You gave reasons that were debunked. Florida Florida had been through Muschamp and were with McElwain at the end of Richt’s tenure, and Miami had been down for over a decade.
Smart is a great recruiter and you’re not nearly capable of proving otherwise
2012 -- you signed 4 five st-ar recruits and 7 of the top 75. You signed a 5 star from NC, a 5 star from Florida and two 5 stars from Georgia. Was only ranked 9th overall because you only signed 17.
2013 -- Bama fleeced the state of Georgia recruits and the top in state recruit Georgia signed was the 7th ranked player in the state and it was STILL the highest ranked player Georgia signed. Only Florida recruit pulled was the 31st ranked player in the state.
2014 -- Multiple 5 stars, majority of the class is from Georgia and Florida, but again -- the top kids in Florida are still going mostly to Florida schools. Georgia was able to get the #3 ranked Sony Michel out of Florida. He also signed Nick Chubb in this class. 8th ranked recruiting class but only signed 20 guys.
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2015 -- Multiple 5 stars, Majority of the class is from Georgia -- Roquan Smith being the biggest name. Recruiting class was ranked 6th overall.
The biggest difference between the recruiting classes from Smart and the recruiting classes of Richt -- the rank of the in state recruits after Smart took over.
His 2017 class -- he had 14 kids he signed from the state of Georgia. 6 in the top 100 and the other 8 in the top 200. That class was ranked 3rd and he signed the max number. Something Richt didn't do a lot of years.
His 2018 class was his 1st #1 class. 8 of the top 87 players were from the state of Georgia -- all signed with Georgia, including 5 five star guys. Here is where slowly Florida guys are migrating to Georgia more often, as all the Florida schools are struggling. He signs 2 of the top guys in Florida.
His 2019 was ranked #2, but now you have 4 of the top guys in Florida coming to Georgia, including 5 star #1 overall Nolan Smith.
Do I think Smart is a better recruiter? Maybe. But I think he built off the success he had with Richt's recruiting class that had players like Chubb, Michel, Roquan Smith, etc. Until those guys had a big year for Georgia, they will pulling in the same type of classes as Richt.