Before becoming star Ohio State football quarterback, C.J. Stroud nearly picked Georgia

ATLANTA — Three years later, C.J. Stroud sees it as a full circle.

The schools that recruited him until the 11^th hour meet in a College Football Playoff semifinal on Saturday.

That’s Ohio State, which prevailed in the recruiting battle for the prized quarterback from Southern California, and Georgia, which ended as the runner-up.

“It's kind of come around a full 360 to be playing them now,” Stroud said. “I’m excited to do that.”

Before Stroud would emerge as a record-setting passer for the Buckeyes and lead them to their third playoff berth in four seasons, he was heavily pursued by Georgia as it looked for its successor to Jake Fromm.

Like many programs, the Bulldogs landed on Stroud’s radar in 2019 after he won the MVP of the Elite 11 finals, a premier competition for high school quarterbacks.

“That set him up on more of a national stage,” said Mark Verti, who coached him at Rancho Cucamonga High School.

Stroud had received scholarship offers from Power Five conference schools prior to that summer, but none of them would be considered blue bloods.

The late interest was largely a product of circumstance. Stroud didn’t start for his high school’s varsity team until he was a junior.

It took breaking out on the camp circuit and a successful senior season for all coaches to take notice.

As Georgia evaluated Stroud, it was drawn to his demeanor as much as his precise right arm.

“He has a really good disposition about him,” Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said. “He's not real high, not real low, not real emotional. He keeps a really level head, which to me at quarterback is one of the number one qualities you can find.”

Stroud visited Georgia when it hosted Texas A&M for a game in November 2019 before making official visits to Michigan and Ohio State the following month. All three schools were among his finalists.

Part of the Bulldogs’ push for Stroud before he committed to the Buckeyes during the early signing period involved an in-home visit from the staff that included Smart and Dell McGee, the running backs coach.

“I loved his mom, man,” Smart said. “What a tremendous woman. She's awesome.”

Looking back on their visit, Stroud said “they were very respectful.” He reconnected with Smart at the Heisman Trophy ceremony earlier this month.

Verti wasn’t surprised Stroud was drawn to three perennially top-ranked programs. While the trio had brought in other top recruits to their quarterback rooms, making for a deeper depth chart and steeper climb to garner playing time, Stroud was unfazed by the potential competitions.

“It shows he’s not afraid to go against wherever,” Verti said. “He likes the competition, and he has the confidence in himself that he’ll go to any school to compete.”

What separated Ohio State in the final weeks of Stroud’s recruitment was the sights on the field. He was swayed by Ryan Day’s track record in quarterback development.

As Stroud settled on the Buckeyes, it came at a time when Justin Fields had taken over for Dwayne Haskins and kept them among the nation’s highest-scoring offenses, while the Bulldogs were suffering their second-lowest scoring season of Smart’s tenure in 2019. Fields had even transferred from Georgia.

“I don’t think Georgia was doing anything bad on the offensive side of the ball,” Stroud said, “but I don’t think they had seen a player like me on that side. They were explaining to me that they were going to change the offense a little bit, because they’ve always had dynamic receivers, tight ends, running backs.”

The Bulldogs did retool their offense for the following season. Smart hired Todd Monken, the offensive coordinator from the Cleveland Browns, replacing James Coley, who left for Texas A&M. Monken has remained Georgia’s offensive coordinator.

“It was close,” Stroud said, “but I'm glad where I went, and I'll ride with that ‘till I die. I feel I made the right decision.”

After an attempt to make Stroud his starting quarterback, Smart will now oversee a defense trying to stop him.

“He's always had tremendous arm strength and touch and velocity on throws,” Smart said, “but he's become a complete quarterback there in their system.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.

Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud nearly picked Georgia out of high school