Vanderbilt Signs Top Quarterback Recruit Jared Curtis As Program Continues Turnaround

When Clark Lea took over as Vanderbilt’s football coach in December 2020, he often spoke of the potential he saw in a program that was considered the worst in the Southeastern Conference. This season, Lea’s vision has come to fruition.

On Wednesday, Lea received another validation of the changes he brought to his alma mater when the nation’s top quarterback recruit, Jared Curtis, signed with Vanderbilt. Curtis attends Nashville Christian School, about 10 miles from Vanderbilt’s campus.

The 6-foot-3 senior originally committed to Georgia in March 2024, flipped to Oregon later in the year, re-committed to Georgia this May and then changed his mind again Tuesday. It was another major moment in a dream season for Vanderbilt. The Commodores (10-2) are No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings. They set the school record for victories and went 6-2 in the SEC, winning more conference games this season than they had in Lea’s first four seasons combined.

Curtis is the No. 1 player in the high school class of 2026, according to the 247Sports Composite, and is the first five-star prospect to sign with Vanderbilt since 247Sports began ranking players in 2000. Before Curtis, the program’s highest-ranked quarterback recruit was AJ Swann, a three-star prospect in 2022 who now plays for Appalachian State.

Curtis in an X post on Tuesday wrote that “I love the coaches and players” at Georgia and that “the past year it’s where I wanted to be and definitely where my parents have wanted me to go.” However, Curtis cited Vanderbilt’s turnaround as the deciding factor.

“Being here in Nashville and seeing what Vandy has been doing this season has been amazing and over the past few weeks, I felt more and more that I wanna be a part of that, to be close to home, to play in front of my family and friends and to be what I love to be, an underdog,” Curtis wrote.

Curtis attended Vanderbilt’s 17-10 victory over Missouri on Oct. 25 when the crew of ESPN’s College GameDay program was on campus. The rowdy, celebratory scene was not something locals were accustomed to until recently.

In 2021, Lea’s first season, the Commodores went 2-10, including 0-8 in the SEC, the second consecutive season they were winless in league games. They improved to 5-7 in 2022 but again went 2-10 and 0-8 in the SEC in 2023, a crushing blow to Lea and general manager Barton Simmons, Lea’s friend since middle school.

“There was a sink or swim mentality around we either need to do this right or we’re not going to have a chance,” Simmons said in an interview in late September. “We needed to rethink what it means to be a successful team in the SEC and how we’re building our roster.”

Since then, Vanderbilt’s alums and boosters have raised more money to support the football program, while Lea and Simmons began focusing more on the transfer portal. The Commodores had a major breakthrough in January 2024 when quarterback Diego Pavia transferred to Vanderbilt after playing the previous two seasons at New Mexico State. Former New Mexico State offensive coordinator Tim Beck joined Pavia at Vanderbilt, as did former New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill, who became Lea’s chief consultant.

A year ago, Vanderbilt improved to 7-6 and 3-5 in the SEC, as Pavia threw for 2,293 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for a team-high 801 yards and eight touchdowns. This season, Pavia has improved in all areas and become among the favorites for the Heisman Trophy. He has completed 71.2% of his passes for 27 touchdowns and run for 826 yards and nine touchdowns. Pavia is fourth in the nation with a 171.5 passer rating and is leading an offense that ranks first with 7.54 yards per play, eighth with 39.4 points per game and 11th with 468.5 yards per game.

While Pavia has said he will no longer play for Vanderbilt next season, the Commodores will continue to have a high-profile quarterback in Curtis. Curtis, who has thrown for 31 touchdowns and run for 10 touchdowns this season, plays in the Division II Class A state championship game Thursday afternoon.

After that, Curtis can solely focus on his college career, which will be closely watched. As of Wednesday morning, his X post announcing the Vanderbilt commitment had 1.9 million views. The Commodores officially announced the signing at 10:21 am Wednesday, five days after Lea agreed to a six-year contract extension. Other major programs had pursued Lea, but he chose to remain at Vanderbilt. With Curtis aboard and the school committing more resources to football, Lea has the Commodores in position to prove this season is no fluke and instead an indication that they are a legitimate top-tier SEC program.