The Ohio State Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers are the top two teams for 5-star Baylor (TN) running back David Gabriel Georges. Both are fine choices, on the surface, but one of them has a deeper problem that rears its ugly head every so often. Right now, problems are very evident with the Chaz Coleman situation.
Per CBS Sports' Chris Hummer, "Chaz Coleman, the high-profile Penn State transfer edge rusher who arrived in Knoxville as one of the most coveted defensive players in the portal, has been removed from the Tennessee football roster, sources confirmed to CBS Sports on Friday. The decision ends a months-long saga that began with Coleman missing most of spring practice and closes the book on what quickly became one of the more complicated NIL-era roster situations in college football."
It's rocky on Rocky Top. Mainly because the real issue was not revealed. Coleman got his $2 million in NIL payouts but didn't give a dime back on his ROI. Well, it's believed that he got his money. Maybe there's something more to that, since there's been strange contractual dealings in Knoxville before.
Who can forget the Nico Iamaleava story from the 2025 offseason? Iamaleava ended up taking a pay cut to go to the UCLA Bruins, but he didn't raise any issues this offseason in Westwood. That points to the Vols owning some fault for what happened in Tennessee.
Something was also off with Boo Carter during his Vols career, particularly during his second season. Carter was disciplined for reasons that are still not clear. What is clear is that Carter has claimed the team tried to play him while he was still injured, and NIL caveats typically bleed into decisions like that. There are two sides to that story, and it's unclear if we'll ever fully understand the picture.
That's a lot of stories and a lot of wondering. Is this really the program that a generational player like DGG needs to take a risk with?
Tennessee can offer money, but it may come with chaos
Sure, Josh Heupel and Co. could invest big money into Gabriel Georges to keep him in-state, but that could turn into a finite window of cashing out. He may not even have enough talent around him on the Vols to raise his NFL draft stock to a point where he's making more over time.
There are just so many risks right now on the Vols that don't exist in Columbus. Ryan Day has had a controversy-free program for years, and he's producing more NFL players than anyone else. Especially at the front of the draft.
This isn't to say DGG will definitely have problems playing for his home state's flagship public university. He'll just have a minimal chance of winning anything of significance with Tennessee compared to what's possible with Ohio State. And he'll have a much greater chance of running into a career-altering issue with the coaching staff, since that's what happens to the best of the best on Rocky Top.
The risks and rewards are clear for Gabriel Georges. Becoming the hometown hero in this case could be an extremely harmful decision, as financially appealing as it may seem.
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