In June 2021, Caryl Smith Gilbert reached another milestone in her long career. Smith Gilbert, the University of Southern California's head track coach, led the Trojans' women's team to the NCAA outdoor title and the men's team to a fifth-place finish.

No other school had both the men and women in the top-five.

The next day, she left USC after eight years. Then, she took the same role at Georgia, becoming the first woman to serve as head coach of a Georgia men's program. She was also the first coaching hire for Josh Brooks, who became the school's Athletics Director that January.

Two years later, the move seems prescient as Smith Gilbert has the Bulldogs among the nation's top programs and, better yet, has stood out as one of the top recruiters in all of track and field. 

But to lure Smith Gilbert from USC, Georgia had to pay up, giving her a six-year contract worth $500,000 per year, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. That salary was reportedly $70,000 more than what Petros Kyprianou, Georgia's previous head coach, earned. 

Still, more than the competitive pay, Smith Gilbert was drawn to Georgia because the school competes in the loaded Southeastern Conference and had allocated finances devoted to recruiting, allowing her and her assistants to target athletes all over the U.S. and world.

"I think the place is amazing," Smith Gilbert said. "They give us all the resources we need to be successful and to develop a high-level, Olympic-caliber elite team."

Smith Gilbert made an immediate impact on the recruiting front last year, her first full year at the helm.

She and her staff primarily targeted high school girls because the Bulldogs did not have as many men's scholarships available. Still, Georgia signed Will Sumner of Woodstock (GA), who set national records in the 500m (1:01.25) and 600m (1:15.58) during the indoor season and was U.S. No. 2 in the 400m (45.78) and 800m (1:46.53) during the outdoor season.

At last month's NCAA indoor meet, Sumner finished seventh in the 800m and ran the anchor leg on the Bulldogs' 4x400m relay team that placed second. Georgia's men's team finished second behind Arkansas.

On the women's side, Georgia had one of the best recruiting classes in the Class of 2022, including five sprinters who were ranked in the top 25 of MileSplit's recruiting rankings: Kaila Jackson (No. 5), Autumn Wilson (No. 8), Hali Murphy (No. 14), Aaliyah Butler (No. 22) and Haley Tate (No. 23).

Jackson and Wilson, in particular, have adjusted well to college. At the NCAA indoor meet, Jackson was second in the 60m (7.08) and eighth in the 200m (22.84), while Wilson was fourth in the 60m (7.12) and third in the 200m (22.45). Wilson currently has the fastest outdoor 200m time (22.56) in NCAA Division I, while Jackson is tied for the ninth-fastest 100m time (11.19).

"It's amazing the impact that those young people made so quickly," Smith Gilbert said. "Sometimes freshmen take a little longer, but what Autumn and Kayla have done in such a short period of time has been outstanding."

This year, with several men set to graduate in May, Georgia has focused on the 2023 high school boys class and has arguably the top recruits in the country.

The Bulldogs have signed three of MileSplit's top 26 recruits in the Class of 2023: No. 1 Micah Larry, a sprinter and long jumper from Montverde Academy (FL); No. 7 Mekhi Gammons, a sprinter from Hialeah-Miami Lakes (FL); and No. 26 Riyon Rankin, a high jumper from Brunswick (GA).

Zavien Wolfe of Memphis Central (TN), the U.S. No. 3 triple jumper (50-0.5) during the indoor season, also signed with Georgia. So did Brody Buffington of Catoctin (MD), who has emerged as one of the nation's best sprinters in recent months.

"It's amazing the impact that those young people made so quickly," Smith Gilbert said. "Sometimes freshmen take a little longer, but what Autumn and Kayla have done in such a short period of time has been outstanding."

During the indoor season, Buffington was U.S. No. 2 in the 200m (20.71), U.S. No. 3 in the 60m (6.64) and U.S. No. 4 in the 300m (33.80).

"Brody's a very raw talent who we were impressed by," Smith Gilbert said. "He's fairly new at (track), so it'll be interesting to see how well he can do. I expect some great things from him."

Buffington didn't start running track full-time until last year and received interest from mid-major Division I college programs after winning the 100m (10.60), 200m (wind-aided 21.54) and long jump (21-7.5) at the 2022 Maryland state outdoor meet. But instead of committing to a college, Buffington -- who doesn't turn 18 until August -- decided to wait until his senior indoor season because he expected his times to improve after going through a training regimen for the first time.

Georgia began showing interest in Buffington in February after he was second in the 60m (6.66) and third in the 200m (33.80) at the Millrose Games in New York. Buffington took an official visit to Georgia last month and committed a few days later, choosing the Bulldogs over Maryland, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oregon and other schools.

"I think the main thing was the coaching (at Georgia)," Buffington said. "It's very similar to my coaching in high school, like very strict. The coaches are great down there. I think it really came down to the team, the coaches and also the campus is great and the facilities are awesome."

Besides Smith Gilbert, Buffington will be working with assistant coaches Devin West and Deanna Hill, who specialize in sprints and hurdles. The Bulldogs' other staff members are associate head coaches Don Babbitt (throws) and James Thomas (jumps and multis) and Patrick Henner, the distance and cross country coach.

Hill, a former All-American sprinter at USC, is the only USC coach who left for Georgia when Smith Gilbert accepted the job. Most of the coaches stayed in Los Angeles after USC promoted former Olympic gold medalist Quincy Watts to head coach.

"I thought that was a fantastic move in that he could have the support being a new head coach," Smith Gilbert said. "I got people that want to come to the SEC and be in the South."

Although Smith Gilbert grew up in Denver and ran at UCLA, she is no stranger to the South or the SEC. She was an assistant at Alabama from 2000 to 2002 and Tennessee from 2005 to 2007 before leaving to become the head cross country and women's track coach at the University of Central Florida. She left for USC in 2014 but was drawn to Georgia two years ago to compete in the SEC, which is the deepest league in the country.

"Recruiting is the lifeline," Smith Gilbert said. "You have to have talent that you can coach, but you have to recruit. You have to be honest, you have to have integrity so you can get kids in year in and year out. And a lot of times you make relationships with the high school coach and then they over the years have more than one athlete and they have to be able to trust you with it."

Smith Gilbert is currently in a busy time of the year, overseeing a women's program that is fourth and a men's program that is ninth in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national rating index.

At the same time, she and her staff are monitoring the transfer portal and completing their 2023 high school recruiting class and determining who they want to target in the Class of 2024.

"Recruiting is the lifeline," Smith Gilbert said. "You have to have talent that you can coach, but you have to recruit. You have to be honest, you have to have integrity so you can get kids in year in and year out. And a lot of times you make relationships with the high school coach and then they over the years have more than one athlete and they have to be able to trust you with it."

She added: "But I think also what people don't really see is you have to develop the talent you recruit. So you can't just go get great talent and then they come to college and nothing happens. You have to find ways to develop talent."

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