Georgia’s Special‑Teams Makeover: Why Adding Five‑Star Kicker Harran Zureikat Could Tilt Every Tight Game in Athens

Kirby Smart has won a pair of national titles by stockpiling five‑star blue‑chippers at every position group, yet even he will admit that championships are often decided by a clutch kick or strategic punt rather than a five‑wide trick play. That truth rang loud in 2024, when Georgia’s special‑teams efficiency slipped to 51st nationally and just eighth in the SEC, a middling grade by Pro Football Focus that nagged fans all offseason

Zureikat made his first national splash last July by sweeping the kickoff and field‑goal competitions at the Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp. Recruiters raved about a smooth two‑step approach that routinely drives the ball 60‑plus yards with 3.7‑second hang times and a field‑goal range that

That résumé explains why Georgia moved so aggressively. Special‑teams coordinator Scott Cochran saw Zureikat live in April, hosted him for a private workout during the first week of summer camps, and green‑lit a committable offer on the spot. Less than 48 hours later the 6‑foot specialist shut down his recruitment. “If you’re serious about winning rings, Athens is the place,” he told DawgNation after committing.

Stat sheets can hide coverage busts and directional‑punting miscues, but efficiency metrics do not. Georgia’s 2024 unit surrendered a kickoff‑return touchdown to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal and ranked outside the top 40 in punt net, kickoff touchback percentage, and punt‑inside‑the‑20 rate. PFF’s aggregate special‑teams grade of 53.5 left the Bulldogs chasing SEC rivals like Texas and LSU in the so‑called third phase of the game

Yet the staff remains haunted by missed opportunities in the hidden‑yardage battle—short kickoffs that set up aggressive return schemes, punts that leaked into the end zone rather than pinning opponents inside the ten, and the single blocked field goal that swung momentum in a November loss at Ole Miss. As Smart put it after that defeat, “We don’t just want to be solid on special teams; we want to weaponize it.”

Woodring’s sterling percentage ensures he will enter 2025 as the incumbent, but Zureikat’s presence will keep the room white‑hot. Georgia has not shied from starting freshmen specialists—Blankenship (2016) and Jack Podlesny (2020) each seized the job in camp—and the coaching staff is expected to give the newcomer every opportunity to compete for kickoff duties immediately while redshirting him on field goals if needed. At worst, that scenario spares Woodring wear and tear and gives Georgia a 70‑yard kickoff ceiling; at best, it forges the deepest specialist room in college football.

Zureikat is not the only top‑of‑the‑charts addition. Just two days earlier Georgia secured a pledge from Wade Register, the unanimous No. 1 punter in the 2026 class. Register averaged 47.9 yards per punt as a junior and blasted a 69‑yarder that went viral for its five‑second hang time

Smart has long preached a “defense plus explosives plus hidden‑yardage” formula. In the transfer‑portal era that mantra extends to recruiting vertical: locking in elite specialists before they become hot portal targets. By taking two high‑school juniors off the board 18 months before signing day, Georgia blocks SEC foes from solving their own kicking woes and can invest coaching resources into refining technique rather than scouring the portal each December.

More tangibly, elite kickoffs tilt the analytics. A touchback neutralizes runback risk; a coffin‑corner punt forces an opponent to traverse an extra 10‑15 yards per drive. According to Brian Fremeau’s FEI model, each net‑field‑position swing of 13 yards translates to roughly 1.3 expected points. Multiply that by a dozen combined kicking situations per game and Georgia could realistically add a touchdown’s worth of win probability every Saturday once Zureikat and Register take over duties.

Special‑teams fixes rarely generate the social‑media buzz of a five‑star quarterback, but Bulldog loyalists still flinch at memories of a blocked punt versus Alabama in 2021 or the missed PAT in the 2024 SEC title game that forced overtime. Georgia still escaped Texas that day, yet Smart’s postgame frustration was palpable. The message since has been simple: never leave points—or field position—on the turf.

By pairing the precision of Woodring, the raw distance of Zureikat, and the field‑flipping leg of Register, Georgia is constructing the kind of specialist depth chart that secures ugly November wins and turns playoff nail‑biters into routine kneel‑downs. In a conference where five of the last seven division titles were decided by one score, that edge could prove decisive.

The Bulldogs already boast a bruising defense and a Heisman‑dark‑horse quarterback in Gunner Stockton. Now, they are poised to own the third phase in a way Athens hasn’t witnessed since Blankenship’s goggles glinted beneath the lights of the Rose Bowl. For Georgia’s fan base—and for future opponents who thought a short field would be their equalizer—that is blockbuster news indeed.