Jordan Hall: Talented freshman DL will be causing ‘Big Baby’ tears for Georgia football foes
DawgNation Staff
This is the third installment of a DawgNation series featuring the “Next Generation” of Georgia football players from the 2023 class. 5-star Jordan Big Baby Hall ranks as the nation’s No. 4 DL and the No. 39 overall prospect on the 247Sports Composite. On3 has him as the No. 4 DL and at No. 25 on its Industry Ranking scale.
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Oh, the stories we can tell about Jordan Hall. We could open with the genesis of his “Big Baby” nickname.
That was a nod to the move made by Mykel Williams when he made plays for the ‘Dawgs as a freshman impact defender in 2022.
“We getting fed and we are getting fetty,” Hall said after the All-American Bowl.
The term “fetty” now comes up in ray lyrics as slang for money.
“Mykel Williams, that’s his celebration after getting a sack,” Hall added. “That’s a tribute to him and he played in this game last year and did well. The East team went out on top and that’s all that matters.”
Hall’s plan was scripted. He executed that move after consulting his coaches beforehand. Hall could only do that if the East was up by at least 21 points. The 15-yard flag would prove costly in a tight game. He got the approval and might have collected some of those dollar bills from the staff.
“I talked to my coach about it before the game,” Hall said after the All-American Bowl. “He said it was fine and just to have fun.”
The coaches on the East team at the All-American Bowl described Hall as fun to be around, an energy guy and unselfish. Hall was an “Alpha” and just about unblockable when he wanted to be.
We could also point out that at least one member of DawgNation already treasures Hall. The 6-foot-3.5, 320-pound Hall got to take in the national championship parade as an early January enrollee. He was a part of the “Dawgwalk” and got to sign his share of autographs.
“Really just wanted to prove to myself and then to everybody that I’m better than what everybody rated me as,” Hall said.
Williams did that same thing, too. He rose to the No. 4 player nationally. On3.com moved Hall up to No. 13 nationally on its individual site ranking after he shined bright in Texas.
Jordan Hall has already been coached by a ‘Dawg
These are all colorful pieces of the Jordan Hall story. Yet there’s one more narrative that needs to be told.
This is a very good time. Meet Randy Randall Jr.
There have been many moments in this era Kirby Smart has worked so hard to build in Athens where it seems he must be living right.
Or that he and his assistants create their luck on the recruiting trail.
This feels like another one of those moments. Randall, Hall’s coach at Westside High in Jacksonville, already knows what he will do the first time Jordan knifes through the line for a big stop for the ‘Dawgs.
“I’ll probably be jumping up and down and screaming at the TV,” Randall said. “Or if I’m at the game, I’m going to be jumping up and down and screaming. It will be such a moment because that’s something he has been waiting on. That’s the biggest thing about it. Jordan has been working and waiting for that moment. The first time he does that, it is going to grab my heart and I’m going to jump and down a little bit thinking of all the big things he has been through to make it to that point.”
This goes deeper than being the coach and the guy that still lifts weights with his players. He lifted with Hall.
It is because the coach of his high school team is a big-time Georgia fan.
“I am a fan of not only Jordan but also Georgia football,” Randall said. “I’m a die-hard ‘Dawg. I’m from Brunswick myself and I’m also happy for my kids where ever they go.”
“But I feel like Georgia is a great opportunity here for him. I told him where ever he went, I was going to be excited and happy for him.”
When Hall made that independent decision to be a ‘Dawg, he was smiling from ear to ear.
“I’ve been with Jordan since the ninth grade here,” Randall Jr. said. “Jordan is a great kid all-around. He is an asset on the field and in the classroom. His GPA was outstanding while he was in school here. He works hard.”
It feels like a safe bet that Hall will earn some playing time this fall.
“His hardest critic will always be himself,” Randall Jr. said. “He works hard and the more competition he has and the more he focuses, locks down and finds new levels to his game. At the All-American Bowl, everyone there was a D-1 competitor and for him, it was let me show the world what I can really do.”
“His drive is to show the world what he believes he is. Not what everybody else believes he is. He knows what he needs to do and where he needs to go and he is going to drive and push himself there.”
“Big Baby” no more: One very good story about Jordan Hall
The senior year stat line for Hall shines. The Westside staff approximated he racked up 70 solo tackles, 20 assists, 22 tackles for losses and eight sacks. There were 17 QB hurries and seven PBUs. He also blocked three field goals.
“He was getting doubled every game,” Randall said. “That was what made it funny. He was getting doubled all the time and he was still beating people. He still wasn’t letting it all out because he felt like he would hurt some of the other kids. He was that dominant around some of the kids and didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
“That was what made that All-American game so special to him. That was when he could unleash who he really is.”
Another key indicator is that Hall is starved to play for a winner. He just didn’t have the pieces around him to win a lot of games with his high school team. He got triple-teamed. He played both ways.
Hall’s team went 1-9 in his senior year. The Wolverines were 2-8 the year prior. He’s going to win more games in his first month as a ‘Dawg as he did in his last 20 games in high school.
“I think he will show even more at Georgia,” his coach said. “With so many people that are burning to be great or are already great, I think he will really thrive. They have the D-line and all the linebackers that will allow him to show his talent even more. That is going to be impressive. I am waiting to see this full package here that is going to be unleashed when he is surrounded by a great team.”
He had the opportunity to jump to a lot of schools for his senior year, but he chose to stay at Westside when the season outlook wasn’t that bright.
Hall never wavered.
Randall provided a treasure trove of stories about Hall. The one about his last high school game might just be the best.
“We played Raines High School and Jordan had an ankle tweak,” Randall Jr. said. “He tweaked it earlier in the season and played through it. But he tweaked it that game. I went up to Jordan and I gave him a hug as he sat on our trainer’s table. Because it was our last game and I didn’t want him to hurt anymore.”
He knew Hall’s future was ahead of him. He would sign in December and enroll in January. He didn’t need a week 10 injury setback.
“I gave him a hug and said ‘I love you’ and ‘Thank you’ and he said ‘Yes sir.’'
Hall cried a little. But had another thought when the team walked in at halftime.
“Coach,” Hall said. “I’m not going out like that.”
“Sir?” Randall Jr. said.
I”m not going out like that,” Hall said. “I want to finish it.”
Hall went back in. Competed. Westside fell by a 32-6 margin. The sophomore-heavy team lost four games by less than a touchdown in 2022.
He had six or seven tackles and two sacks in that game. Playing with that ankle sprain.
“I was like ‘Wow kid you are tough. You are tougher than people give you credit for’ and it was never about him. It was about the team. When I say he is a selfless individual, he is a selfless individual. He cares more about the team. It is never about him.”
Those two were moved afterward.
Randall went to school at Raines. Walked the same halls. Played for their team. Graduated there. He’s the first head coach to graduate from the school.
“I appreciated him for all of it,” Randall Jr. said. “We sat in the locker room and cried together afterward. Because I couldn’t believe it was over for him.”
That “Big Baby” name has hung around him for a while. His family told DawgNation out in Texas that he was called “Big Baby” as a toddler because he was, um, a very big baby.
“I was a big kid but it really started getting popular my freshman year in high school,” Hall said. “That’s when I really got it.”
Another chapter to the “Big Baby” nickname origin story
The name Ray Bolden III will always be a part of the “Big Baby” story. He’s now at Tennessee State on a full academic scholarship.
Randall described him as an All-State center and an All-State wrestler in high school.
Bolden was about 5 feet, 10 inches and approximately 265 pounds. He was a senior in 2021.
“Ray would basically give him work on the field,” Randall Jr. said. “It was funny because Jordan would get mad. Jordan would get real mad. Jordan is very competitive. He got mad and was like ‘Line it up again’ and Ray would beat him again. Ray is passive-aggressive so we used to laugh at Ray. When Jordan would say that, Ray would start laughing and he would line up again.”
And he would beat him again. This went on for about two years. That is another untold part of the origin story of that “Big Baby” nickname.
“Jordan finally beat Ray,” Randall Jr. said. “And Jordan jumps up and down and says ‘Yeah, I got him’ and the name came from when Jordan used to get beat and Jordan used to get mad. A tear would fall from his eye when he did.”
There were some at the time that didn’t know him that well. They saw his size and though he was much older. Not a freshman.
“They might have thought he was soft or going to grow up soft or be a baby,” Randall Jr. said. “But it made Jordan grow up. It made Jordan face it and he just got so much better because of that competition. It was just that mode of competition that you are in a ‘Dawgfight and Ray was not going to let you win.”
“If Ray was about 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-4, then he probably would have gone to Georgia himself and played. That’s how much of a ‘Dawg this kid was. He went to school on a full academic scholarship and he showed ‘Baby’ that same work ethic that he has now in the classroom and on the field.”
If Hall becomes an All-American one day, he will have Bolden to thank. If he goes in the first round of the draft, those high school battles and those tears were just part of his journey.
“Ray will be a part of that speech,” Randall Jr. said. “It would be one of the greatest things. I picked at Jordan about it on the day he left here because we had another young kid that came last year. Jordan was taking him through it and it was like he sees the next one coming up so it is his turn to hand out that work. He had to punish him and make him grow up.”
The burning desire to be great for Jordan “Big Baby” Hall
When you evaluate players for a living, there is so much that stands out here with Hall.
He comes from a strong family with strong roots. When he was out in Texas for the All-American Bowl, it looked like he had at least a dozen family members out there to support him, if not more.
“Knowing the family there is a plus,” Randall Jr. said. “Because they have a great family. A great dynamic family. Jordan comes from good people. Very good people. All the kids are smart as heck. Even down to the little sister. They are expected to have great grades and they set that burden on themselves and they all get it done. There are no excuses for why they don’t get it done. They never have an excuse for why. That’s the one thing that I really love about Jordan. He never had an excuse for why something wasn’t getting done or if he was falling short. He was like I am just going to work even harder to get where I need to be or where I need it to be.”
And a lot of those folks drove from Florida to Texas to be there. Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. They were in his corner.
When he conditioned every day with his high school team, he ran with the running backs. Not the offensive and defensive linemen.
“As a coach, he is a once-in-a-lifetime kid you get to coach that is driven to be great,” Randall Jr. said. “He has role models in front of him. Like his big brother who is also driven to be great and is going to be great.”
His older brother, Ali Hall, is a 4.0 student at Georgia Military College. He is a defensive back with a bright future.
When he went home for break, Hall made a point to connect with Randall.
“To tell you a little bit more about him, he was here on spring break,” Randall Jr. said. “He called me every day to come to work out. He took no days off. He was in the weight room every day. That in itself, let me know even more about Jordan. He’s not going to let off or let down because he’s in college and he’s already made it where he wants to be.”
“He’s going to push himself even harder to be great.”
His coach noticed that his chest was sticking out more. He let him know he already was seeing the gains.
“I’m trying, coach.”
That’s what Randall said he told him.
“Big Baby” is now already at UGA. The tears are now going to flow from those trying to hold him back.
He had a message for DawgNation as he was leaving the field at the Alamodome in Texas. It was delivered before the ‘Dawgs routed TCU in California two days later.
“We’re coming for a third one,” Hall said.
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