Why Georgia football commit Jared Curtis stayed at Nashville Christian, didn't transfer to Baylor
A few months before Jared Curtis committed to Georgia football in March, the top-rated quarterback had to decide where he would finish high school.
Curtis was accepted into Baylor, a Chattanooga boarding school, and made multiple visits to the campus before deciding to stay at Nashville Christian, he told The Tennessean.
“I’ve been here since seventh grade. I’ve been really close to the whole football team,” Curtis said. “I want to stay where I’m at and play with my friends and teammates.”
Curtis, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound dual-threat QB, is the nation’s No. 1 overall player in the 2026 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. He is the nation’s No. 9 overall player.
He has signed a multi-year exclusive deal with Leaf Trading Cards through QB Reps, a full-service agency providing NIL services to the nation’s leading quarterbacks.
Curtis’ mom, Barbara, said they gave Baylor coach Eric Kimrey their decision to stay in Nashville about a month after school resumed following the holiday break. The family had considered a plan where Curtis would board at Baylor for his junior year and Barbara would move to Chattanooga for his senior year.
“We told Jared, this is your decision. We went over the pros and here are the cons,” Barbara Curtis said. “He thought about it. But he didn’t want to leave his teammates and he loves (Nashville Christian) coach (Jeff) Brothers.”
More: Ranking Nashville area's top 20 quarterbacks returning for 2024 TSSAA football season
Georgia football commit Jared Curtis heard criticism about competition
Curtis surpassed more than 2,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons at Nashville Christian prior to committing to Georgia football.
As a sophomore this past fall, he completed 180 of 321 passes (56%) for 2,522 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 543 yards and 13 TDs.
But Curtis said he’s been criticized by outsiders that he isn’t worthy of his rankings because Nashville Christian, which has an enrollment of 256, competes in Division II-A, the smallest TSSAA football private-school classification in Tennessee.
Baylor afforded him a chance to play more Power-5 prospects in DII-AAA, the state’s largest private-school classification in what has become the toughest league in the state.
More: Jared Curtis offered by Texas football, where QB room includes Arch Manning
Nashville Christian coach Jeff Brothers said he had just one conversation where Curtis told him he was considering changing schools and never pressured him to stay.
“The world sees a talent like Jared and they’ll maybe descend on him to say, ‘Hey you need to be somewhere else, or, there are things you aren’t getting there that you need,’” Brothers said. “I think when he went to consider other (options) he saw that everything he needed was here. You can get coached here, you can be prepared for the next level here.”
Curtis led the Eagles to a DII-A state runner-up finish as a freshman, completing nearly 60% of his passes for 2,285 yards and 27 touchdowns. He also ran for 481 yards and seven touchdowns. But that group had a veteran cast.
With a group of young players in 2023, Nashville Christian finished the season 6-7.
Curtis believes staying with the Eagles will help him improve at elevating those around him.
“I’m up there every Thursday before school (working out) and we do it on the weekends too,” Curtis said. “Whenever we have free time we go to eat, we all sit at the same lunch table. I feel like we have a good bond.”
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Georgia football: QB commit Jared Curtis considered transferring high schools
