'Dream come true': Orange Park's Roderick Kearney makes Gators football signing official

One chomp. One signature. One lift of the Gators cap.

One moment to close the football recruiting odyssey for Roderick Kearney.

"This moment means a lot to me, going down in history for Orange Park," Kearney said.

Orange Park's most prominent gridiron prospect for well over a decade, Kearney put pen to paper Wednesday morning to sign with the University of Florida during the opening day of the NCAA's early signing period for college football.

The 6-4, 300-pound Kearney, a punishing four-star blocker and an Under Armour All-American, signed in front of his family, coaches, students and administrators inside the Raider Dome.

Kearney's signing marked one of the brightest highlights of a day of celebration that stretched across the First Coast all the way inland to Lake City, Lake Butler and Starke. More than a dozen Jacksonville-area players signed in all, but one still waiting is four-star Westside defensive tackle Jordan Hall, scheduled to select Thursday from a final quartet of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU.

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Kearney has been on course for a signing-day celebration ever since he started clearing the path for 1,000-yard ground seasons as an Orange Park sophomore. The only question was where.

"It took a lot of praying, a lot of decisions with me and my family to be where I am today," Kearney said.

Gainesville already has a pair of Jacksonville-area players getting regular playing time on the offensive front in Austin Barber (Trinity Christian) and Kingsley Eguakun (Sandalwood). They're about to add another.

Kearney's signing also represents a victory for Gators fans in the in-state battle — until two months ago, he had been committed to Florida State before a strong recruiting push from the UF staff under first-year head coach Billy Napier.

All in all, the morning was an excellent one for the Gators in the Jacksonville area, picking up four local signings. In addition to Kearney, Bartram Trail cornerback Sharif Denson, Columbia linebacker Jaden Robinson and Trinity Christian running back Treyaun Webb selected UF.

Kearney won't have to wait long to see some of his new teammates face to face. Wednesday was the final day on the Orange Park campus for Kearney, an early enrollee, whose next step onto school grounds will come at the UF campus in Gainesville.

"It kind of hit me hard this morning," he said. "It's a dream come true."

'Blessed': Howard eager for Gamecocks chance

On Saturday at Grayson Howard’s signing day celebration, former Jackson head coach Christopher Foy told the story of how Howard didn’t initially make his seventh-grade football team in middle school.

Fast-forward to 2022 and Howard is one of the top-rated linebackers in the nation, and headed to South Carolina to join the Gamecocks and compete in the SEC. Like several other early signees in Jacksonville, Howard participated in a pre-signing ceremony before national letters of intent took effect — a moment that for him occurred at 7:22 a.m. Wednesday, when the South Carolina athletic department officially announced his pending arrival.

“I’m blessed, that’s the word for it,” Howard said Saturday after taking photos with family and friends who came out to support him. “I’m humbled to be in this position, blessed to be in this position and I’m happy. I’m happy I was able to accomplish all these things and you know, let’s get back to work.”

Howard got a chance to put his name on the dotted line and lock it in with South Carolina and will have the virtue of being with the team when they head to Jacksonville to play in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame on Dec. 30.

The Gamecocks are getting a four-star rated linebacker who recorded 188 tackles during his senior season as he helped deliver Jackson its first district championship in more than a decade.

“This is only the beginning,” Howard said. “A lot more work to be done. I’m just looking forward to that and looking down the road and get ready to work.”

Boomer Sooner: Strong signs with Oklahoma

On a day with few surprises around Jacksonville, Union County defensive tackle Markus Strong provided the biggest.

The three-star lineman, previously uncommitted, signed Wednesday with Oklahoma in the most prominent Fightin' Tigers signing for many years -- perhaps since C.J. Spiller selected Clemson in the class of 2006.

Strong had missed 2021 with a torn ACL in his knee, but showed this year that he was back in a big way. He recorded 21.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks to lead the Union County defense to the Class 1R semifinals.

He's the first power conference signing from the school since running back Charles Strong Jr. selected Texas A&M in the 2018 class.

Jacksonville-area early signings Wednesday

Bartram Trail: CB Sharif Denson (Florida).

Bolles: OL Brendan Black (Iowa State), TE Connor Cox (South Carolina), OL Cooper Fordham (Louisiana)

Brunswick: DL Ka'shawn Thomas (Wake Forest)

Columbia: DB Amare Ferrell (Indiana), QB Tyler Jefferson (Central Michigan), LB Jaden Robinson (Florida)

Fleming Island: OL T.J. Lawrence (USF), RB Samuel Singleton (Florida State), LB Abram Wright (Rutgers)

Jackson: LB Grayson Howard (South Carolina)

Oakleaf: OT Kyland Armstrong (Wake Forest)

Orange Park: OL Roderick Kearney (Florida)

Raines: DB Kenton Kirkland (Florida State)

Sandalwood: LB Koron Hayward (Western Kentucky)

Trinity Christian: RB Treyaun Webb (Florida)

Union County: DT Markus Strong (Oklahoma)

Ware County: WR Jarvis Hayes (Western Kentucky)

White: S Davaughn Patterson (Wake Forest)

Yulee: WR Zack Drawdy (UConn), S Landon Hale (FIU)

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Football early signing period 2022: Roderick Kearney highlights Wednesday recruiting