WATCH: Tate Ratledge Talks Dabo Swinney Attempting to Flip Him From Georgia
Tate Ratledge was a long-time commit to the University of Georgia. He was all but ready to move to Athens and early enroll in the University of Georgia. That was until Sam Pittman, then offensive line coach at Georgia, announced he'd taken the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas.
Suddenly, Ratledge became the hottest target in the country, particularly for the Clemson Tigers and Dabo Swinney, a program that Ratledge says had three of his closest friends from that 2020 recruiting class — including Brian Breese — working him to flip.
Though, as Ratledge explains in the Intro Episode of Real Talk, he chose Georgia not because of a coach but because he loved Georgia.
"Sam Pittman is awesome. I love to coach. He's a great guy, thought he's was a great coach, I heard great things from the players about him. So, he ends up leaving. And it was seven days before I was supposed to sign like on the dot. So, I'm freaking out," recalls Ratledge.
So, according to Ratledge's retelling of events, Kirby Smart takes a trip up to Rome, Georgia for his final in home visit and with it came a plethora of phone calls from one Dabo Swinney.
"So in that time, it's like, Coach Smart is in my home visiting. Dabo calls me seven times, I think it was. So, it was crazy. But it ended up being like, I love Georgia. Like, I want to be here no matter who's my who my coach is. So I end up signing here and it's been great since."
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