Getting over the hump and winning a national championship had evaded the Georgia football program for generations. Now that the ultimate prize has been achieved, the narrative then quickly shifts to whether they can do it again. Many teams have staked their claim to a title, but few have been able to re-enter that rarified air. Kirby Smart doesn't seem to be remotely satisfied with one, and he is confident that this is a team that can continue to be a force in the coming years. Brandon Adams joined the Midday Show to discuss why he could have a very good shot to do just that.
The last decade of national champions is littered with teams that struggled to replicate their success after losing their star. The Auburn Tigers lost Cam Newton and fired their coach just two short years later. The LSU Tigers - a team some rival fan bases compare the 2021 Georgia team to - lost Joe Burrow and fired their coach two years later. Florida dropped off after losing Tebow. Florida State dropped off after losing Jameis Winston.
The list of programs goes on and on.
That isn't to say those were not great teams or even great programs, but they were clearly supported by an even greater player. Kirby seems to believe that the Georgia football program is closer to the Alabama level of sustainability than that of the aforementioned programs.
"What happens when that great quarterback is no longer there? Often times you find that there were some holes on your roster that got covered up by elite quarterback play," Adams said.
This is a program that lost 15 players to the NFL Draft earlier this month. As incredible as that feat is, one has to wonder how that leaves the program after such an exodus of talent.
Kirby Smart seemed unbothered. He confidently proclaimed that "We're a program that is built to sustain," when he spoke with Paul Finebaum of ESPN last week, adding that "We weren't built on one-hit-wonders."
The success of the program in 2021 did not come down to one player, or even a group of players. Rather, this was a program propped up by consistent talent all over the field with little, if any, drop off to the second team.
People could point to the departures as a reason to anticipate a precipitous drop-off in 2022, especially on defense. But the fact remains that there are a whopping 10 former five-star recruits on that unit alone, with plenty more blue-chip players (at least a four-star). As a team, they are set to feature another six on offense and grand total of 59 blue-chip players.
That comes down to Kirby's ruthlessness on the recruiting trail to infuse the program with blue-chip talent. This is a program insulated by a top four recruiting class in each of the six seasons, with two coming as the top overall.
"The word I use is 'decentralized'," Adams said. "Georgia's success was spread out pretty evenly across a lot of guys on defense and more offense than some people realize."
That balance could very well end up paying dividends in 2022 as the Georgia Bulldogs will look to get back to the promised land and do what few (*cough* Alabama) have managed, and that's winning it again.