Alabama connection led to Georgia’s latest commitment. Kirby Smart stole one from Alabama.
Before Kirby Smart became the head coach of Georgia football, he had quite the long career with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Smart began his career at Alabama in 2007 and stayed with the program until 2015 after a long tenure as their defensive coordinator.
Smart has gone on to have loads of success at Georgia, so not many people remember his time at Alabama anymore, but his time as an Alabama coach helped him make connections that he is still using today.
In fact, his time at Alabama helped him make one key connection that led to Georgia’s latest commitment earlier this week.
Kirby Smart’s Alabama connection led to top 50 commitment
Tuesday evening, Georgia earned a commitment from four-star corner Justice Fitzpatrick. According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Fitzpatrick is the No. 47 overall player in the country. He also is the No. 3 corner in the 2026 recruiting class and the No. 5 player from his home state of Florida, so it’s clear how big of a commitment this was.
So how did Georgia win this recruitment? Sure the Bulldogs have a lot of things going for them within their program, but it was Smart’s connection to Fitpatrick’s older brother that led to this commitment. His older brother is safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who is currently a star for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He however played his college football at Alabama, where Smart was responsible for recruiting him and coaching him in the beginning of his career.
Smart came to Georgia before his career at Alabama ended, but he left a lasting impression on him. So much so that it was reported that he urged his younger brother to go to Georgia because of how much he respected Smart.
So this is just another story that shows how Smart’s elite past as a coach is still paying dividends now at Georgia
