Georgia HC Kirby Smart visits 5-star WR Jaime Ffrench after Alabama decommitment

Five-star Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin wide receiver Jaime Ffrench decommitted from Alabama over the weekend and continues to be one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits.

French had previously been committed to Alabama since July, when he chose the Crimson Tide over Miami, Florida State, LSU and a handful of other programs. But after wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins was hired away by Texas A&M and Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban announced his retirement, Ffrench has reopened his recruitment.

Most of those schools have been in contact with him since his commitment trying to flip him, but Georgia has been one of the newest schools to enter the mix.

On Wednesday, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart visited French at his school.

🐶🐶?? @KirbySmartUGA @coach_thartley @CoachBmac_ pic.twitter.com/ywGBnspODx

— Jaime Ffrench Jr. (@jaimeffrenchjr) January 17, 2024

“Schools like Georgia are recently hearing about the Wiggins news … Florida State, Miami, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State … there’s a lot of eyes coming back around and doing a double-check,” Ffrench said of who has been in contact with him earlier this month. “There’s a lot of schools making their rounds back around.”

As such, the Bulldogs will have to fight off a lot of other suitors if they want to sign him in December.

Florida schools, Ohio State also pursuing Jaime Ffrench

Florida State’s Mike Norvell wants the in-state pass-catcher in a major way is among the coaches keeping a direct line of communication with Ffrench.

“I love the way he recruits you, it’s hard to tell Florida State no, it’s hard to tell Coach Norvell no,” he laughed. “Tramell jokes around a lot and there’s a lot of Florida State stuff that we knick-knack about.”

Miami’s Mario Cristobal has been equally as persistent, with the Hurricanes looking to upgrade their receiver room significantly this cycle.

“Definitely the love that Coach Cristobal and Coach (Kevin) Beard shows, they always make group texts and let me know they haven’t forgotten about him and have to get me to campus,” Ffrench said. “They have my OL committed, so they stay on me a lot.”

Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline is recruiting receivers better than anyone else in the country. And he’s coming off landing five-stars Jeremiah Smith (2024) and Brandon Inniss (2023) in back-to-back cycles.

“Coach Hartline FaceTime calls me weekly,” he started. “It’s the SFE Family. They’re tied in … it’s like a pipeline to Columbus. They stay on me and tell me they have a spot there reserved. They want me to keep coming to Columbus and hope I end up back at Ohio State.”