Transfer portal illustrates another big difference between Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen

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The transfer portal shows major differences between Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen

Say what you want about Dan Mullen – and there’s plenty – but the Florida head coach knows how to get the most out of the transfer portal.

Arik Gilbert is the latest example as the 5-star Tight End announced he would move to Florida on Sunday.

Gilbert will become the sixth former 5-star recruit to transfer to Florida since Mullen took over as head coach of the Gators ahead of the 2018 season. Mullen has taken to the portal time and time again to add more talent to his roster.

It has also helped him make up for some of the recruitment misses the Gators have had over the past few seasons. Florida will sign Class No. 13 in the 2021 cycle, a step back from the Clemson’s and Alabama’s of the world.

The Gators have seven 5-star prospects on their roster for 2021. Only two of them signed up with Florida as a high school prospect. There is a very real chance that Florida’s top running back, wide receiver, pass rusher and the tight ending to the 2021 season all came off the transfer portal.

Kirby Smart takes a very different approach to the portal and uses it to build his team. For those who have listened to him about transfers, you can tell he’s not a fan of the concept.

โ€œIt’s a foundation for us,โ€ said Smart ahead of the Peach Bowl. “If I had my preference, I would rather not use the portal, because schools like Cincinnati and Georgia shouldn’t, you should be able to recruit the right guys.”

That didn’t stop Georgia from entering the transfer portal to grab talent. It’s just traditionally a one-year, graduate player, compared to the multi-year residences Brenton Cox and Demarkcus Bowman have had in Gainesville, Fla.

The Bulldogs have landed two graduate transfers in each of the last two cycles. In 2019, sleek Eli Wolf and wide receiver Lawrence Cager joined the Bulldogs. Last season, Georgia brought in Tre ‘McKitty and quarterback Jamie Newman.

In the end, Newman did not play for Georgia, because he signed out before the start of the season. That’s why the Bulldogs were lucky enough to dive into the portal this summer to get a hold of JT Daniels.

The quarterback position for Georgia was certainly a necessity to get into the 2020 season. Jake Fromm was free in the NFL and Newman didn’t get a chance to go through spring training. With backups from D’Wan Mathis, Carson Beck and Stetson Bennett unproven, it made sense to add someone like Daniels who had double digits at USC, at least for 2020 and certainly for 2021.

We finally saw how crucial Daniels was to the 2020 team. After entering the starting lineup, the Bulldogs went 4-0, including a win in the Peach Bowl at Cincinnati. Without Daniels, the attack in Georgia was more like that of the Bulldogs at the end of the 2019 season.

The USC transfer quarterback has so far proven to be an anomaly when it comes to undergraduate transfers in Athens. Before bringing him in, Demetris Robertson was the only other undergraduate transfer Georgia has brought in in recent seasons. He competed in the Georgia program prior to the 2018 season after coming from Cal.

Part of the reason for this is the case with Smart’s aforementioned preference. There’s also the fact that Georgia has been recruiting elite talent at a better pace than Florida. The Bulldogs are about to sign their fifth consecutive top-3 recruiting class. Florida only has two top-10 classes in the same series.

The Bulldogs will be well-stocked with 5-star talent entering the 2021 season, even without Gilbert on the roster. Georgia gets 17 former 5-star prospects. Daniels is the only one who doesn’t sign with Georgia after high school.

With Georgia now recruiting as well as it has, and not just at the 5-star level, the Bulldogs stand to lose from the transfer portal far more often than they win. In this low season, seven Bulldogs have already entered the transfer portal with a grant. Some of these include 2020 contributors such as Tyrique Stevenson and Jermaine Johnson, who would have been key players in the 2021 defense had they stayed with Georgia.

Related: Tyrique Stevenson goes to Miami

The Bulldogs have a good stock in most positions in the 2021 defense, so they are able to withstand some of the losses. But not all of them will be filled by incoming recruits who are ready to play right away.

Georgia will likely hit the portal at some point off-season to bring in talent. The Bulldogs have a great need for cornerback, and an experienced player looking for a chance to play for a contender – as Newman, McKitty, Wolf and Cager all were – is likely helping Georgia fill that void.

If Gilbert really wanted to play in Georgia, the Bulldogs would have welcomed him with open arms. He’s such a good player and will no doubt be a thorn in Georgia when the two sides meet in Jacksonville, Florida.

But Georgia drew a 5-star tight end in the 2020 recruiting class in Darnell Washington. And it added a marginal top 100 player in the 2021 league in Brock Bowers. There was no need for Gilbert in Georgia like Florida.

Related: Arik Gilbert may have been short of football in Georgia, but he didn’t need tight end space

Mullen and the Gators won Georgia in 2020, with transfer players Trevon Grimes and Shorter taking touchdown passes in the win. If Florida continues to find success and stick with the elite teams in college football, Smart will have to re-evaluate how he uses the transfer portal.

But for now, the Bulldogs have found success in the more traditional ways of recruiting talent. Georgia beats Florida in 2018 and 2019 thanks to that model. We’ll see what 2021 has in store for these two programs.

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