The Ohio State Buckeyes have taken a scary lead for 5-star Baylor (TN) running back David Gabriel Georges. Well, scary for Josh Heupel's Tennessee Volunteers. That's how All For Tennessee's Conner Linsner sees it, anyway.
Linsner is particularly flustered by the Buckeyes' offer for DGG's Baylor safety Jordan Darren Djila Tchuisseu, saying that "it could flip things back into (OSU's) favor." Linsner also said that "...no recruitment has been as important as David Gabriel Georges for Josh Heupel and Tennessee." The JDDT offer from Columbus has them scrambling to do the same on Rocky Top.
All of a sudden, Ohio State is in a position to rip the hearts out of the Vols by stealing a Chattanooga-area product by offering his teammate. It could genuinely come down to making DGG's people right, plus money, on July 22 when he makes his decision.
From the sounds of it, Heupel has a lot to lose by not landing Gabriel Georges, possibly more than the Buckeyes have to gain by poaching him out of the Volunteer State. And that's not even to downplay one of the strongest physical specimens the position has in the 2027 high school cycle.
Ohio State could deliver a brutal blow to Josh Heupel's career in Tennessee
You can't make much of a career in the SEC when your career trajectory is forming a triangle. While Heupel's program is only two seasons removed from making the first-ever 12-team CFP, recruiting has been on a downward slide since. The crown jewel of his 2023 class, Nico Iamaleava, brought the Vols to the dance but promptly left over not getting paid enough. Of course, he took a major pay cut to be with his home-state UCLA Bruins, but that's neither here nor there.
2025 was a step back in Knoxville after that, and 2026 risks another step back. Tennessee is hoping that either 5-star true freshman Faizon Brandon or redshirt freshman George MacIntyre could effectively take the reins at quarterback after Joey Aguilar was not granted eligibility to play this fall. If they can't, and the Vols get worse, perhaps we're looking at Heupel's last season.
The better the future looks, the longer Heupel's leash will be. Keeping DGG would at least prove that Heupel has a grasp of his state. If recruits like that start going for bigger paydays elsewhere, then there needs to be a new voice who could sell the state like Lane Kiffin is currently selling the LSU Tigers to Louisiana.
Ohio State could further open up the South with this commitment, forcing one of the SEC's most prolific spenders across all sports to start over from square one. Any time you could help end an era, you have to.
Heupel's Vols tenure has a lot of Scarlet and Gray scars all over it. There's the obvious 42-17 CFP beatdown at the "Shoe" in 2024. Now, Gabriel Georges could prove that Rocky Top can't rock to the top unless Heupel is out of the seat and replaced promptly.
To think, Jim Knowles could go down with yet another ship since leaving Cbus.
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