Vanderbilt football is in the middle of the best season in program history, with a program-record 10 wins, a leading Heisman Trophy contender in quarterback Diego Pavia and a chance at a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Commodores’ future may got brighter.
On Tuesday, Rivals reported Jared Curtis, the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the 2026 class, had flipped his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt.
However, Curtis posted to X less than an hour later: ‘Don’t know where all this is coming from. Haven’t had a chance to talk to either school yet. I’ll keep y’all posted.’
The news came one day before the start of college football’s early signing period. If Curtis were to flip to Vanderbilt he would became the highest-rated recruit in Commodores history.
Curtis has been committed to the Bulldogs since May after previously de-committing from them last fall.
The 6-3, 225-pound Curtis is rated by 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 class. Last season at Nashville Christian School, about 10 miles from the Vanderbilt campus, Curtis racked up 3,467 yards of total offense, 58 touchdowns and just three interceptions on his way to winning Division II-A Mr. Football and Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year. This week, he’ll aim to lead his team to its second-consecutive state championship.
Speculation around Curtis and Vanderbilt had intensified the past two months, with even Nashville-based comedian Nate Bargatze offering a pitch to the high-schooler during his appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Oct. 25 ahead of the Commodores’ game against Missouri.
“It’s hard not to remind Jared Curtis how much I’d love for him to come to Vanderbilt,” Bargatze said. “We’re local kids. We’ll become best friends, bud.”
When asked about Bargatze’s comments, Georgia coach Kirby Smart largely sidestepped the question, saying he and his staff recruit as well as they can and trust the players that have committed to the program and “not get into gimmicks and propaganda stuff.”
In Curtis, Vanderbilt would have a succession plan after Pavia will presumably exhaust his college eligibility after this season. With Pavia at quarterback the past two seasons — and with Pavia’s former New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill on staff — the traditionally woeful Commodores have become an SEC contender, going 17-8 overall and 9-7 in conference play.
With a 45-24 thumping of in-state rival Tennessee last Saturday, Vanderbilt improved to 10-2, the first time it has ever won double-digit games in a season. The Commodores are No. 12 in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll and will see Tuesday night if they improve in the playoff selection committee rankings, which had them No. 14 last week.