The Tennessee Vols are “pushing” to flip 2027 five-star EDGE DJ Jacobs from the Ohio State Buckeyes, but nothing is too serious, at this point, according to his father.

“I have a good relationship with Coach (Rodney) Garner,” said Jacobs’ father to Rivals . “He’s like a dad to me but that’s all that’s really going on with that.”

While Jacobs’ father downplayed the Vols’ push, he also left the door open to his son signing with another program in December.

“As of today yes, but you know how this stuff goes,” said Jacobs’ father when asked if his son is still on track to sign with Ohio State.

For the Vols to have a real chance to flip Jacobs, they’ll need to get the five-star recruit on campus for a game this fall.

And On3’s Steve Wiltfong thinks that’ll happen — specifically because of Jacobs’ younger brother, Dawson, a four-star defensive lineman in the 2028 recruiting class.

“I certainly don’t think those rumors (about Jacobs and the Vols) are coming out of thin air,” said Wiltfong. “I think that Tennessee is a program that has entered the mix for DJ Jacobs going into his senior year and they look like the biggest threat to Ohio State. Now, the family is saying most of the right things about the Buckeyes. The one thing that they’re not saying is that his recruitment is shut down. They certainly have alluded to the fact that anything can happen in recruiting. We’ve seen it. They’ve seen it. So they’re keeping their options open. He’s expected back at Ohio State several times this season for game day visits to get around the coaching staff again.

“But the dialogue continues with Tennessee. … His younger brother, Dawson Jacobs, is a blue chip recruit that’s going to be taking game visits, so they’ll go on those as a family. And I think we’ll see them inside of Neyland Stadium at some point this fall.”

Jacobs’ father played for Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner nearly 30 years ago at Georgia. So there’s a strong relationship there. Additionally, Jacobs signed with Adidas earlier this year, and Tennessee, of course, switched from Nike to Adidas in July, so that’s also something working in the Vols’ favor.

Still, it sounds like it won’t be easy to flip Jacobs, but Tennessee is in the fight at least.