Over the years Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has become known for hitting the air and travel across the state to check in on recruits that will he hopes to land in Athens. The Kirbycopter, as it has affectionately become known as, would typically trekking across the Georgia skyline this time of year, however, that has not been the case and on Wednesday, recruiting specialist, Rusty Mansell of On3 Sports, explained to Steak Shapiro that the reasoning Smart has not been as visible on trips to visit recruits is due to the impact of the transfer portal shifting his focus.
“You’re not seeing it anywhere because he’s trying to keep his roster,” Mansell adding that Smart is not alone in having to talk with current players in hopes of keeping them on the roster. “You don’t see Nick Saban landing a helicopter in Atlanta anywhere tight now neither. They’re going to see kids, but they’re flying straight there and straight back because you have to be in front of your roster,” Mansell said. Georgia has recently lost several players to the portal, including Defensive lineman Jonathan Jefferson, wide receiver, Jackson Meeks and quarterback, Brock Vandergriff, to name a few and there is still some questions surrounding the return of Carson Beck.
“Carson Beck, still trying to make a decision. Georgia met with him Monday,” Mansell would tell Shapiro adding that he had a conversation with someone close to Beck’s situation and that there has yet to be a final decision from Beck on his return, however he believes that the signal caller will return to Athens. “That is not a final decision,” Mansell reminded Shapiro and listeners adding, “so don’t run with it, ‘Rusty Mansell said he’s coming back’,” Mansell said. Click the link above to hear Steak and Rusty’s comments in their entirety:
