Can Tennessee Flip Five-Star DJ Jacobs

Jacobs is keeping the cards close to his chest right now, rarely revealing anything about his recruitment unless it is about the Buckeyes.

However, he did tell Chad Simmons of Rivals that Tennessee has not given up on him. He also mentioned Georgia and Miami as schools that are trying to flip him.

From an outside perspective, Tennessee is the odd man out here. Miami has maybe the most NIL money to spend in the entire country, Georgia is where his dad played, and he is already committed to Ohio State, but it is very interesting how Tennessee has reemerged as a contender for him.

The reason why this news is so big is that Jacobs recently signed with Adidas, and Tennessee is an Adidas school (each major university has a major jersey sponsor), and the company might play a big factor in his recruitment.

Going back to last year, five-star receiver TK Keys committed to LSU in March of 2025, but he later signed with Adidas, and not too long after that, he flipped to the Volunteers.  

This situation could be very similar if Tennessee goes all-in to get Jacobs.

It is key to note that Ohio State is a Nike school, the biggest competitor of Adidas.

More Recruiting News

Volunteers' edge target Marquis Evans is set to commit on Wednesday. He is picking between Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, Miami, and South Carolina.

Tennessee is continuing its pursuit of five-star David Gabriel-Georges from the in-state Baylor School. The Vols look to be battling it out with Ohio State for the running back, but he recently took a visit to Ole Miss, and with his high school quarterback being committed to the Rebels, Pete Golding’s team could be sneaking right in to land the five-star.

Asa Barnes is another running back target for Tennessee, and he has told Vols on SI that he plans to commit sometime around July 8th. The four-star Westview (Martin, Tennessee) prospect has taken visits to Tennessee, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

Four-star Miles Brown seemed for a while like he was going to Tennessee, but he ended up committing to Kentucky back in May, which was a huge recruiting loss for the Volunteers. He recently updated Vols on SI that he remains locked in with the Wildcats, but Tennessee still checks in on him as the Volunteers continue to monitor the in-state prospect.