What Jared Curtis’s Flip To Vanderbilt Means For Bulldog Recruiting

By now you have almost certainly heard the news that Georgia quarterback commitment Jared Curtis has flipped his pledge to the hometown Vanderbilt Commodores. The decision wasn’t entirely surprising. Curtis had visited Vandy repeatedly in recent weeks and had every opportunity to say that his recruiting was closed. He didn’t precisely because it wasn’t. Still, it’s the kind of flip that would’ve been unimaginable even five years ago, a player deciding not to come to a team perennially contending for national titles and instead play for a school that just won 10 games for the first time in a century.

I don’t think this decommitment says anything significant about Georgia’s approach to quarterback recruiting, either. Vanderbilt just got exceptionally lucky that the top quarterback recruit in the country happens to play his high school football ten miles from where Diego Pavia is playing his eleventh season of college football. Pavia has turned into a bona fide celebrity playing for the Commodores, turning up on national television and sitting front row at glitzy sporting events. That fame is a tempting proposition that just didn’t seem possible for a Vanderbilt quarterback even two years ago when Georgia initially took the lead for Curtis’s services.

While Curtis has not spoken to the specifics of his decision, all indications are that this was not driven by NIL. Rather, he saw a chance to be the face of his hometown program and to contend for the starting quarterback spot as a true freshman. The wisdom of this decision is debatable. Trevor Lawrence was the last college quarterback who started as a true freshman who also won a national title at any point in his college career. The line about serving in Heaven versus reigning, well, elsewhere, comes to mind. Put another way, somebody’s got to quarterback the winner of the Gasparilla Bowl, might as well be Jared Curtis.

Where does Georgia go from here? I think it’s relatively unlikely Georgia tries to get in on another big time 2026 quarterback. With Gunner Stockton likely back for next season Georgia needs to either hold onto Ryan Puglisi or, failing that, go into the transfer portal for a serviceable backup who can play now. True freshman Ryan Montgomery also has a good bit of promise, as does fellow freshman Hezekiah Millender. You need four serviceable quarterbacks on the roster just to run practice. And with the way Gunner Stockton plays you need a veteran who knows the offense and can play at a high level immediately if an injury happens. Georgia

The plan was never for Curtis to play significant minutes in 2026, which seems to have been a big part of the problem once he really thought about that. Again, everyone has their own priorities, and that’s okay. Jared Curtis’s is immediate playing time. Kirby Smart’s is winning SEC and national championships.

But the Bulldogs will have some additional NIL flexibility, especially in 2027 (Curtis was reportedly set for a $1.2 million payday if he was in Athens next season). There are some very good quarterbacks in the 2027 class, and Georgia can sell those prospects on competing to replace Stockton/Puglisi.

To be clear, this is a big loss for Georgia. The Bulldogs do not have another blue chip option at the quarterback position, and Curtis was the highest rated prospect in this class. It is quite likely that this recruiting class will be the first of the Kirby Smart era to finish outside the top five in all of the major recruiting rankings. That’s not what Bulldog fans expect, and frankly I expect a good bit of griping about it tomorrow and for some time to come. Barring some surprises tomorrow I expect to write the most pessimistic Signing Day wrap up I’ve produced in several years.

Still, Georgia is going to be playing for an SEC Championship this weekend for the fifth year in a row. So it’s safe to say the people running the program have a pretty decent idea what they’re doing. I don’t wish Jared Curtis ill, but at the same time I feel safe saying this isn’t a tragedy for Georgia the way it might have been for some programs. We’ll just have to content ourselves with the Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback we have and the former top five quarterback recruit backing him up. Oh well. Until later…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!