4-star Tennessee Vols decommit already projected to sign with hated SEC rival

There was a big-time change of heart for 4-star Tennessee Vols football commit Lagonza Hayward. While there were rumors flying around that he was going to back off his pledge to UT and head coach Josh Heupel for the 2025 class, he passionately said he wasn't going anywhere.

However, that all changed over the weekend, with the highly-touted safety announcing that he was going to open up his recruitment after all. This news came with the Early Signing Period on Dec. 4 being right around the corner.

Plenty of people were surprised by Hayward's decision, with several UT 2025 commits voicing their displeasure with things on social media. To make things worse, recruiting experts Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons have both predicted Hayward to end up flipping to Florida. Oh:

4-star safety Lagonza Hayward is now predicted to land with Florida

Hayward originally committed to Tennessee in late July, doing so over a boatload of other offers. While it looked like he was going to be making his way to Knoxville to begin his college career in 2025, that's no longer going to be the case.

The fact that Florida is now the frontrunner to land his services only makes things sting a bit more. According to the 247Sports Composite, Hayward is the No. 9 safety in the country and the No. 72 player nationally. He's a stud of a prospect and the kind of playmaker head coaches across the nation had been recruiting.

This cycle, Hayward picked up offers from Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and more than 20 other programs. In the end, he won't be rocking a Vols jersey and it's now looking like he'll be donning a Gators one instead. This is not what Tennessee supporters were hoping to see, but this is the way recruiting can go sometimes.