Clayton Freeman, Florida Times-Union
·4 min read
The big man needed a big hat.
So when Jordan Hall needed to declare his final decision, he called out from the stage, and three days before Christmas, everybody was waiting for the man with the bag.
In the hands of junior linebacker Neil Whyte, that bag ascended the Eisenhower-era steps of Westside High School's Jane Porter Auditorium, where the 6-4, 300-pound Hall reached in and pulled out a king-size hat fit for a king-size football prospect.
Touchdown, Georgia.
Westside defensive tackle Hall lifted the oversized Georgia cap, an appropriately giant selection for the massive D-line prospect, and signed on the dotted line Thursday afternoon, committing his college football future to the the Bulldogs and delivering an early Christmas present to fans in Athens.
"[At Georgia] I feel like I can be myself more than anything," Hall said.
Hall selected the Bulldogs ahead of Alabama, Florida and LSU in an all-SEC recruiting battle. He trimmed Ohio State from his finalist list earlier in December.
But the decision wasn't official until the end of a wacky hat dance in which Hall tried on regular-size caps for all four finalist schools before placing them aside and calling for Whyte to bring up the big bag with the big hat.
The one that mattered.
"I knew I was going to do that [hat routine] way before I even thought about signing day," Hall said.
A four-year starter and a veritable wrecking ball on the Westside line, Hall shattered even his previous standards in 2022. Fighting through constant double-teams, he nonetheless finished with 31 tackles for loss, nine sacks, two forced fumbles and two kick blocks to earn a trip to January's All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
Offers have poured in by the dozens for Hall, rated by national recruiting analysts among the country's top 10 defensive linemen in the 2023 class. He's the first Westside selection to the annual Times-Union Super 11 list since Florida signed Brandon Hicks in 2006, when the school was still known as Forrest High School, and only the fifth Super 11 honoree in program history.
"I did something different here," Hall said. "I made history here, and I just left my mark."
"He's got that great leadership and that great loyalty," Westside head coach Randy Randall said. "That's the thing that makes him special and sets him apart. He's so very loyal. He's going to be loyal to the University of Georgia when he gets there and he's going to show them that same type of love."
Hall said the influence of former Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker, the Jaguars' No. 1 overall selection in this spring's NFL Draft, was "a good piece of the puzzle." He said the two had spoken regularly since Walker's arrival in Jacksonville.
"It was incredible to see him reach out to me like that," Hall said.
Hall said he found out about the hats earlier this month. He said he reached out to Georgia running back Kenny McIntosh, who helped him connect with Arizona-based Noggin Boss, a manufacturer of the giant headgear. He said the delivery arrived three days earlier, and he'd been keeping it at home since then.
"I'd seen it when they were at the SEC Championship Game, and I'm like, "Why does that hat look so big?'" he said.
Even Randall said he didn't know about the coming hat dance.
"I got called this morning about Jordan and I had no idea where Jordan was going. He did not let on," Randall said.
As for name, image and likeness deals? Hall has one name on his mind.
"Publix chicken wings… They have them [in Athens] and I know where it is, too."
Georgia continues to gain ground in the Jacksonville area. Hall becomes the latest major Bulldogs signing from the city, following quarterback Carson Beck from Mandarin in the 2020 class and cornerback Jaheim Singletary from Riverside last year, along with numerous key contributors from Southeast Georgia like offensive lineman Warren McClendon and kicker Jack Podlesny.
Now, he's ready to don his next Georgia hat. The official one, the hard one, the red one with the black G on the side. It may not be as flashy as the signing day gear, but it's the one he's planning to use to build the next step in his football career.
"I know I can work hard enough to get myself up to par [for college football]," Hall said. "That's just a real big thing I pride myself on, hard work."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Westside 4-star defensive tackle Jordan Hall signs with Georgia
