Just when you didn’t think recruiting could get more bizarre, a story like this one comes along.

Chattanooga native and McCallie School product Jay Hardy shocked many in the recruiting world when he committed to Auburn over Tennessee in early November after being considered a heavy lean to join Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee program for months.

While he remained very vocal regarding his commitment to Auburn leading up to the Early Signing Period, Hardy was not believed to have signed with the Tigers and the program never publicly announced his signing.

Following the Early Signing Period, Hardy admitted he did not sign with Auburn but never wavered from his commitment to the Tigers.

This weekend, the dead period in recruiting came to an end with Tennessee hoping to work on Hardy in hopes of earning a flip of the four-star lineman from Chattanooga but that apparently won’t be happening as Austin Price of Volquest is reporting that the McCallie School product did indeed sign with Auburn during the Early Signing Period.

While that news would be interesting all by itself, Hardy immediately responded to Price’s report, claiming “I’m not signed yet,” as you can see in the screenshot below.

It’s unclear what to make of all of this, but either way, it’s the latest example of how odd recruiting has become in college football in 2020.