College football never sleeps. With the natty and transfer portal cycle just ending, the sport is already entering the flipping wars. Word on the street is Notre Dame has already lost its grip on one of its top commits, who had been committed for months. Kirby Smart’s Dawgs were first on the alert list.

On January 23, recruiting connoisseur Hayes Fawcett hopped on Instagram and revealed the bad news for Irish fans and potentially good news for Bulldogs fans:

“Four-star LB Ellis McGaskin has decommitted from Notre Dame, he tells me for Rivals.”

Not going to lie, this news came as a bit of a shock because the standout from Mobile, Alabama, had been pledged to the Fighting Irish since June 2025. For Notre Dame, this is a tough loss, especially since their 2027 recruiting class had been off to a great start, ranking among the top five in the country before this move.

So, why the sudden change? It looks like a combination of things. For starters, McGaskin’s primary recruiter and position coach, Max Bullough, left the Irish in late 2025 to join Michigan State. On top of that, schools closer to home in the Southeast never really stopped calling him, making it hard for a kid from Alabama to stay committed to a school up North so early in the process.

He’s coming off a massive year at Williamson High School: including 160 total tackles and 27 tackles for loss. This 4-star has Georgia-coded written all over him. The Georgia Bulldogs are definitely one of the biggest reasons for the breakup. They officially offered him a scholarship on Thursday, just one day before he decommitted.

Kirby Smart and his staff are always looking for elite talent, and after seeing McGaskin’s 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 blocked punts during his 2025 junior season. They knew he was a must-have target for their defense.

While Georgia is making a serious run, they aren’t the only ones in the race for bagging the linebacker. Now that his recruitment is “officially open for business” again, McGaskin is planning to visit Florida State for their Junior Day this weekend. He’s also been hearing a lot from other heavy hitters like Florida and LSU, so the race to land him is wide open.

As for Notre Dame, they aren’t just sitting around. They’ve already started looking for a replacement and extended an offer to Josiah Poyer, a talented linebacker from the famous St. John Bosco program in California, on the very same day McGaskin left. It’s still early days for the 2027 class, but the battle for McGaskin, the No. 14 best LB of 2027, is definitely one of the biggest stories to watch this offseason.

But he isn’t the only one dawg got their eyes on.

Georgia Bulldogs’ 2027 recruiting class so far

Kirby Smart has the Georgia Bulldogs’ 2027 recruiting class off to a strong start, currently sitting at No. 9 in the national rankings with five early commitments.

The group is built on elite talent like four-star cornerback Donte Wright and massive offensive tackle Kelsey Adams, showing that the “Dawgs” are once again a major player on the recruiting trail. This weekend is a huge one for the program as they host their first major “Junior Day” of the year, bringing in dozens of top prospects to check out the campus in Athens.

Apart from McGaskin, they are now leading the race for five-star running back Kemon Spell, a former Penn State commit who recently named Georgia as his top choice. The staff is also keeping a close eye on “toy” prospect Marquis Fennell, a versatile playmaker from Valdosta who recently visited and earned comparisons to current stars. Plus, 5-star safety Chance Gilbert will be the guy at the event.

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With so much elite talent on campus today, the 2027 class is definitely the one to watch as Kirby Smart looks to keep Georgia at the top of the college football world.