when they came to see me last month,” Lee told Rivals.

Then comes Keoni Snipes from Saraland. Snipes is a 2028 recruit and already holds 20 offers, including from Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri, and LSU. He has already visited Florida. Teams like Ole Miss, Georgia, and Florida State made an impression on him, too. But his top two favorites are still Florida and Oklahoma. Whether Georgia can sway him remains to be seen.

Georgia is heavily targeting 2028 in-state edge Steven McClendon from Douglas County, but faces stiff competition from Mississippi State, which has already made a strong impression on the nine-offer prospect. Mississippi State’s Matt Brock made a strong impression early, challenging Georgia. Ole Miss and North Carolina are also actively recruiting him with regular visits. Georgia must act quickly if it wants to secure him.

Bryce Willingham, a three-star cornerback from North Atlanta, has 22 offers, including recent ones from Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Florida, becoming the sixth player on the list. While Georgia and Kirby Smart made a strong impression, Indiana and Vanderbilt are also in the race. Georgia has a local edge, but Indiana’s championship wins and Vanderbilt’s turnaround remain attractive.

The Stone Mountain Stephenson standout ATH Aaryn Chastine is another 2028 recruit who’s high on Georgia. He currently holds 18 offers from LSU, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Miami. But Georgia’s visit in January changed things for him. His recruitment is heating up, with Georgia, Indiana, and Ole Miss all in contention. He plans to visit all three schools this spring.

Easley High School wide receiver Malachi Debnam has earned heavy praise with 13 offers so far. Schools such as Miami, Wake Forest, Georgia, and USF are interested. He has visited Wake Forest and Virginia Tech twice and hosted coaches from South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and NC State during campus visits.

Now, teams like Miami and Virginia Tech are surging to the top, so if Georgia wants to land him, they need to make an instant move. Well, the last two recruits are from the 2029 class, who are pretty high on Kirby Smart’s team.

Battle Ground Academy’s wide receiver Maddox Porter holds more than two dozen offers from teams like Florida State, Tennessee, Georgia, and Ohio State. He even visited Florida State, but Georgia, the Bucks, and the Vols stood out to him early.

The same goes for Milton’s OT Landon Ghea, who holds 30 offers this early. Teams like Florida, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Auburn, and Georgia are eyeing him. He even visited the Tigers, but the decision is yet to be made. He is planning to visit Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Auburn in the spring.

While Smart’s staff remains clearly focused on locking down the 2028 and 2029 classes, this dedication to high school recruiting has drawn scrutiny in the modern era of college football, leading some to question if his traditional approach is still the key to a championship

Kirby Smart’s championship blueprint isn’t broken; it’s being tested

Following a difficult playoff loss to Ole Miss, Kirby Smart continues to adhere to his traditional approach. While teams like Indiana have secured national championships by recruiting experienced players, Georgia remains focused on high school recruits instead of relying on transfers through the portal.

This formula led Kirby Smart to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. It’s an approach Kirby Smart picked up from former Alabama head coach Nick Saban: recruiting at an elite level and developing those recruits into NFL talent.

But that’s an old approach now. Teams like James Madison, Tulane, Indiana, Ohio State, and Michigan all dived deep into the portal, got talented players, and finished with championship titles or playoff appearances. The NIL and transfer portal era completely changed the landscape of college football. The result? Since 2022, Georgia hasn’t entered the playoff finals.

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Now, the 2026 season is his real test, as from his No. 1-ranked 2024 recruiting class, which had 10% of the nation’s top 100 prospects, 10 of whom will be eligible to play this season. So it will be interesting to see whether they can finally break Georgia’s playoff drought.

Additionally, their 2026 recruiting class already has 31 commits, ranking second nationally. The success of this 2026 class will be the ultimate verdict on whether Smart’s traditional approach can still deliver championships.