Jared Curtis confirms Vanderbilt football commitment after denying Georgia flip

Jared Curtis has made a decision.

The five-star quarterback from Nashville Christian announced in a Dec. 2 post on X that he has flipped his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt football.

It’s a massive victory for Vanderbilt and Clark Lea, with Curtis becoming the highest rated commitment in program history. Curtis, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound dual-threat prospect, is the No. 1 quarterback nationally and No. 1 player overall from the 2026 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Curtis’ long recruitment — he has decommitted from Georgia twice — took one last turn on the eve of early signing day. Two Rivals recruiting experts on Dec. 2 reported Curtis had flipped to Vandy, only for Curtis to deny the reports with a post on X shortly thereafter.

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

Curtis later cleared the air about the confusion when announcing his decision. He said the reports came out before he had a chance to tell anyone his decision, "not even my parents or agent."

"I wanted to talk to the coaches from both staffs after school and practice were over, and have one last heart to heart with my family before making an announcement," Curtis wrote. "Never had a chance and that was really disappointing."

Telling Georgia was difficult.

"I do love Georgia, I love the coaches and players there. They have been so good to me and my family. I know they would do everything to help me be successful. They have been the best program in the country for a reason," Curtis wrote. "The past year it's where I wanted to be and definitely where my parents have wanted me to go. That's part of what makes this so hard. You try to make everyone who has been good to you and done so much for you happy, and when you can't it sucks. But I gotta walk my path that feels right in my heart, at the end of the day this has to be my decision.

"Being here in Nashville and seeing what Vandy has been doing this season has been amazing and over the past few weeks, I felt more and more that I wanna be a part of that, to be close to home, to play in front of my family and friends and to be what I love to be, an underdog. I am excited to be a Dore and excited to be part of building something here at home with Coach Lea."

Curtis is scheduled to sign at Nashville Christian on Dec. 3 and will officially be Vanderbilt’s heir to star QB Diego Pavia, who has helped lead the program to relevancy the past two seasons.

Curtis has a dual-threat skill set with his powerful arm, a durable frame and an ability to launch long throws on the run. He has thrown for 9,528 yards, 123 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in four seasons as the Nashville Christian starting quarterback. He's also rushed for 2,199 yards and 48 TDs.

He also led Nashville Christian to the TSSAA football Division II-A state title in 2024 and will try to win another with the Eagles (12-0) when they play USJ (11-1) in the state championship Dec. 4.

Curtis totaled 3,467 yards of offense, 58 touchdowns and three interceptions last season, winning the Division II-A Mr. Football award and Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year.

He is 127-of-195 passing (65%) for 1,863 yards, 31 touchdowns and six interceptions this season, while missing more than two games with an ankle injury. He also has 536 yards rushing and 10 TDs.

Vanderbilt football called, Jared Curtis listened

Vanderbilt’s pursuit of Curtis became public the week of the Commodores’ game against Missouri on Oct. 25.

Curtis and Nashville Christian coach Jeff Brothers, a former Vanderbilt quarterback, attended a Vanderbilt practice together that week. Brothers said it was a part of a Nashville Christian professional shadowing assignment. Curtis attended the Missouri game days later.

The night before the Missouri game, Georgia sent offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to stand on the sidelines for Nashville Christian’s 65-12 win over Ezell-Harding.

Everyone seemed to be buzzing about Curtis and the Commodores the following morning. Seconds into Nashville comedian Nate Bargatze’s “College Gameday” show appearance, he made a pitch for Curtis to attend Vanderbilt. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit also brought up Curtis.

“It’s hard not to remind Jared Curtis how much I'd love for him to come to Vanderbilt,” Bargatze said. “We’re local kids. We’ll become best friends, bud.”

Between Bargatze's push, Pavia attending a Nashville Christian game to speak with Curtis, and even Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin attending an Eagles game, everything Vanderbilt threw at Curtis seemed to work.

The Commodores are on a recruiting roll now. They gained a commitment from Franklin Road Academy four-star safety Omarii Sanders and Curtis within a week's time.

Sanders committed on Nov. 29 and was the Commodores' highest-rated pledge in history at No. 49 nationally in the 2027 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.

He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jared Curtis commits to Vanderbilt football after denying Georgia flip