The Tennessee Vols suddenly have a David Gabriel Georges problem that they have to deal with
2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges committed to the Tennessee Volunteers in July.
Tennessee Vols fans received some great news on Monday, but the great news also leads to a bit of a predicament for head coach Josh Heupel and his staff.
Vols senior tight end Ethan Davis, who is out for the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury against Georgia Tech, announced on Monday that he’s returning to Tennessee for the 2027 season.
This is huge news for the Vols as Davis is a high-level tight end who is important in the pass game and the run game.
But it also raises a question: What happens with the No. 0 in 2027?
Tennessee supposedly offered No. 0 to 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges before he committed to the Vols in July.
Davis, though, has worn the number for the last couple of years.
And I don’t think there’s any way Tennessee can tell Davis he needs to give up the number.
I also don’t think he should feel pressured to give up the number.
Now, I wrote in June that Davis could help land DGG by offering to give up the number — at the time the feeling was that Davis would be NFL bound after the 2026 season — but now that it’s a real scenario, I’ve had some second thoughts on that idea.
Davis will be a rare fifth-year senior next season who has only played for one program. As Davis said in his return announcement, he bleeds orange and white.
A year ago, Davis said that he would never transfer from Tennessee, and he’s clearly staying true to his word.
“This is my home,” said Davis just before the start of the 2025 season. “This is where I want to play football at. I would never even transfer from Tennessee, regardless of the circumstances.”
The good news for the Vols is that Gabriel Georges downplayed the importance of wearing the No. 0 after committing to Tennessee.
“I’ve worn other numbers in my career,” said Gabriel Georges to The Times Free Press. “My old number was actually 22. Before I came to Baylor, I wore No. 1, but I switched to zero because a senior at my old school took my number. When I came here, Shekai (Mills-Knight) wore No. 1, so I took zero again. So I’ve worn other numbers and that’s not a big deal to me. It would be nice to have zero, but I could take any number.”
(Side note: Ohio State head coach Ryan Day still threw a little shade at Gabriel Georges even after those comments from the five-star running back.)
I won’t be surprised if Gabriel Georges simply takes another number at Tennessee as a true freshman. The five-star recruit may be the most talented running back in the nation, but he’s also very much a team first guy.
Despite the narratives from Ohio State fans, Gabriel Georges isn’t a “diva” — far from it, in fact.
