Georgia's Secret for Success? Local High School Football
Georgia and Louisiana are two of the preeminent producers of prep football talent in the country. Everyone knows this. Look at any roster on Sunday, and you'll see a multitude of athletes from the two states.
Just this past April, the state of Georgia saw 30 players selected in the NFL Draft that played their high school ball in the "Peach State".
Ahead of the SEC Championship Game against LSU, Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart was asked how Georgia and LSU, who will meet for the 5th time in the conference title game Saturday, have managed to sustain success through so many years.
“It’s the geographic area. They both have great high school football around their universities. The proximity to good players. They’ve got New Orleans right down the round, and we’ve got Atlanta. Per capita, when you look across the NFL, the state of Louisiana and the state of Georgia are always at the top. That has a lot to do with the success of the programs.” said Smart.
Per MaxPreps, only California, Texas, and Florida had more players in the NFL than Georgia as of Week 1. Louisiana ranked 6th.
While 4th and 6th, respectively, may not seem overly impressive, when you consider that LSU is the only Power 5 school in their state and Georgia's only P5 competition is Georgia Tech, the monopolization of talent is staggering.
| State | Former Players in the NFL | Number of P5 schools |
|---|---|---|
Texas | 199 | 5 |
Florida | 177 | 3 |
California | 159 | 4 |
Georgia | 144 | 2 |
Ohio | 74 | 1 |
Louisiana | 71 | 1 |
No. 1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0) will take on No. 14 LSU (9-3, 6-2) will do battle on Saturday in Atlanta. The SEC Championship Game is scheduled for a 4 pm EST kick on CBS.
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