Kirby Smart on the state of the Georgia-Clemson rivalry

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 04: Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs leads his team onto the field before their game against the Clemson Tigers in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium on September 04, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is 1-0 in his career against the Clemson Tigers. Clemson is one of Georgia’ top regional rivals, but the Dawgs and Tigers don’t play against each other on an annual basis.

Georgia and Clemson have won two national championships in the College Football Playoff era and are two of the top programs in the country despite being only 70 miles apart.

Clemson and Georgia both heavily recruit Georgia and South Carolina. One of Georgia’s top defensive linemen, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, is a former five-star recruit from South Carolina.

“We don’t see them on the road recruiting as much as it seems like we used to,” said Smart. “I don’t know if it’s died down some. There’s a lot of overlap. They recruit our state hard. We recruit their state hard.”

Clemson gained a massive recruiting win over Georgia in the class of 2024. The Tigers landed five-star linebacker Sammy Brown, who attended the same high school as Georgia safety Malaki Starks. Brown is expected to play for the Tigers as a true freshman and is one of the best Peach State linebacker prospects in recent memory.

“A lot of respect for their players, their teams, their coaches, for what Dabo (Swinney)’s built there. I had a good relationship with Brent (Venables) when he was there, and he’s in our league now,” continued Smart. “They’ve been one of the premier teams in college football in terms of the last 10 years, you could say. It’s probably longer than that, but they’ve done a tremendous job.”

Clemson’s…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kirby-smart-state-georgia-clemson-122210615.html

Author : UGA Wire

Publish date : 2024-08-26 12:22:10

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