What does Georgia spend on 'Kirby Copter' for coach's recruiting? It's not cheap.
Three days after the Georgia football team flew across the country and touched down back home after winning the national championship, coach Kirby Smart was up in the air again.
He was making highly visible trips to high schools by helicopter, landing on practice fields. Coaches and administrators usually greeted him. The trips were posted on social media and the subject of local news coverage.
Smart traveled by helicopter on recruiting trips in eight states on eight days between Jan. 13-27.
That included a five-city jaunt in Florida on Jan. 26, where he landed on a practice field at Lakeland High School, which produced current Georgia wide receivers Arian Smith and Tyler Williams. He also visited Sarasota, Tampa, Zephyrhills and Orlando.
“We were told they were going to stop by; mind you, they didn’t have to,” Lakeland coach Marvin Frazier said. “They already had our Tyler Williams already enrolled. It wasn’t like he was doing it to continue to recruit Tyler. It was a courtesy visit. We were told he was coming. Half of our school was outside.”
Georgia spent $146,193 total on what’s come to be known as the “Kirby Copter,” through the company Helicopter Express, based in Chamblee, Georgia, according to an open records request. That includes trips made on Dec. 8. That’s up significantly from the $60,364 on helicopters in the previous recruiting cycle.
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The helicopter use this time was just a small percentage of the $1.902 million Georgia spent on recruiting flights between Nov. 25, 2022-Jan. 27, 2023. That is more than the $1.63 million Georgia spent for all recruiting travel from July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022.
This stretch came in the final sprint to the early signing period and laying the groundwork for the 2024 class. The Bulldogs currently have 26 commitments for 2024 in a class that ranks No. 1 nationally.
Georgia spent $1.1 million for chartered flights with Wheels Up, a New York-based company that Bloomberg News reported this week has lost money each quarter since it went public. The company said Wednesday there was “substantial doubt,” about being able to continue operations, according to Reuters.
Another $573,343 was paid by Georgia to Secure Air Charter of Nashville, and $70,397 was spent on commercial flights.
The most expensive recruiting flight was $47,646 for Smart and then-offensive coordinator Todd Monken to fly from Sacramento to Athens on Jan. 24. Smart, Monken and assistant coach Todd Hartley had met with tight end target Walker Lyons, who ended up signing with Southern California.
A day earlier, Smart and Mike Bobo flew from Athens to Phoenix on a flight that cost $46,512.
Smart's helicopter visits have become the norm
Smart, and other college coaches for that matter, can be relentless on the recruiting trail. He logged about 50 flights during the two-month stretch. Georgia promoted on social media that its staff was visiting a combined 100 schools on Jan. 13.
Smart was on a helicopter that touched down that day at Greene County High inside Tiger Stadium in Greensboro, Georgia. Recruiting rules didn’t allow Smart to speak to underclassmen prospects at that time of year, but it made sense to go to Greene County, which has 2025 four-star defensive lineman Kevin Wynn.
“For the people in the community, it was a big deal,” Greene County coach Terrance Banks said Wednesday. “It’s been awhile since Greene County High School has had that kind of player here that’s being recruited by Georgia.”
On Jan. 26 helicopter stops in Florida, he was accompanied by defensive backs coach Fran Brown at a cost totaling $23,603. That was the most expensive trip by helicopter for Smart, but defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann’s use of a helicopter in the Cordele and Thomasville area on Jan. 13-14 came in at $27,160.
Smart visited Charleston, South Carolina, and Charlotte by helicopter on Jan. 18, Chattanooga on Jan. 20, South Florida on Jan. 25 and Hartford and Long Island, New York, on Jan. 27.
Alabama’s Nick Saban and other coaches have also used helicopters to recruit, and Smart has made helicopter recruiting visits a norm at Georgia since being hired in December 2015.
Georgia spent $3,300 for Smart traveling one day around suburban Atlanta in January 2016 and $83,260 for helicopter rides for Smart between July 1, 2018-June 20, 2019. Given the level Smart and the Bulldogs are recruiting these days, expect more landings at high schools in years to come.
“It was a big moment, man, to have Kirby in,” Lakeland coach Frazier said, “and he kind of showed that work ethic and that ability to build a rapport with coaching staffs everywhere.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia coach Kirby Smart's helicopter recruiting trips aren't cheap
