Georgia went to South Bend to beat Notre Dame last season. This season, they’re bringing a former member of that Fighting Irish squad along for the ride in the red and black.
Notre Dame graduate transfer Jay Hayes announced he would attend Georgia via Twitter on Wednesday.
“This is it!” he wrote. “I’ll be heading down to Athens to play for the Georgia Bulldogs. Go DAWGS!”
Hayes, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 289 pounds, should be eligible to play immediately for the Bulldogs this fall– offering some immediate help to the Bulldogs defensive line. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
He had a season-high 7 tackles for Notre Dame in the game against the Bulldogs last fall. In total, Hayes accumulated 27 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, during 13 games in his junior season. It was the best cumulative performance of his career in South Bend.
Hayes’ decision may come as a surprise to some, as he previously committed to play for Oklahoma earlier in April. But just a week after spreading that news and a visit to Georgia’s spring game on Saturday, he has expressed a change of heart.
Hayes was a 4-star defensive tackle in the Class of 2013 coming out of Poly Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y. That’s the same high school that produced Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson.
