Georgia Football Recruiting: Moliki Motavao Brings Unique Perspective

Moliki Matavao has Georgia high up inside his top 10. The Nevada native is building a good relationship with Todd Hartley and brings a unique perspective to his recruitment.

At 6'6" and nearly 240, when it's not basketball season, Moliki Matavao is one of the premier tight ends in the country in the 2021 class. The Henderson, Nevada, native has already committed to play in the All-American Bowl after his senior season is complete. 

Matavao was set to wrap up his visits and be committed to a school by May, but that was before the coronavirus cancellations and procedures came about. Even so, I was able to catch up with Moliki and get an update on his timeline, his relationship with Todd Hartley, and a couple of other aspects of the Georgia program that have intrigued the 4-Star.

Matavao released his Top 10 schools on March 6th, and Georgia found itself safely in the group. With the size and athleticism that Moliki possesses, the Top 10 is a whose who of Power 5 programs with LSU, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, and Miami making up the remainder. Still, against all this tough competition, Matavao has strong feelings about the red and black, Todd Hartley and the Classic City.

When asked about where he was in the recruitment process, before the NCAA shut down on and off-campus recruiting, Matavao replied, "Before all the craziness started and colleges starting canceling practices and things like that, I was toward the end. I had a bunch of visits planned, I was heading up to UGA soon, and a few other places. I was trying to be done and committed by May. But as of now, I don't know how long it's going to be. I'm hoping by July-ish I can have all the visits done and be committed." 

TE, Moliki Motavao and TE coach, Todd Hartley

The upcoming visit to Georgia was going to be another unofficial and according to Matavao, "on the visit, we were going to work out my official visit."

Matavao does intend to release a Top-5, and those schools will obviously be the ones that receive the official visits from the big tight end from Nevada. Based on the conversation, it would appear that Georgia is in good shape to land in that group.

One reason for that would be the relationship that Todd Hartley has built with Matavao. Moliki said that he and Hartley, "talk on the phone two times per week and we text three or four times throughout the week. Also, during basketball season he came out to probably five or six practices and, or games and showed some love I guess you would say." 

Hartley is no stranger to the Nevada area now with his landing of Darnell Washington last season and his pursuit of another Silver State standout tight end.

The relationship with the main recruiter and the comfort level with the school are always basic factors that are thrown out by recruits when talking to them about their decision-making process. However, Moliki Matavao brought up two intriguing things that have drawn him even closer to Georgia. The first being a family environment put on display by Kirby Smart.

"It was great getting to meet Coach Smart, and his son was there. Getting to see him with his son who was there, you can tell he's a great family guy and in a school, I'm looking for that family environment," Matavao mentioned of Head Coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia program. 

I find this to be a very astute and mature observation of a rising high school senior and a reminder to us all about the human element of recruiting and college football. There are real people involved. Coaches aren't just schemes and players aren't just stars and measurables. 

The 4-Star went on to say, "Also, I'm looking to see how everything works in the weight room (at schools he visits), and you can develop there (Georgia). You can become a pro athlete and that's the ultimate goal for me." 

Moliki Motavao's Highlights 

When asked if the hiring of Scott Cochran caught his attention in that regard, Matavao replied, "Oh yeah. It definitely shocked me. I met him when I went to visit Alabama and he's a great guy. You can tell he's all bought in for the players. That is definitely a huge thing for me!"

Of course the selling points by Hartley of Todd Monken's new offense being very "fun" for tight ends to play in and the logic that they should be in line for, "more catches than in the past" are icing on the cake for a guy like Matavao. Moliki was intrigued by Georgia even under the so-called pro-style offense of James Coley. He wants to be viewed as a complete tight end that can be effective as a blocker in the run game as well.

There are no certainties of when the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic are going to be lifted. One thing that is for certain is when they are, a very talented tight end from Nevada will be making his way back to Athens, a city that Matavao described as, "A great college town. It's beautiful, the campus is great. It's there campus wise." 

Both Georgia and Todd Monken have a history of playing two tight ends. In fact, the Cleveland Browns were in "12 personnel" 38% of snaps last season which was tied for third-most in the NFL. 

What a pairing of talents Motavao and Darnell Washington would be. 

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