Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols are on the verge of a big offseason win over Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs

Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols appear to be on the verge of earning a big offseason win against Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs.

2025 four-star linebacker Jadon Perlotte has been committed to Georgia since late 2022.

Perlotte, 6-foot-3/210 lbs from Buford, GA, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 15 linebacker in the nation and the No. 13 player in the state of Georgia.

Despite being committed to Georgia for well over a year, Perlotte has continued to check out other programs. In fact, he took an official visit to Tennessee in June.

That official visit apparently made quite an impression because On3's Chad Simmons now believes that the Volunteers have the momentum in the battle for Perlotte.

On Sunday, Simmons changed his On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine pick for Perlotte to Tennessee.

"There is talk of Perlotte returning to Knoxville later this month for another unofficial visit and there is no staff recruiting him harder than Josh Heupel’s," wrote Simmons . "With the buzz continuing to pick up around Tennessee, I have moved my pick on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine over to Tennessee."

Flipping Perlotte from Georgia would be quite a win for Heupel and his staff. If Tennessee is going to be a threat to win national championships, they have to win their fair share of recruiting battles against programs like Georgia.

The Vols have already won a couple of battles in the past against Georgia (like beating out the Bulldogs for five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews last year). Flipping Perlotte after he's been committed to Georgia for over 18 months would certainly send a message that Tennessee isn't slowing down in the Peach State anytime soon.

Related: Tennessee OC Joey Halzle explains how Nico Iamaleava's leadership has changed with Joe Milton no longer on the roster