Tennessee Vols receive unwelcome recruiting news after win against Vanderbilt Commodores
The Tennessee Vols had a pretty good weekend — a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff is about as good as it gets — but it wasn't a completely perfect weekend. On Sunday, 2025 four-star defensive back Shaedy Hayward announced his decommitment from Tennessee. Hayward had been committed […]
The Tennessee Vols had a pretty good weekend — a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff is about as good as it gets — but it wasn't a completely perfect weekend.
On Sunday, 2025 four-star defensive back Shaedy Hayward announced his decommitment from Tennessee.
Hayward had been committed to Tennessee since late July.
"Thankful for Vol Nation and coaches for support and the trust they put in me but I have prayed on it for a long time so respect my decision but I will be decommitting from The University of Tennessee," wrote Hayward in a post on Twitter/X.com.
Hayward, 6-foot-1/200 lbs from Lyons, GA, is rated in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 9 safety in the nation and the No. 9 player in the state of Georgia. He's also rated as the No. 72 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class.
Suffice it to say, this is a talented commit that the Vols are losing.
Hayward's decommitment from Tennessee comes just a few weeks after he reaffirmed his commitment to the Vols by tweeting that he wasn't "flipping". The Georgia native also made a similar comment in October.
Florida and Georgia are two programs to watch for Hayward with the early signing period starting later this week.
