Kirby Smart, Georgia Dealt Unfortunate News by No. 1 College Football QB Recruit

Georgia lost out on the top-ranked quarterback recruit in the country on Saturday.

Five-star quarterback Elijah Haven announced his commitment to Alabama on Saturday afternoon. He chose Alabama over Georgia.

Haven is from Baton Rouge and is the fourth-best recruit in Louisiana, per 247Sports Composite rankings. In addition to being the top quarterback recruit in the country, he’s the No. 22 overall recruit in the 2027 class, regardless of position.

This is a huge recruiting win for Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama football program, coming after the program returned to the College Football Playoff this past season. Alabama hopes that Haven will be its starting quarterback in the future.

Haven is the highest-rated recruit in Alabama’s 2027 recruiting class.

Meanwhile, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs lost out on Haven, but they’ll still be fine in the long run. They’re coming off another SEC title and currently have the No. 12 2027 recruiting class in the country, per 247Sports.

Kirby Smart just wrapped up his 10th season as the Bulldogs head coach and has a 117-21 overall record. He has led them to two national titles and eight seasons with 11+ wins since taking over the program before the 2016 season.

He’ll continue recruiting for the Bulldogs’ 2027 class and prep his team for the start of the 2026 season, which begins in September.

The Bulldogs will open the season on Sept. 5 against the Tennessee State Tigers before playing their first SEC game against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sept. 19.

Related: Kirby Smart, Georgia Predicted to Lose 4-Star Playmaker to SEC Team

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Source link