Home Sweet Home: Shaedy Hayward

The 4-star safety committed to Tennessee on July 27

All-name team frontrunner, Lagonza “Shaedy” Hayward:

Hayward plays for Toombs County High School in Lyons, GA. The Bulldogs play 2A football in Georgia and went 11-2 in 2023, losing in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs to state runner-up Rockmart. Hayward totaled 48 tackles his junior year with 3 TFL and 3 INT. A tremendous all-around athlete, he also scored 7 TDs on offense while gaining over 700 receiving yards.

Rated as a top-10 safety prospect by nearly every service, Hayward has the ability to move to linebacker in college if that’s where he’s needed.

Hudl Film

Full film here.

First clip that jumped out to me was this one:

That’s pretty much the epitome of safety play: make a read and break on the ball. It’s obvious that Hayward is counted on in an “eraser” role like this often, and he fits the bill well. Further example:

That’s not great form, but it is great instinct, and the form can be fixed (it will have to be to make it work in this conference).

Maybe Kinda Like

When I start making these comparisons (based on position, size, and rating as a recruit) I get a little uneasy, afraid I’ll come across as crowning a player the next great Vol, which is why I always put the disclaimer that these are comparisons, not predictions. But this one makes me a little uneasy for a different reason, as it seems like the most cursed group of players I could’ve put together. Keshawn Lawrence played his freshman year at UT before transferring to Oklahoma following the firing of Jeremy Pruitt. Cortez McDowell had a solid career on the Hill before injury cut his senior season short. LaDarrell McNeil started 41 games for the Vols. He passed away suddenly in 2021 at the age of 27. I promise I didn’t intend to make this dark.

The first comparison I found actually made me laugh, as it was a name I haven’t thought of in a long time. It’s one of the most infamous names in Tennessee football recruiting history to those who have followed prospects the last quarter-century: OJ Owens. Us old-heads will remember that Owens came to Knoxville as one of the most can’t-miss prospects of all time, and promptly did in fact miss. Owens rarely saw the field as a Vol, totaling 8 tackles in 18 games from 2000-2004. If anything, the comparison with Owens falls apart when looking at the rating; even with as well-thought-of as Hayward is, Owens was a top-10 national prospect coming out of high school. And in the vein of this grouping being cursed, Owens did later blame his lack of production at UT on untreated head injuries suffered in practice and games, suing the University in 2016.

For a more upbeat comparison, Hayward also compares favorably to NFL Pro-Bowler Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who had an excellent career at UT (Hayward is actually rated quite a bit higher as a prospect).