Late Georgia football recruiting addition jumped for joy when he got offer

Nick Peal was playing mini-golf with friends from his Roswell High School football team on a spring break trip in early April in Destin, Fla., when he got a call that changed things for him in a big way.

Georgia football running backs coach Josh Crawford was on the phone along with Roswell coach Jonathan Thompson.

He was asked: “You ready to be a Bulldog?”

“I was jumping up and down so excited,” Peal said.

It came more than four months after most of Georgia’s 2026 recruiting class signed and after the Bulldogs had wrapped up spring practices.

Peal played a lot of outside linebacker and nickel and was used as a short-yardage running back before his senior season but focused on running back under Thompson when he took over before his senior season.

“He had an explosive year,” Thompson said.

The 5-foot-10 ½, 205-pound Peal put up 1,432 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns yards and had 215 yards and 2 touchdowns receiving last season for a team that went 12-2 and reached the state semifinals.

Peal announced his commitment April 24. He will be on scholarship. His other options were to play at Kennesaw State or Division II Delta State.

Peal needed to do some work in the classroom to get this chance, but he also credits Thompson for telling coaches he’s worth taking a chance on.

Thompson knew Crawford because both coached high school ball in South Georgia so he asked him in January where he thought Peal, who may have been headed to junior college, could find a spot.

Crawford had some interest. Peal had left a good impression when he played at Georgia’s 7-on-7 camp in the summer.

Peal said Crawford told him: “This is real. I’m not just bullcrapping you. This is a real thing. I’m trying to get you here.”

Peal took a visit to Georgia and talked to coach Kirby Smart. Thompson said Georgia needed to see if they had a spot for Peal and if not they would bring him in as a preferred walk-on.

“They liked me,” he said. “I was just having fun. I wasn’t even thinking about it like, ‘Dang, Georgia’s trying to recruit me.’ I’m like, I’m a fan at the end of the day. I grew up watching Georgia, supporting guys. I was just glad to be there.”

Peal was born in Liberia in West Africa and moved to the United States at age 6. He said his mother, Alexandra, was 22 at the time.

“She wanted a better opportunity,” he said.

“Mom has been super supportive,” Thompson said. “She wants to do everything she can to see her son succeed. She’s the epitome of a hard-working woman that did everything to give her son she could for him to be successful.”

He moved from Gwinnett County to Roswell as a freshman.

Nick is the half-brother of Chris Peal, a former Georgia defensive back who transferred to Syracuse after the 2024 season. They did not grow up together, but Chris took him to a Georgia game in 2022 against Tennessee.

“Remember when Stetson Bennett did that little phone?” Nick Peal said referring to when Bennett held his hand up against his ear after Tennessee fans hit up his phone with text messages. “That was amazing.”

Peal plans to arrive at Georgia in June. He’ll join a running back room that appeared deep at the end of spring including Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens and Dante Dowdell.

“They saw a kid that physically can do a lot of things on a scout-team, special teams perspective,” Thompson said. “If he develops the right way, maybe he gets carries at some point down the line.”

Said Peal: “I’m coming in to help the team as much as I possibly can. I’m just looking for my name to be called and when I got the opportunity I’m going to take it, I’m going to grab it. I’m going to ball out.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: ‘Explosive year’ led to Nick Peal being added to Georgia football class