College football recruiting has more flips than a pancake on a stovetop. Each year, dozens of players say they’re going to one school but sign with another when the time comes. But that phenomenon is mostly limited to high school prospects, who verbally commit all throughout the year but can’t sign scholarship papers until December or February.
Georgia just flipped a Notre Dame starter from transferring to Oklahoma
Jay Hayes’ move affects three Playoff contenders.
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
So what Georgia pulled off on Wednesday is a rarity: The Dawgs flipped a grad transfer commitment from Oklahoma and will add former starting Notre Dame defensive end Jay Hayes to their roster for 2018. Hayes announced his intention to transfer from Notre Dame on April 6, committed to OU on April 15, and lasted 10 days before deciding to be a Dawg. 247Sports reported that a spring game visit to Athens on April 21 led to the flip.
There’s no definitive count of grad-transfer flips, but there aren’t more than a few per year. Earlier this year, UCLA lost a commitment from Washington grad-transfer QB K.J. Carta-Samuels, who decided to play for Colorado State instead.
Hayes’ move is significant, as it affects three Playoff contenders.
Hayes had 20 tackles last season as a rotation lineman for the Irish, including 3.5 TFLs and one sack. He had two pass breakups (probably both on batted throws) and six run stuffs. He started all 13 games.
With his move:
- Notre Dame loses defensive line depth, no matter if Hayes was going to start again or not.
- Oklahoma loses defensive line depth it thought it was getting, and probably needs to find it elsewhere after missing a title-game berth by a hair last season because of its defense. The Sooners have a lot of defensive linemen, but Hayes figured to help them.
- Georgia gets that depth, which seems well-timed. The Dawgs are losing a couple of stars in their defensive front, most notably linebackers Roquan Smith and Lorenzo Carter. They have the best recruiting class in the country coming to campus this season, but Hayes will give their defensive some veteran flourish while the rookies develop.
Kirby Smart continues to be one of the country’s best program-builders.
