Tennessee back in the hunt for Ohio State commit who surprisingly delays signing

National Signing Day is the best, is it not? Just when you think you know everything, you in turn know nothing. Former Tennessee Volunteers commit Legend Bey was all set to sign with the Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday, but has changed with offensive coordinator Brian Hartline reportedly taking the head-coaching gig at South Florida. This could have a domino effect beyond that of just Bey here.

Rivals relayed Pete Nakos of On3's message that Bey is going to delay signing until Friday, Dec. 5 now.

Caleb Sisk of VolsOnSI shared that Tennessee is back in the picture, along with West Virginia as well.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Bey is the No. 24 player from Texas in his class, the No. 9-rated athlete, and the No. 175 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class. The Forney, Texas native has been committed to Ohio State since Nov. 10. Prior to that, he committed to Tennessee on June 28. Bey has 37 official offers, but it feels like it will be either Ohio State, Tennessee or West Virginia now.

Do the Volunteers have a real opportunity to get Bey to flip back to them and away from Ohio State?

Former Vols commit Legend Bey will delay his signing until Friday, Dec. 5

At this stage of the game, really anything is on the table. The fact that Bey is committing out of state gives a team who once had his commitment like Tennessee as good of a shot as anyone. West Virginia entering the fray has everything to do with Rich Rodriguez trying to get his type of explosive athletes at his alma mater. At Ohio State, the idea was Bey would play wide receiver for Brian Hartline.

See, Hartline leaving Ohio State at the end of the Buckeyes' playoff run changes everything. No, this may not result in Bey following him to Group of Five power South Florida, but it is no longer a guarantee he will stay committed to Ohio State. Clearly, he wants a few extra days to see where the dominoes fall in the coaching carousel. Again, Hartline going to South Florida was a bit of a shocker.

At this time, the one thing Tennessee has going for them that Ohio State and West Virginia do not is the combination of commitment and continuity. Josh Heupel's offensive staff will largely be the same. In short, he is not going anywhere. The idea of helping WVU rebuild into something special could be appealing. However, this really all comes down to Ohio State coming up with a game plan for the guy.

In the event that Bey has soured on Ohio State, he may very well come back to Rocky Top this week.