When Kirby Smart left Nick Saban and Alabama to take over as the head coach at Georgia in 2016, it set up what had the potential to be an interesting recruiting war between the two schools. The teacher who had seemingly mastered the art vs. the pupil who had a reputation as a stellar recruiter. The war has lived up to its billing.
It took Smart only three recruiting cycles to unseat Saban atop the national recruiting rankings, and Georgia has held that spot for the last three recruiting cycles.
In the 2021 cycle, however, it appears Saban has turned the table, mainly because he has beat Smart and Georgia head-to-head for multiple prospects.
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ALABAMA'S 2021 COMMITMENT LIST | GEORGIA'S 2021 COMMITMENT LIST
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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Early this summer, Alabama was sitting outside the top 20, and that has been unheard of under Saban. But since elite offensive tackle JC Latham committed June 12, the Crimson Tide have added 16 commitments and shot up the rankings to No. 1.
They entered the weekend No. 2 behind Ohio State, but beat Georgia head-to-head for four-star defensive tackle Tim Keenan on Saturday to re-take that top spot.
How will Georgia respond? The Bulldogs are outside the top 10, an unfamiliar spot under Smart, but they have the nation's highest star average. Georgia has only 14 commitments and plenty of time to move forward. There are still some major head-to-head battles to go between these two.
So far in the 2021 battles, Alabama is ahead. Sure, they recruit many of the same prospects, but Alabama has truly beaten Georgia for Terrence Ferguson, Dallas Turner, Ian Jackson, Anquan Barnes and Keenan. Georgia beat Alabama for Micah Morris.
WHO'S NEXT?
For Georgia to close the gap on Alabama this cycle, they will have to win some tough battles head-to-head. Terrion Arnold is a major target for both programs, as is Xavion Sorey. In fact, the two openly have talked about playing together, and many feel this could come down to Alabama and Georgia.
Five-star DT Maason Smith is another one. LSU is heavily involved, but Alabama and Georgia are up there high on his list. Alabama would still take Amarius Mims too, but since it has reeled in numerous high profile offensive linemen this summer, Tennessee may be Georgia’s top competitor now.
Those are just some of the ongoing battles that will play out in the coming months. These decisions will be made in different ways. There has not been on-campus visits allowed since early March, and that is not expected to change any time soon. So, will it come down to on the field play this fall? How important are those zoom calls? It is a different world in recruiting this year.
The odds of Georgia finishing with a top class four years in a row looks extremely slim right now, but they are right in the thick of it for many elite prospects that are expected to decide late in the process.
Alabama could be the favorite to finish on top in 2021, and take back that spot in the Team Rankings. It is Saban vs. Smart, and they compete hard against one another on the field, and maybe even harder on the recruiting trail, so there are going to be some battles to watch in the coming months between these two elite SEC programs.
