When Georgia flipped years-long Auburn commit George Pickens on National Signing Day, it surprised everyone. Well, maybe everyone outside of UGA head coach Kirby Smart.

Pickens was a five-star wide receiver, rated as the top prospect in the state of Alabama, and pledged to the AU in July of 2017. Then, in an instant, he made the decision on Feb. 6 to make the change.

At SEC Media Days on Tuesday, Smart was asked about how he felt he was able to flip the talented WR, who hailed from Hoover High School, the same city as where the Media Days event was taking place.

“He came over to our place for several football games,” Smart said. “He knew what he wanted. He knew what style offense he wanted to play in. He saw an opportunity when he saw two guys declare early for the draft in Mecole [Hardman] and Riley [Ridley] and Terry Godwin leave and then Isaac Nauta, there was a lot of touches there available, and I know he wanted to have an opportunity to play with a quarterback like Jake Fromm.”

Those were some things that Auburn could not promise. It was going to be playing with a freshman starting quarterback no matter what, in Bo Nix or Joey Gatewood. There was no guarantee in playing right away, with WRs like Eli Stove, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz poised to get a lot of touches.

And while Auburn was familiar with Auburn’s style of offense, there were a lot of questions about its viability at that time with a new offensive coordinator, and coming off a really down offensive year under Chip Lindsey. He previously called the choice as the “toughest decision of my life.” He

Now, he gets a guy in Fromm who will be starting his third year behind center for the Bulldogs, and the leader on one of the best teams in the country.

“George is great, a great football player, coming in and doing a great job of learning," Fromm said. "The relationship with me and George, it would be a lot better if he would text me back. It’s very good at the moment.”

It’s unclear why Pickens hasn’t been responding to his QB, but Pickens is enrolled at UGA, and the expectations are high after a prolific high school career.

“We’re excited to have George,” Smart said. “He’s come in this summer and worked tremendously hard. He’s been there from day one, grinding with our guys. He’s a kid we recruited throughout the entire process.”