5-star QB Jared Curtis Confirms Flip To Vanderbilt From Kirby Smart, UGA Football

ATHENS - Signing Day madness has begun.

For the second time in three recruiting cycles, it looks like Kirby Smart and the UGA Football had lost a long-time five-star commitment flip somewhere else right before Signing Day.

This time it’s five-star Jared Curtis‍ who flipped from from Georgia to Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Curtis confirmed his reported flip to Vandy on Tuesday night. Earlier in the day Curtis said in a social media post that he had not spoken with Vandy or UGA about his upcoming commitment on Wednesday morning.

“Don’t know where all this is coming from,” Curtis said. “Haven’t had a chance to talk to either school yet. I’ll keep y’all posted.” 

That post has since been removed. Curtis said in a lengthy post on social media that he had committed to Vandy, but insisted he had not done so earlier in the day as had been reported. 

“I actually had not told anyone my final decision,” Curtis said. “Not even my parents or agent... that was really disappointing.”

Curtis said that Georgia was “definitely where my parents have wanted me to go.” But the five-star commit added that he was picking Vandy to “walk my path that feels right in my heart, at the end of the day this has to be
my decision.”

After committing to Georgia for the second time back in the spring, all signs pointed towards Curtis officially ending his recruitment and signing with Georgia.

However, Clark Lea and Vanderbilt never gave up. After a terrific season this past fall, the ‘Dores were able to get the Nashville native on campus multiple times and did everything they could to keep the elite passer in the state.

In the end, early playing time and location won out. NIL is also a factor, but sources indicated the other two factors were the biggest reasons for the flip.

Curtis now walks into a situation where he can start from day one - something that was never going to happen in Athens. For Curtis playing time is important, and Vanderbilt has plenty to offer - the path to playing early at UGA isn’t so clear.

There’s no doubt that this is a tough pill to swallow for Mike Bobo and the Georgia staff. They did everything right, but could not offer what Vanderbilt could - a short drive to campus and early playing time.

Fortunately for UGA, the Bulldogs have five-star Jayden Wade‍ on board. He’s currently the No. 1 overall prospect and quarterback in the 2028 class, but sources tell Dawg Post that he could eventually reclassify to the 2027 class.