Tennessee has already landed one painful recruiting win over Ohio State, and now the Vols are making the Buckeyes sweat again.
The latest name causing trouble is five-star EDGE DJ Jacobs, an Ohio State commit since last December who is suddenly drawing real attention from other programs ahead of the Early Signing Period in December. Miami has been pushing hard for a flip, and now Tennessee has entered the mix too, with buzz building that Josh Heupel’s program is ready to go all-in.
A recent clue helped fuel the chatter: Jacobs had an Adidas post on Instagram this week, and Tennessee fans noticed who liked it.
For Ohio State, this is the kind of development that turns a strong recruiting class into a nervous waiting game. Jacobs is the centerpiece of the Buckeyes’ 2027 class, ranked by 247Sports as the No.
1 EDGE in the country and the No. 1 player overall. He was long viewed as a Georgia lean because of his father, David, but Ohio State managed to pull off the verbal commitment anyway.
That doesn’t make the situation safe. Until the Early Signing Period arrives, every committed player is still fair game, and Tennessee has already shown it can make a major move against the Buckeyes. The Vols beat Ohio State for David Gabriel Georges, and the financial side of that deal made plenty of noise: Georges reportedly got a three-year contract worth $2 million per season.
That kind of number changes how people look at the rest of Tennessee’s recruiting board. If the Vols were willing to go that far for Georges, it’s easy to see why some are wondering whether they could put together a massive package for Jacobs too.
From Ohio State’s perspective, the pitch is obvious. The Buckeyes are in the national-title conversation every year, and that kind of consistency is hard to beat.
Tennessee, meanwhile, has only reached the College Football Playoff once, and that trip ended in the winter of 2024 with a 42-17 loss to Ohio State. The Buckeyes went on to win the title with Will Howard and then-freshman Jeremiah Smith leading the way.
A few weeks ago, the idea of Tennessee seriously threatening to flip Jacobs would have sounded far-fetched. After the Georges situation, it doesn’t feel that way anymore. The Vols are now a team to watch with Jacobs through the rest of the summer and into the fall.
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