{"id":632145,"date":"2026-05-09T03:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T03:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/632145\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T03:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T03:30:10","slug":"tennessee-football-loses-out-on-commitment-of-elite-running-back-target-to-sec-rival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/632145\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Football Loses Out on Commitment of Elite Running Back Target to SEC Rival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rockytopinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_5168.webp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-196758\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_5168-300x194.webp.webp\" alt=\"tennessee football ranking\" width=\"612\" height=\"396\"  \/><\/a>(Photo via Ryan Sylvia | RTI)<\/p>\n<p>After being named to his top four schools list, Tennessee football has missed out on the commitment of a four-star running back in the 2027 class. On Friday, Andrew Beard committed to SEC rival Florida instead.<\/p>\n<p>Beard picked the Gators over the Vols, Clemson and Georgia. The 5-foot-9 back ranks as a four-star and the No. 154 player in the class, via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/andrew-beard-46142377\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">247 Composite<\/a>. He is the No. 9 running back and No. 15 player from the state of Georgia, as well.<\/p>\n<p>Beard\u2019s father, Jerry Beard Sr., was a running back at Appalachian State from 2000-02. His uncle, Garrison Hearst, was a running back for Georgia, who finished third for the Heisman Trophy in 1992. Hearst was also a two-time Pro Bowl selection in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>However, it seems Beard plans to carve his own path with Florida, instead of picking the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n<p>More From RTI:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rockytopinsider.com\/2026\/05\/08\/paul-finebaum-says-tennessee-football-is-trending-in-the-wrong-direction-under-josh-heupel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Paul Finebaum Says Tennessee Football is Trending in the Wrong Direction Under Josh Heupel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Beard was on\u00a0campus\u00a0for a game day visit when Tennessee hosted Georgia for its \u2018Checker Neyland\u2019 game this past season. While the Vols lost in overtime to the Bulldogs, it still left a positive impression on him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnjoyed being back at Tennessee!,\u201d Beard wrote on X. \u201cLove how Tennessee and\u00a0(running back coach DeRail Sims) use the RBs! Great Gameday visit and Neyland is definitely the loudest stadium!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Tennessee holds seven commitments in the 2027 class. This features a trio of highly-touted four-stars. Headlining is in-state wide receiver, Kesean Bowman. He is a top-50 prospect and one of the top pass catchers in the class. In-state offensive tackle Princeton Uwaifo and defensive lineman Kadin Fife are also highly ranked.<\/p>\n<p>Three-stars in the class are quarterback Derrick Baker, athlete Jaden Butler, in-state legacy linebacker JP Peace and defensive back Carter Jamison. Currently, this group\u00a0is ranked inside the top-25 on both 247 and Rivals for the young 2027 cycle.<\/p>\n<p>More commitments are expected to roll in, as well. This includes the fight for the commitment of running back David Gabriel Georges. The five-star, in-state recruit is narrowing down his options with the frontrunners seemingly being Tennessee and Ohio State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Photo via Ryan Sylvia | RTI) After being named to his top four schools list, Tennessee football has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[273187,39923,3342,399,398,396,397,99,5771,273188,17963],"class_list":["post-632145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-andrew-beard","tag-florida-football","tag-florida-gators","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports","tag-tennessee-football","tag-tennessee-recruiting","tag-tennessee-vols"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}