Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is 1-0 in his career against the Clemson Tigers. Clemson is one of Georgia’ top regional rivals, but the Dawgs and Tigers don’t play against each other on an annual basis.
Georgia and Clemson have won two national championships in the College Football Playoff era and are two of the top programs in the country despite being only 70 miles apart.
Clemson and Georgia both heavily recruit Georgia and South Carolina. One of Georgia’s top defensive linemen, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, is a former five-star recruit from South Carolina.
“We don’t see them on the road recruiting as much as it seems like we used to,” said Smart. “I don’t know if it’s died down some. There’s a lot of overlap. They recruit our state hard. We recruit their state hard.”
Clemson gained a massive recruiting win over Georgia in the class of 2024. The Tigers landed five-star linebacker Sammy Brown, who attended the same high school as Georgia safety Malaki Starks. Brown is expected to play for the Tigers as a true freshman and is one of the best Peach State linebacker prospects in recent memory.