Georgia just flipped a Notre Dame starter from transferring to Oklahoma

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.

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 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:

Kirby Smart continues to be one of the country’s best program-builders.