ATHENS - Georgia football coach Kirby Smart knows when he’s missed out on a good thing.

And he knows that he missed out on exceptional Florida running back Jadan Baugh, who went to school at Columbia High School just outside of Atlanta.

“I remember Jaden well,” Smart said Wednesday. “I have a great relationship with him, his dad and his family. He came as a 9th grader to camp and was playing safety. Everyone was raving about this 9th-grade safety. I just remember this big, physical - for a 9th grader I thought: ‘Golly, what is this guy going to be?’”

As it turns out Baugh would be one of the most physical running backs in SEC - a real challenge for Smart, the Bulldogs and the rest of the league. In 2026 alone Baugh has 763 yards on 135 carries with 13 touchdowns.

Smart said Baugh was in Athens consistently for football recruiting camps at Georgia.

“He grew and grew and came each year,” Smart said. “His junior year he was playing a lot of linebacker. He went on a playoff run late in his senior year. He had an unbelievable run of running back stats - doing really incredible things.”

Baugh was listed as a consensus three-star running back in the class of 2024. Baugh initially committed to Arkansas in early 2023, but after the playoffs Alabama offered him before he took an official visit to Florida. He decommitted from the Hogs three days before signing with the Gators.

“I think we had two running back commits, and he went off on the playoff run and just blew up,” Smart said of that time.

Georgia signed three backs that class - Chauncey Bowens, Nate Frazier and Dwight Phillips. Bowens has been hurt much of this season, but Frazier and Phillips have powered the Dawgs this year.

“He’s a really good player - one that got away for sure.”

Smart had better hope he doesn’t get away too often on Saturday or the Dawgs could be in trouble. In two games so far against Georgia, Baugh has rushed 32 times for 136 yards and a touchdown.