How Vanderbilt flipped Jared Curtis from Georgia: Opportunity, not money, kept the 5-star QB in Nashville

It's not often that Vanderbilt goes toe-to-toe with Georgia in high-profile recruiting battles — let alone wins those battles — but that's exactly what happened last fall with five-star quarterback Jared Curtis.

According to 247Sports, Curtis was the No. 2 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class, and the Nashville native projects as a future first-round pick with a comparison to Jay Cutler in his 247Sports scouting report. He's the type of player Georgia is used to targeting and signing.

That's why it came as something of a surprise when Vanderbilt made a late push and convinced Curtis to remain in Nashville instead of playing his college football in Athens.

So, why will Curtis — who has played the fourth-most snaps of all freshmen this season — be suiting up for the Commodores instead of the Bulldogs this weekend when the two teams meet Between the Hedges? Was it the money or the opportunity to cameo in comedian Nate Bargatze's feature film? We spoke with 247Sports national recruiting analyst Tom Loy and Dawgs247 recruiting analyst Benjamin Wolk to get more insight into how Vanderbilt beat out Georgia for one of the top quarterbacks in the country.

To give you a…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/