It’s not everything Smart wants, but it’s meeting him at least half way.
There have been plenty of debates the past several weeks – and over the years – on whether Georgia’s annual rivalry game against Florida should remain in Jacksonville or move to a home and home format. While that debate likely carries on, there has been one change starting in 2022. Sources tell DawgsHQ that Georgia and Florida will both be able to host recruits for the neutral site contest on an annual basis.
The SEC Eastern Division rivals have played in Jacksonville annually since 1933 with the exception of two years (1994 in Gainesville and 1995 in Athens due to stadium construction for the Jacksonville Jaguars), but Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has called for a change to that. His concern is the recruiting disadvantage that it puts the programs at playing the game at a neutral site.
While there still won’t be any contact between coaches and recruits allowed due to the off campus nature of the game, both schools – not just the designated home team like Oklahoma and Texas do for their annual neutral site matchup – now will be able to provide tickets for prospects and their families.
‘Bout damned time. I wonder how much impact this will have on the series location debate going forward.
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UPDATE: Seth Emerson ($$) fleshes the news out a little more.
The two schools had for years jointly agreed not to, in part for logistical reasons. It is not an SEC or NCAA rule. Hosting recruits at a neutral site is not like doing so at home games, with coaches not having as much face-to-face time with recruits.
But Georgia, as the home team this year, has opted to set aside some of its ticket allotment to be given to recruits for the Oct. 29 game. It’s not clear whether Georgia definitely will do so, or how many recruits it would host. But it is now reserving the option, and Florida would have the option in 2023 as the home team.
The main impact would be on Jacksonville-area recruits.
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UPDATE #2: Another interesting note, from The Athletic’s Florida beat writer…
Sounds like Kirby’s appeasing himself…
Get The Picture 
This was a smart, no-brained call…glad the powers that be didn’t screw the pooch
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No-brainer
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Right. Was that so gotdam hard?
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No shit! Proves Kirby gets everything he wants…every…damn…time🐾🐶
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Kirby said “FTMF, we’re gonna do it!”
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Really what Kirby wanted in the first pace.
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That’s a wrap! Phew, glad my favorite game day is secure. Now, where to put the players? 😅
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Not everything Kirby wants but maybe enough to move the bar to favor keeping the WLOCP for a good while longer.
(Look at the absence of blue and orange in that image!!! Just beautiful!)
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The points total required for JAX tickets just went up….
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Not likely as much as you think.
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Well I guess that’s lunch then
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Boy, Mike Griffith is gonna hate this.
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Definitely. It’s bad enough he’s going to have to watch Stetson Bennett play there one more time, now this.
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I’m glad that carpetbagger is going to have to swallow this.
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Agreed. Hopefully this ends the discussion for several years.
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Fuck that stupid motherfucker.
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That should be the title of the book you need to write.
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I’d buy that if it’s a children’s book…Jack and Jill ain’t got shit on RR.
“Little Boy Blue…he needed the money! ohhhhhh”
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I have a few spiral notebooks recording mistakes and stupidity I experienced in a dynamic and sometimes dangerous occupation. Some were my fuck ups. I kept notes mostly to remind myself not to repeat mistakes. A short pencil is better than a long memory.
If I ever compile the notes that or some semblance will be the title.
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RR I use “a short pencil is worth more than a long memory” all the time! I usually ask a potential customer if they mind if I take notes…old sales trick.
My granddaddy taught me that saying many years back!
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This! ^^^ All day long!
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Ok, my comment was supposed to be for RR comment about that stupid mo fo Mike.
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Shouldn’t this actually be viewed as a recruiting advantage for UGA now? Having a footprint in the recruiting hotbed of Florida would certainly seem to be an advantage I would think. Conversely, it would give Florida the advantage of having a footprint in Atlanta were the game to ever move to switching neutral sites as many have suggested. Long live the Cocktail Party!
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Florida has never supported the game being played in Atlanta plus MBS seats fewer people than TIAA.
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Great point. Florida had that Atlanta footprint when they were appearing in the Dome for so many years. Thankfully, I think Kirby has about cancelled that policy as well.
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I’m hoping this was Kirby’s attempt at negotiation to get what he was ok with – providing tickets to the game. I think he still really wants to move the game to campus because he wants official visits for the weekend.
I really do hope this stops the annual whining by Kirby about the game in Jacksonville. I’m also betting he probably heard from a lot of the deep pockets who are going to be asked to fund the “Commit to the G” campaign that they want the game in Jacksonville regardless of his recruiting desires.
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I think the (second) most hallowed Saturday in the SEC every year and the huge national stage it brings is probably a bigger recruiting advantage than an extra home game (no matter how big) would be.
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Right. Surely at some point, if we’re to believe all the BS that every coach feeds us about recruiting and the right kind of players and a 2 way street on relationships, then surely it’s important for a recruit to understand and experience the UGA tradition that is the WLOCP. Ultimately, aren’t most of these kids weighing whether they are going to be Dawgs for life, just like us, alumni, and the WLOCP is part of that ?
Maybe I’m talking pie in the sky shit, but I can’t help but think the home-and-home argument rests on the premise that these potential future players are somehow separate and apart from what it means to be a Georgia Bulldog, and all that comes with it, including the WLOCP.
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Hard to say. For many I’m sure it’s a business decision. But if you’re gonna be a soldier, storm the beach, fight in Armageddon, blow up the Death Star.
If you’ve got something to sell, how is it different from Brand X? The Iron Bowl is its own thing for sure, but the Cocktail Party- there’s just nothing like it east of the Mississippi, if at all. Between the Maxwell House coffee, the river, and the bourbon everywhere, the game even smells different. It’s what it means to be a Gator, and it’s what it means to be a Dawg, and right now, Georgia owns it.
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I’d have been content just to let Florida host recruits, so they can all see the Gators get waxed in person, what one half of the stands empty in the third quarter, and thus armed, make better lifestyle choices.
What recruit for either school won’t want to visit for that one? This is a double win for Georgia as our best Saturday and Florida’s worst will be enjoyed up close by two sets of blue chips.
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Honestly? Not much, probably. Kirby wants to host recruits in Athens, in his all-world facilities, and have his staff there to meet, greet, and guide them through the entire weekend.
To him, this is likely akin to a band-aid on a bullet wound.
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There are people who are responsible for him getting the job and have more money than he does that probably told Josh Brooks and him that the game isn’t moving if they want a commitment to the new campaign.
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At the end of the day, Kirby is more likely than not to get what he wants. Honestly, I hope he does, and not just for his reasons.
I’m sick of our shitty home slate of games every other year. I also don’t think it’s fair to Athens that unlike other towns in the SEC, the businesses I love don’t get the same number of home games every season. Yes, the Athletic Department gets an extra few million from Jacksonville every season, but do they give any of that money to Athens business owners? Of course they don’t.
Maybe I don’t care about Jacksonville because the only times I’ve ever gone in person have been beatdowns that I’ve tried to erase from my memory, but still see in my worst nightmares. Maybe it’s because Jacksonville as a city kinda sucks. Maybe it’s because since I left the Marine Corps I decided being a functional alcoholic isn’t for me, so the idea of spending a Lost Weekend in Northern Florida has no hold over me. Maybe it’s because I can’t currently afford to hang out on Amelia Island or the Georgia barrier islands.
Maybe it’s all those things and none of those things, but at the end of the day, I love Athens. I don’t love Jacksonville. All things have their season in the sun and all traditions eventually fade. I know I’m mostly alone in thinking this, I know this is unlikely to make me any friends here and lose the few I have, but I think it’s time to move this series to campus.
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You’ve been wrong before…
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This is a little different than having an opinion on what QB could start. I think this is a more primal thing. I honestly don’t believe there’s a right and wrong, there’s just very strong feelings either way.
Maybe the only good decision here is to go to a rotating 4-year model where you go to Jax twice and Athens and Jortsville once in a 4-year period. Or Jax once, Atlanta once, Athens once, and Jortsville once. Maybe the only way to make everyone happy is to make no one happy.
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Fair enough, I prefer Jax…if not that, I guess home home would be my choice. A 1933 tradition is a lot to walk away from.
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I’m a season ticket holder who qualifies but elects not to go to Jacksonville. I want the game to stay there for many reasons:
1) As a native South Georgian, the game in Jacksonville is still a tip of the cap to them. Also, the largest Bulldog Club outside the state is in Jacksonville.
2) I think the neutral site is a recruiting benefit to the program. I don’t see people in Norman clamoring for the end of the Red River Shootout in Dallas.
3) I understand the desire of Athens businesses to have that “extra” home game every other year. I really do. I just don’t see it as the university’s purpose to provide it.
4) Have I been underwhelmed by the home schedule recently? Yep, but that’s more about Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and South Carolina sucking than anything else. I hold out hope that an appropriately implemented permanent rival rotation with more frequent visits by LSU, Bama, Texas and Oklahoma plus out of conference games like Clemson, FSU and Ohio State will relieve the pressure on the home schedule.
Until Kirby quits talking about scheduling neutral site OOC games in Atlanta, Charlotte, etc., he needs to keep his mouth shut about Jacksonville.
Those are my thoughts about the game. I understand those who have a different perspective, and you probably think I’m crazy for not going with what would be in my best interest (home and home).
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That’s fair, ee. Like I responded to the Senator, I’m not trying to change your mind here. I respect your reasons, and understand why they’re important to you. My reasons are important to me.
I don’t think there’s much common ground to be found here, honestly. It’s a pretty clear split between those who never want to leave Jacksonville and those who want the series to go to the campuses. The only middle way is trying to do it all during a 4 year cycle, and that honestly could cause more problems then it solves, come to think of it.
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Oh, I totally get that, Corch. I would prefer home and home over some cockamamie rotation schedule that makes little to no sense. TBH, I never want to see the Cocktail Party in downtown Atlanta, period.
I didn’t even put the main reason I don’t want to see the game leave Jacksonville. I don’t want the perception that we left with our tails between our legs regardless of how many times in a row we beat their jort-wearing, trailer park trash, Handbag asses on the banks of the St. Johns River before it happens.
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By the way, I don’t agree with you all the time, but you do have cogent arguments for everything you write.
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I appreciate it, ee. You’re good people, er, dawg. 😉
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💯
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It’s not the responsibility of the athletic department to make sure that Athens hotel owners get one extra weekend a year — actually, every other year — to overcharge clientele. And it’s definitely not their responsibility to subsidize Athens businesses. I mean, seriously, WTF?
Not to mention all those businesses on Georgia barrier islands that do benefit from their one weekend in the sun with Georgia football.
Fine that you personally don’t like Jax, but this stuff isn’t convincing in the slightest.
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I don’t mean for it to be convincing, I’m simply stating my reasons for why I want the game moved to Athens. I don’t care about the barrier islands or Amelia islands or Jacksonville. Not a whit. I care about ATHENS, and Athens businesses. And not just the hotels, like that is supposed to mean anything.
I care about Wuxtry and Little Italy. I care about Cali N Titos and Walkers. I care about Jittery Joes and Mamas Boy. I want these businesses to be successful and never have to close. One extra game day weekend every other year would mean a lot to their bottom lines, and you know that’s true whether you care about it or not. I’m tired of seeing places I love in Athens closing and being replaced by chains or worse. Did you know there’s a small Target in downtown now? That’s just gross.
Again, I’m not trying to be convincing Senator, or to argue a point. These are purely my reasons, which I know places me in a small minority here. Regardless, I’m not changing my mind nor do I expect any of y’all to change yours.
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You might complain about that Target. I forgot something on a business trip to Athens. That Target bailed me out when nothing else downtown was open at that time of the morning, and I didn’t have to drive out to the Athens burbs to pick up a couple of things before I went to my meeting.
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Oh, and in case it’s brought up, no, I don’t like other neutral site games, either. I get why Kirby feels like he has to do the Chick-Fil-A Game so Bama doesn’t simply own an entire weekend in Atlanta every single season, but I don’t want it.
I don’t like what it does to our home slate of tickets and I don’t like taking money that should be going to Athens businesses and spending it in a crap hole city, whether that crap hole is Jacksonville or Atlanta.
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This temporarily solves the problem. Next Kirby will demand satellite facilities in Jax to schmooze those recruits.
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Great. Next they need to drop the rule about no contact between coaches and recruits.
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I can solve this problem: stop playing out of conference games in Atlanta.
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Nuggets like “Purely a UGA decision” and “Florida wasn’t consulted” just goes to show that Kirby is driving this train and Napier is just renting.
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Yep. There’s not much value to having potential recruits watch your half of the stadium go empty at halftime.
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Nicely done
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Update 2 makes it sound like this isn’t near the done deal many of us hoped when we first read this news. I understood both schools had to agree and that was SEC rules not something a single program could just decide to start doing.
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It seems like this has always been a “gentleman’s agreement” not to host recruits, but it would appear Josh is giving Kirby this to keep him from pissing off pretty much every target for the capital campaign.
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So the original post said that unlike RRS both teams could provide tickets to recruits instead of just the designated home team. Seth’s piece makes it seem like it is going to be just like the RRS where only the designated home team can provide tickets to recruits. Which is it?
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Sounds like Kirby can give recruits tickets but not have contact with the recruits, which I think means this will not count as an official visit.
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That’s my question. If it’s not an “official visit’s that means said recruit can still come to Athens to be wowed by our facilities. To me, that’s a big win — they get to see us beat up on one of our biggest rivals in a game with pageantry other teams would kill to have and still get wined and dined in the Classic City.
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I wonder if a NIL group can offer hospitality and travel reimbursement.
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I don’t think so.
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The hosting recruits has met Kirby halfway…
getting the checkbook out will get him all in.
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CKS is playing 3-D crootin’, most every other program is making contact with recruits by smoke signals…
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Not the same as on campus hosting. IMHO, this game is gone from Jax.
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College Football is quickly moving to kill all traditions…I don’t like it.
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If Kirby sees a lot of empty seats for that first home game against Florida in Athens, I hope he remembers that he broke it so he owns it.
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Only way Sanford is empty vs FU, it’s a noon kick off, FU ticket holders went to Jax vs traveling to the Classic City…#FTMF
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I’ve decided my tickets for the first game against FU in Athens will go unused.
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Turns out Kirby was complaining about a self imposed recruiting restriction this whole time. Georgia could decide to do face to face with recruits in Jax tomorrow. Who’s to stop them?
With NIL now in the mix the recruiting angle to the discussion is basically null and void. Now it’s just squabbling on where each of us would personally prefer the game be played.
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CB, I think the face to face thing does require a rule change from either the NCAA or the SEC.
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Doable either way, but the article appears to say otherwise. I haven’t had the chance to finish it.
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Well there’s no value for the gators of course. Why would Billy want to invite people to his own ass whipping?
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What’s gonna be awesome is when a guy takes an official to Athens and takes his Florida visit in Jax.
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Depending on just how much the non involvement of program and coaches fleshes out, I would not initially say this is actually meeting halfway, especially if they just end up being spectators in the stands.
Considering that it’s still an every other year loss of a home recruiting opportunity which includes the unrecoverable loss of showing off the UGA facilities, a halfway compromise to me would be actually allowing contact with the home team’s program and coaches.
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Give Kirby what he wants. He deserves this after Where he has taken the program At the very least to home and home Jacksonville & Atlanta every four years
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Why in the world does Atlanta deserve a spot in any rotation of the game? This would be like Tulsa or Oklahoma City saying they want to host the Red River Shootout every 4 years.
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Atlanta is perfect for the SECCG IMHO, not so much for the Cocktail Party.
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“Thank god I got out before I had to recruit at the Jacksonville game too.” —Dan Mullen
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Gonna be funny as hell this year when there half of the stadium empties at half time and their recruits join us on our sideline!
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I thought it was a SEC rule, but either way this was bound to happen with the Red River Rivalry coming into the fold where they can host recruits now
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