Mike Hall doesn’t even bother putting on a tough-guy persona.
About to be a MAJOR presence on the inside! @MichaelHallJr is officially a member of the #Rushmen club #GoBuckeyes #NationalSigningDay pic.twitter.com/wvW08sabn4
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 16, 2020
Yes, he says, of course he’ll shed some tears this week. Signing a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to play at Ohio State is the culmination of everything he’s worked toward as a football player.
The Hall File
- Class: 2021
- Size: 6-foot-3/290 lbs.
- Pos: DT
- School: Streetsboro (Streetsboro, Ohio)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★
- Composite Rank: 49 (4 DT)
“Not being sad,” Hall recently told Eleven Warriors. “Just being emotional with all the hard work you put in and all the blood, sweat and tears you put in on and off the field. It really counted.”
It counted. It really did.
As of Wednesday, he’s officially a Buckeye, locking in his spot on head coach Ryan Day’s roster.
“You’ve just got to think about it like coming from a childhood and playing NCAA Football and creating a player and that player getting offers, and you’re like, ‘I wanna get offers just like that.’ That was always the plan for me,” Hall said. “I always wanted to get like 40 scholarships because I always used to watch the guys on YouTube and hear about all the scholarships they had. But I finished with 22 so that’s not bad.”
Not, it’s not. Especially when you account for the fact that he ended his recruitment and committed to Ohio State on Feb. 1 just as his stock was shooting upward.
When he got offered a scholarship by the Buckeyes in October 2019, schools like Michigan State, Cincinnati, Kentucky and Iowa State were the primary schools chasing the gregarious defensive tackle from Streetsboro. In other words, he had quality offers, but the best of the best hadn’t started coming full-bore after him yet.
Head coach Ryan Day sped things up with a trip to Hall’s hometown to extend the offer in person last fall.
“They told me somebody was gonna come, but I didn’t think it was gonna be coach Day,” Hall said. “Coach Day comes through the door, and I almost lost it. Who would’ve ever think the head coach of The Ohio State University would come to see me? It was a dream come true, and it was definitely an exciting moment. It was hard for me not to commit on the spot.”
Some Eleven Warriors articles on Hall's process:
- Sept. 25, 2019: Hall has to work for an offer
- Oct. 28, 2019: Hall receives an offer
- Feb. 1, 2020: Hall commits to Ohio State
- Feb. 1, 2020: What Hall's commitment means
- Feb. 3, 2020: Hall explains his commitment
- March 5, 2020: Film breakdown on Hall
- Sept. 7, 2020: A first-hand look at Hall's game
- Dec. 15, 2020: Hall wants to be college football's best defensive tackle
Hall didn’t do that – even if he instinctively wanted to – but also didn’t wait much longer. Within a few months, his recruitment was over. Done.
And since then, things have been quiet on his front. Quiet, at least, everywhere but on the field.
Hall is perhaps the most under-discussed player in Ohio State’s star-studded 2021 recruiting class. He so rarely comes up in conversations, getting overshadowed by fellow defensive line commit Jack Sawyer, defensive line target J.T. Tuimoloau and others. But he’s the No. 49 overall prospect nationally and the fourth-best defensive tackle in the cycle. To put that into context: Only two players expected to sign with the other 13 Big Ten teams are rated higher than him.
Down the line, Hall intends for everybody to know his name. He’ll enter the Larry Johnson School Of Developing Defensive Linemen once enrolling in the summer. There, the 3-technique hopes to pair up his explosiveness, power and 6-foot-3, 290-pound frame with the tools the long-time position coach teaches.
Also of note: Hall is the kind of person with whom Ohio State fans could fall in love. He’s affable, funny, kind and always wears a smile on his face while off the field but is as animated of a person as anyone else once on the field.
