Lagonza Hayward Explains Decommitment from Tennessee Volunteers

Florida safety Lagonza Hayward explains why he decommitted from Tennessee.

2025 4-star S Lagonza Hayward during his official visit to Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of Lagonza Hayward) /

Florida safety Lagonza Hayward explains why he decommitted from Tennessee.

The Tennessee Volunteers brought in a very respectable 2025 recruiting class but they had one player that got away from them ahead of early national signing day. Safety Lagonza Hayward was at one point committed to the Tennessee Volunteers but ended up committing and signing with Florida at the end of his recruitment.

Hayward recently joined Najeh Wilkins to talk about his recruitment and what ultimately led to him decommitting from Tennessee.

"(Tennessee) stopped talking to me the week leading up to signing day. They completely stopped talking to me. So I’m a 17 year old kid about to sign and y’all completely stop talking to me. And then [Florida] never stopped talking to me. Even when I committed to Tennessee, they kept applying pressure. So I was like man, you know what, I’m decommitting. Because I’m not going to lie, I went down there the same day after I decommitted, took my phone out and powered it off, I didn’t want to hear nothing. Because you wasn’t talking to me then, why you talking to me now? So I left it like that. And I’m at where I’m at now."

Hayward was rated as a four-star prospect, the 79th-best player in the country, the eighth-best safety and the 11th-best player in the state of Georgia, according to composite rankings.

Hayward's commitment to Tennessee became shaky as teams like Georgia and Florida continued to pursue the high-profile recruit, and a lack of communication appears to be the reason why he didn't end up a Volunteer.

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