Georgia Coach Shares Unique Philosophy on NIL After Missing Out on Top Recruit

The nation's top college football recruit in 2026, Jackson Cantwell, recently announced his college decision, as the highly coveted offensive tackle committed to the Miami Hurricanes over the Georgia Bulldogs in a ceremony at his Missouri high school this past Monday.

The two schools had been battling to earn Cantwell's favor over the past few months, but the Canes ultimately won out at the last minute. One of the deciding factors in Cantwell's decision was the massive NIL package Miami put on the table, which is slated to be one of the largest ever handed out to a freshman player.

The deal is reportedly worth upwards of $2 million a year starting the moment he steps on campus. This is a lot of money to shell out for a soon-to-be high school senior, but deals like this have become a standard part of big-time recruitments over the last several years.

For the Bulldogs, losing out on a top recruit will always sting. Legendary head coach Kirby Smart, though, has an underlying philosophy when it comes to shelling out big-time NIL money to high school recruits.

Per Dawgnation's Conor Riley, Smart touched on this philosophy during a recent interview with SEC Network's Paul Finebaum. He also raised his concerns about what he views as the troubling direction the sport is heading.

“I just want it to be able to have a freshman come in and not make more than a senior,” Smart said. “And I’d like for other sports to be able to still survive. We’re on the brink of probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports. What’s the pushback going to be then when you start cutting non-revenue sports? I don’t want that to happen.”