The last few months revealed something Tennessee can’t ignore in its pursuit of 5-star RB David Gabriel Georges
The Tennessee Volunteers are going all-on on landing 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges. Josh Heupel and the Vols, however, need to pay attention to an important lesson they learned over the last several months.
Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols put themselves in a good spot this weekend in their pursuit of 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges.
The Volunteers, who are battling Ohio State for the five-star recruit, hosted Gabriel Georges on an official visit over the weekend. The visit comes a week after the Baylor School standout took his official visit to Ohio State.
Both programs feel confident, but Gabriel Georges is expected to take a few weeks to make a final decision.
The last few months taught Tennessee a lesson it can’t ignore in its pursuit of David Gabriel Georges
NIL is obviously going to be part of Gabriel Georges’ recruitment, but it’s not expected to be the defining factor in his final decision.
Still, money talks. And Tennessee could certainly choose to make a massive offer to the teenager.
The last few months, though, have taught Tennessee that winning a recruitment — whether it’s a high school recruit or a transfer player — with the biggest NIL offer isn’t the same as landing a player who genuinely wants to be a Vol. And when a player doesn’t truly want to be at a program, it usually doesn’t work out.
Sure, the offer has to be competitive, but the player ultimately has to want to be a part of the program or you’ll never get the best version of that player (see the Boo Carter situation — his dad has admitted that Carter’s heart was always at Colorado).
Tennessee signed four-star wide receiver Legend Bey last December, for example, in part because of a big financial offer (along with family pressure…possibly because of the offer). Bey, though, preferred Ohio State. When he was eventually released from his national letter of intent by Tennessee, he quickly landed at Ohio State.
Another example came earlier this offseason with Penn State transfer EDGE Chaz Coleman.
Coleman chose Tennessee over Ohio State after the price for the transfer EDGE rapidly climbed after the portal opened. And now, it looks like Coleman will never play a down for Tennessee.
The Vols know from experience that throwing money around doesn’t mean they’ll add a player who will actually help the program (Boo Carter got more money last winter and then was a total bust this past season).
If Tennessee is going to land Gabriel Georges, it has to be because it’s what the running back truly wants, not because the Vols make an absurd NIL offer. Otherwise, history suggests it’ll never work out.