Georgia seeking recruiting rule change centered around annual game in Jacksonville
Georgia and Florida recently announced their annual rivalry is staying in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Bulldogs are now seeking a tweak to recruiting rules with that game in mind.
The traditional rivalry has been played at a neutral site in Jacksonville for some time now. However, there were recent talks about shifting that game back to a normal home-and-home series between the Bulldogs and Gators.
On Friday, it was announced that the universities reached an agreement with the city of Jacksonville to extend the series there through 2023. As a result, Anthony Dasher with UGASports.com is reporting that the Bulldogs would like a tweak to recruiting rules pertaining to in-conference, neutral-site contests.
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According to Dasher, Georgia is seeking a rule change that would allow the Bulldogs to host recruits at the game in Jacksonville. As it currently stands, the schools are allowed to leave tickets to the game for recruits, but recruits are limited to sitting in the stands.
From the report:
According to athletic director Greg McGarity, Georgia plans on introducing legislation at next May’s SEC Spring Meetings in Destin to allow schools to host recruits at in-conference neutral site games. The NCAA would ultimately have to approve.
Under the proposal, teams would host on a rotating basis. For example, if approved, each school would get to host recruits at the game when they’re the designated home team.
According to 247 Sports, Georgia had the No. 2 overall class in the 2020 recruiting cycle, trailing only Alabama. The last time Georgia finished outside of the top 5 in recruiting was with the No. 6 class in 2016, and the Bulldogs have not finished outside of the top 10 since 2013.
Still, it looks like every bit of help is worthwhile for head coach Kirby Smart and company.