A close look at how Georgia has established itself as a top source of recruits for college football programs across the country
The state of Georgia has boomed into one of the top states in the nation for high school football recruiting since the 1980s.
As college football has grown year over year – it generated $1.28 billion in revenue for the 22-23 season, up from $1.14 billion the year before according to ESPN – it makes sense that high school football would grow with it. Some areas, like Georgia, have benefitted more than others when it comes to this growth.
From 2000-2009, Georgia averaged just over 17 players in the top 250 for high school football players in the nationaccording to Georgia High School Football Daily. From 2020 on, however, Georgia averages 26 per year.
“Georgia’s number of elite players [is] rising for many reasons,” Todd Holcomb of Georgia High School Football Daily said.
“One [reason] is population growth… then there’s talent football tradition in the deep south from South Carolina to Texas that’s always been there. [Deep South] states have always ranked highest in per-capita college and NFL players.”
Holcomb pointed out that Georgia has been #1 in NFL players per capita the past two seasons.
Holcomb also pointed out that in 2021, over the prior ten years,the number of Georgia players on college rosters jumped 44% all the way to 4,600.
That doesn’t happen without an exceptional amount of talent coming out of the state year after year.
“The actual athletic ability of kids in Georgia has always been that way,” said Nate Masters, head of player development and recruiting and safeties coach for Carrollton High School in Carrollton, GA.
“I don’t necessarily think the population has changed as much as the commitment to high school football across the state has changed. Over the past ten years, the majority of high school football programs have [implemented] some sort of year-round strength and conditioning program. The commitment to the amount of coaches that are on each staff across the state gives players the opportunity to be developed along the way.”
Masters’ point about commitment to the sport in-state is apparent when looking at the numbers over the past few decades.
According to surveys from the National Federation of State High School Associations, participation in high school football for the state of Georgia was at 22,958 participants for the 1993-1994 season.
The most recent survey of the 2023-2024 season shows that that number has risen all the way to 33,039 participants, an increase of nearly 150%.
Strength and conditioning programs and commitment to coaching, like Masters mentioned, go a long way in player development. New facilities are another big part of that.
Carrollton High School finished building their new state-of-the-art facility, the Pope-McGinnis Student Activity Center, back in 2019. It features a number of amenities for students interested in all kinds of athletics, but it’s standout feature is the 120-yard indoor football field, the first of its kind in Georgia according to Trojan Athletics.
“Fitzgerald has its own field house for football, locker rooms completely away from the school,” said CJ Parmer, who played high school football at Fitzgerald and then Tiftarea Academy.
“The weight room was shared with the entire high school, but the football team got preference whenever they were in there. Definitely more preferential treatment if you played football.”
This commitment to the sport of high school football has clearly gone a long way in making Georgia such a recruiting powerhouse for colleges.
The growth in population could also be pointed to as a reason for the rise in highly sought-after players in the state as Holcomb noted.
According to U.S. Census data, Georgia ranked 13th among all states in population size in 1980 with about 5.5 million inhabitants. Now it sits at 8th, with the population having doubled to 11 million.
“It takes a bunch of new Georgians to move up that much,” said Holcomb. New Georgians means new Georgia high school football players.
A college football super fan compiled recruiting data from every year from 1980 to 2022, showing where recruits came from and what colleges they went to. With some careful analysis, it’s possible to see how recruiting numbers have shifted over the years.
Back in 1980, Georgia was a middle of the pack recruiting state. Other states like Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania put out more recruits each year.
Now, Georgia has risen all the way to the top four in terms of number of recruits per year despite only being the eighth most populous state. Only Texas, Florida and California sit above it on the list.
The most recent data from 2012-2022 shows Georgia taking a huge leap. The other states that were in front of it stagnated or fell off, besides Texas and Florida. If trends continue, Georgia is set to surpass California in recruiting numbers despite California’s much larger population.
“The opportunity to be developed, that’s what you’re seeing over the last ten years,” Masters said. “The polishing and refinement of kids that were already athletic, they just have a higher football IQ now. They understand the process of year-round development, the pro mindset of being able to prepare and watch film, understanding coverages and schemes. Those are the things that make Georgia a little bit different than nearly every other state.”
Holcomb agrees.
“Many college coaches, including Kirby Smart, have said that Georgia’s high school players are better prepared than those from other states to step right up and play sooner,” he said.
Culture sets the state apart as well. Even in smaller districts, high school football is a huge part of local culture.
“In Fitzgerald, it was all about high school football on Friday night,” Parmer said. “All anyone talked about, all anyone did, all anyone cared about was football season. It was a huge thing, especially when a guy got recruited. I still get people that I went to high school with texting me about games seven years later.”
This culture is likely what has helped Georgia not just maintain] but grow its number of participants in high school football over the years.
“The South in general is not losing players as quickly to other sports,” Holcomb said. “Because of injury and concussion concerns, youth football participation has declined nationwide, but not so much in Georgia.”
The recruiting process of course comes with its own challenges and setbacks. The transfer portal in college football is a recent one for high school athletes.
“[The transfer portal] has significantly limited the [number] of high school kids that are having opportunities,” Masters said. “Those college staffs have a lot of pressure on them to win quickly, and one of the ways to win quickly is to acquire talent rather than develop it. What we’ve tried to do to counteract that, rather than hiding from it, is educating our kids on it. We can get upset about it or we can adapt with the times. So we make sure that our guys understand that schools that are recruiting them are the ones they need to continue to press into.”
While these opportunities at the higher level may be becoming more limited, there are recent changes that positively affect Georgia high school athletes. More and more Georgia schools offer opportunities for football players on programs that are, relatively speaking, just starting out.
“Schools like Shorter, LaGrange, Kennesaw State and Mercer all have teams that started 10 to 20 years ago,” Holcomb said. “If you’re a dedicated player with some talent, there’s a place for you that might not have existed 25 years ago.”
Parmer built on the idea that small classification college football has been of major benefit.
“Some guys I went to school with at Tiftarea ended up going to play at schools like Mercer,” Parmer said. “Mercer was a big one. We had one guy who went to Georgia Tech, a couple of guys who ended up going to Valdosta State. It was definitely more regional, smaller schools, but it definitely wasn’t uncommon for [guys to get recruited].”
It helps that talent is evenly spread throughout the state, though more populous areas naturally have highly talented players more often.
“Georgia is pretty strong up and down the state,” Holcomb said. “There have been great players (that have) come from everywhere. I won’t say that any area is clearly above another.”
Several schools throughout the state are standout programs that are successful on the field and at producing next-level players. Schools like Buford, Milton, Grayson and Carrollton to mention a few.
“Schools like here, Carrollton, are committed not just to football, but it’s other sports, band, debate team, they’re committed to excellence all-around,” said Masters. “We’re really fortunate to have a large, experienced staff. We have multiple guys on staff who coached in college and can reference back to that. We’re just fortunate to have really, really talented players that are committed and a school that’s committed to giving those kids the best experience possible.”
An increase in visibility also goes a long way for aspiring collegiate athletes. Social media and online recruiting tools like Athletic Academy, which Carrollton uses, ensure that colleges have access to information about all potential recruits.
“Promoting is really important,” Masters said. “Just making sure that colleges that recruit [in] this area have all of our players’ information. We make sure all of their information whether it’s film, contact information, verified heights and weights, speeds, anything that could be helpful for colleges throughout the process. It’s all available in a one stop shop for the college coaches so that it’s easier for them to have that information as they’re evaluating our guys.”
Despite setbacks like the transfer portal and youth football declining overall across the nation, Georgia continues to thrive.
The infrastructure, cultural commitment, and ever-growing population all contributed and are still contributing to the state’s transformation into a huge recruiting hub for colleges all over the country.
Better training programs, support systems and increased visibility all help Georgia players stand out in the national rankings as the number of them in the top 250 grows year after year.
Georgia is well-positioned to remain a recruiting hotbed for schools all over. The talent isn’t going anywhere as recent years have made apparent.
“One interesting thing [in 2024] is the number of elite players from smaller schools,” Holcomb said. “I believe seven of the state’s top 20 or 25 prospects play for Class A schools. That’s pretty stunning because we’re talking schools between 300 and 700 students. If you’re truly elite, you will be found.”
