She's not ill and she's not in recovery per say. She was in an auto accident when Kyle was a small child. She has a spinal issue which she has to manage. It would seem that it would make weekend traveling to games in Knoxville very difficult for her. She might give Kyle her blessing to enroll at Tennessee, but that doesn't mean he could head out of state with a clear conscience.
Dad lives and works in Chattanooga. He thinks Tennessee is a better program fit. We won't know until his papers are in. The family element and his proximity to Athens is giving the Pups some leverage.
Richt has not handled Davis' recruitment very smoothly. Davis attended camp there as a rising junior and they told him they wanted to see more progress. He had something like 15 offers, before October of Davis' junior year, when the in-state school finally extended a scholarship offer. I think that's part of the reason he hasn't already committed to them. He wasn't happy about being treated like a low priority, until he was already committed to another school.
Based on his interviews and comments, he seems to really gush about Tennessee. I think the biggest thing UGA has in their corner is proximity. Forget the Eason factor, because Tennessee has Dobbs/Guarantano/Johnson to promote. I think Davis has friends at multiple schools, but I think Tennessee is his personal favorite in terms of which school excites him the most.