Morning, y’all!

A thought occurred to me yesterday.

Since I’ve taken over the newsletter, I’ve spent so much time focused on baseball that I haven’t really gotten to share my passion for football much yet.

A little background on me: Back in the day, my dad played college football at Virginia Tech, and when I was growing up I fell in love with and learned the sport watching games with him. (I was born in Georgia, since my parents moved down here before I came into the picture, and later went to UGA).

Saturdays in the fall are one of my absolute favorite things. That said, I of course want to highlight other sports, too, particularly when it’s their time to shine, like it was for baseball in the postseason.

But today I wanted to kick off the newsletter with a timely football story from my co-worker, Jeff Sentell, which asks a key question amid the crazy landscape of college sports these days: How does UGA recruit elite talent when it doesn’t throw NIL millions around?

Optics can be harsh these days with college football recruiting.

For a school like Georgia, which has consistently stacked elite talent like cordwood in the Kirby Smart era, those are compounded. The Bulldogs have established a decade-plus of precedent.

Here’s how each of the UGA recruiting classes has finished in the 247Sports Team Composite national rankings with Smart:

In this era of paycheck players, how does UGA sustain that level of high school recruiting?

How does UGA recruit elite talent when it doesn’t throw NIL millions around?

There are two ways to gauge Georgia’s current recruiting class — even after the Bulldogs went on a heater earlier this month. The 2027 class has picked up seven commits this month, including four across a five-day stretch.

That commitment tear bumped the Bulldogs from No. 24 to No. 9 nationally on the 247Sports team rankings. That status now sits at No. 13 nationally. Rivals currently has UGA at No. 14 in the country.

There are some typical Georgia traits for this class, but there are also several “Un-Georgia” outliers.

The big topic of conversation these days centers on this perception: The Bulldogs are a cost-conscious program swimming in deep waters without very deep pockets.

There is a graphic circulating on message boards and social media depicting a Dollar General sign featuring the classic Georgia “Power G” swapped in for the script. That’s a dig at how Georgia’s shopping budget isn’t the same as what LSU, Miami and Texas access on the trail.

Is that accurate? While no public database is available, nilstandard.com has estimated college football payrolls. While the site’s data is approximate, according to what we’re hearing, it’s in the right ballpark.

The estimate for Georgia’s current roster is $35 million. That allows for $4.9 million for high school recruiting. The Bulldogs also spent $4 million on the transfer portal, but the bulk of the spending in Athens is earmarked for retaining current players, at $25.9 million.

When we’ve heard Smart share his strong opinion that he wants the players on his roster to get paid well but also wait to earn lofty NIL and revenue-sharing figures, it plays out in real time.

Georgia, with a few exceptions, no longer deems it wise to outlay large sums to unproven high school talent. The program has adopted the approach of putting its name, image and likeness money on the field to fund the first and second teams on the depth chart.

According to the NIL Standard, the Georgia roster has the 14th-highest payroll in college football. The only other top 15 school that spends as much of its payroll on roster retention as UGA (74%) is Notre Dame.

What do other schools spend?

Read Jeff’s story to find out, plus how the Bulldogs are hunkering down against perception and how they still win recruiting battles in the NIL era.

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How did Georgia impress this 3-star corner on his official visit?

“He’s worked all his life to be an overnight recruiting sensation.”

When Preston Glasco heard that scouting evaluation recently, he thought about it for a few seconds. Then came his reply.

“I can say that,” he said. “For sure. I’ve been playing football all my life. Since I was 4. I’ve had my eyes set on going to the NFL, and I feel like my recruiting process is picking up. I feel like this is now another step to get me to that lifelong dream and that final goal.”

The 3-star from Grayson High School is not yet ranked by 247Sports, but the Rivals Industry Ranking has him as the No. 158 cornerback and No. 1,612 overall.

Glasco, who missed all but two games his junior season at Grayson High with a hip injury, has come out of nowhere over the last month. He camped at Vanderbilt and then at South Carolina. Then at Georgia.

He started stacking up hand-timed 4.5s in the 40. Then showing off a 38-plus-inch vertical. Then, locking up receivers in the 7-on-7 camp work in Athens.

The Dawgs then pulled him for a private workout. They sized up his nearly 6-foot-3 frame and 188 pounds. That’s an elite SEC frame.

UGA subsequently offered him a scholarship Wednesday and invited him to take an official visit.

“I always thought I was a Power 4 guy,” he said. “With all my capabilities and my upside, I feel like it was bound to happen sooner or later. I was blessed.”

Preston Glasco: How did Georgia impress the 3-star corner on his official?

Stetson Bennett’s NFL job on the line, competing with Alabama’s Ty Simpson

Stetson Bennett was at his best in the most pressure-filled moments at Georgia, and now he looks to be at his best as his NFL career is on the line.

Bennett is essentially competing for the backup job with first-round pick Ty Simpson and Jimmy Garoppolo, an unsigned free agent not practicing with the Los Angeles Rams.

It’s the final year of Bennett’s four-year rookie contract, and so much is on the line.

Super Bowl veteran Matthew Stafford, on the verge of his 18th season, will get limited snaps in the offseason, leaving Bennett and Simpson to take additional first-team snaps.

Rams coach Sean McVay has liked what he has seen from Bennett in the team’s offseason workouts and OTAs.

“I’ve seen tremendous growth,” McVay said on the Rams team website after OTAs. “Obviously, with Matthew not being out here based on the plan and the schedule that we’ve kind of thought was going to be best for him for now and for the long term, Stetson’s gotten a lot more reps than he would’ve otherwise.

“I think he’s done a really nice job. He’s earning the confidence of his teammates in terms of commanding the huddle. Then, he’s done a lot of good stuff in terms of reading with his feet.”

Did ESPN snub one of UGA’s top playmakers?

If you missed yesterday’s episode of DawgNation Daily, host Brandon Adams discussed Georgia running back Nate Frazier not being listed among ESPN’s top 10 running backs for the upcoming season and assessed the role Frazier could fill for the Bulldogs offense this fall.

DawgNation Daily is broadcast live Monday-Friday on DawgNation.com, YouTube, Facebook and X and posted as a podcast around noon on Apple and Spotify on the DawgNation Daily podcast feed.

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Frazier led the Bulldogs with 947 rushing yards last season, plus six rushing touchdowns.

Brandon’s show yesterday inspired me to look up some of the best photos of Frazier from last fall:

Georgia running back Nate Frazier (center) celebrates a 9-yard touchdown run against Alabama in the SEC Championship game in December. (Jason Getz/AJC 2025)

Georgia running back Nate Frazier (center) celebrates the Bulldogs' 28-7 victory over Alabama in the SEC Championship game in December. (Jason Getz/AJC 2025)

Georgia running back Nate Frazier (left) runs for a 22-yard gain against Georgia Tech in November. Georgia won 16-9. (Jason Getz/AJC 2025)