Report suggests NIL was one reason why Tennessee didn't land 5-star recruit who grew up rooting for Vols

Earlier this week, the Tennessee Vols were a finalist for 2025 five-star offensive lineman Josh Petty, along with Georgia Tech, Stanford, Florida State, and Ohio State.

Florida State was viewed as a favorite for Petty due to the fact that his sister is set to attend school in Tallahassee this fall. The Vols were also a program that was considered to be strongly in the mix early in Petty's recruitment thanks to the five-star offensive lineman's Tennessee fandom.

“My dad is a big Tennessee fan,” said Petty to GoVols247 last August . “I grew up a Tennessee fan. He just happens to be a fan. He just said the environment there was special."

"I mean, I can’t give you an exact number (of years I have liked Tennessee)," added Petty. "But I saw not too long ago, my dad sent me a picture of me wearing a Peyton Manning jersey when I was in, like, sixth grade.”

When Petty, the No. 5 offensive tackle in the nation, announced his commitment earlier this week, it was Georgia Tech fans who were celebrating.

So how did Georgia Tech, a program that isn't known for landing elite recruits, end up securing a commitment from Petty?

While we don't know all of the ins and outs of Petty's recruitment (I'm sure Georgia Tech's staff did a tremendous job in his recruitment), it seems that NIL was one factor that worked in the Yellow Jackets' favor.

According a report from On3's Pete Nakos, Petty agreed to a three-year NIL deal with annual payments worth at least $800,000.

That's a pretty hefty NIL deal. And if Petty was torn between his finalists, it's easy to see how that NIL deal could have been the tiebreaker.

Now, it's certainly possible (and likely) that other programs offered Petty a lucrative NIL deal. But considering Georgia Tech's recruiting history, it seems unlikely that Petty decided to take less money to play for the Yellow Jackets (especially given his connections to Florida State and Tennessee).

NIL has certainly leveled the playing field a bit in college football. Programs can't just hand out unlimited amounts of cash -- they have to get some sort of return on investment (which is tough to predict with high school recruits).

Could Tennessee have offered more money and won the battle for Petty?

Maybe. Probably.

But that's not a sustainable way to build a program. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing that Georgia Tech worked out a big NIL deal with Petty, it's just not what was right for Tennessee's program at this time.

Related: Former Vols OC Alex Golesh gets candid about taking over a tough situation at Tennessee in 2021