Georgia coach Kirby Smart helicopters in to recruit Orlando players

Fresh off winning a national championship, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was already hot on the recruiting trail this week.

He made a big splash in Orlando on Thursday when he arrived by helicopter at three different high schools on a whirlwind tour of Florida that included Miami and Tampa, among other stops.

Most notably, Smart was in Orlando to see the No. 1 outside linebacker in the country Malik Bryant, a Jones 2023 standout who recently transferred back to the Orlando school from IMG Academy in Bradenton after two seasons there. He played his freshman year at Jones.

Smart also made stops at Dr. Phillips, where his focus was 2023 offensive tackle Payton Kirkland, and at Edgewater, where coveted 2023 running back Cedric Baxter is drawing all the attention.

“It’s good for our school and it’s good for our kids to see a coach who just won the national championship stopping by Edgewater, so it was exciting,” Edgewater coach Cameron Duke said. “It’s also a great opportunity for our coaches to get a chance to see Coach Smart and it says a lot about what they’ve done on the field and what this program has been able to do the last few years.”

With a helicopter carrying the national championship coach landing at their school, Bryant, Baxter and Kirkland were all impressed. Bryant already had Georgia among his top schools, so Smart’s visit just reinforced the school’s desire to gain his services.

“It’s humbling. Overall I feel good about him coming and not just to see me but other guys as well,” Bryant said. “Georgia was already one of my top schools, but having them come in and actually take time out of their day to see me and my teammates, I felt like a priority for them.”

Baxter equally took notice, but he said when it comes down to his decision a helicopter visit likely will mean very little.

“It’s been crazy today ... and [Coach Smart] pulling up in a helicopter is a nice thing to see,” Baxter said. “It’s fun ... but that doesn’t really have any impact on my decision. ... God will tell me where the right place is to be.”

Recruiting has come a long way since the days of snail mail and VCR tapes.

Jones head coach Elijah Williams, who played at Florida and also in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, said recruiting is vastly different from when he was recruited out if Milton High in the Panhandle.

“We used to have everything on VCR tapes and send them in the mail and wait for the coaches to get them and watch them,” Williams said. “Today, these kids, with the touch of a finger, can send film or reach a coach 1,000 miles away.”

So given the ease with which coaches can reach out to players in the social media era, it’s even more telling when head coaches like Smart go the extra mile to get to campuses.

“It’s a big deal for us. They see that we have some good players and our players get to see the national championship coach come here,” Williams said. “We’re used to seeing them send assistant coaches, so it’s always huge when the head coach comes.”

Smart and newly hired Miami coach Mario Cristobal, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano and new Florida coach Billy Napier all made stops in Orlando on Thursday. Nick Saban of Alabama was in town Wednesday.

Cristobal had a similar itinerary to Smart. When a head coach comes to campus, it’s an even bigger deal for the players.

Smart’s visit to various Florida schools Thursday started with the coach and defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach Glenn Schumann flying to Miami to pick up a helicopter and then making the rounds. Orlando’s three schools were the final stops on Thursday’s agenda.

It’s the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 that coaches are allowed to make campus visits, and although they could not speak with individual recruits their presence still went a long way.

“So the best thing is that coaches are able to get back on the road in January. We missed it in 2020 and 2021, so this is a really big time for them to see the players and evaluate them,” Duke said. “We’re excited they will also be able to come back for spring practice.”

Coaches have been taking advantage of the opportunities to get on high school campuses. Williams and Duke estimated that about 50 coaches were on campus Wednesday and Thursday.

Kirkland has had probably the most exciting past two days of the three standouts. On Wednesday, he had a visit from Saban and Holmon Wiggins, the Crimson Tide assistant head coach of offense/wide receivers. Alabama offered a scholarship to Kirkland through Dr. Phillips head coach Rodney Wells.

He was wowed by Smart’s helicopter arrival.

“It was amazing. He watched me work out. He can’t really talk to me with the NCAA rules and regulations and all of that, but he talked to my coaches and talked to my mom and my principal,” Kirkland said. “It was great and it was great [Wednesday], too, getting offered by Coach Saban.”

Kirkland had already established a relationship with Smart before the coach’s fly-in.

“He’s recruited me for the last three years and I really do enjoy this process,” Kirkland said. “He’s competing with Coach Saban after he came to offer me [Wednesday], that’s for sure.”

This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Chris Hays covers high school football, college football recruiting and the Orlando Magic for the Sentinel. He can be reached at CHays@orlandosentinel.com.