Southern Miss football signs son of one of the NFL’s greatest running backs
The Southern Miss football program added the son of an NFL legend to its 2020 signing class.
Miami (Fla.) Killian running back Frank Gore Jr. signed with the Golden Eagles over Florida Atlantic on Thursday morning, giving the USM a late boost in the early signing period. He is the son of the Buffalo Bills star running back who ranks third in NFL history in career rushing yardage at 15,321, trailing only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton.
Gore is just the third high school prospect to sign with USM during the early signing period after the program announced 11 junior college signees on Wednesday.
After originally committing to FAU in June, Gore began to rethink his decision after the Owls’ head coach, Lane Kiffin, was hired by Ole Miss earlier this month. He also held offers from Kentucky and Chattanooga.
Gore’s father is a 5-foot-9, 212-pound running back who has developed the reputation as a bruising runner who earned tough yardage inside. The former Miami Hurricanes star is currently in his 15th NFL season at the age of 36.
In 12 games as a senior, Gore ran 113 times for 1,111 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 games. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound running back averaged 9.8 yards a career with a season long of 78.
Frank Gore Sr. gave a scouting report on his son when after he signed with Miami Dolphins in 2018.
“He’s got great vision,” he said. “He can catch the ball, he can run routes. I just want him to continue to work hard. Just whatever he does this year, I don’t want it to get to his head.
“I”m not going to push him to do nothing. Whatever he wants to do, he’s going to do it. It’s not just because I play ball, he’s got to play ball. Me seeing him since he was a little kid, he was outside playing with his bigger cousins. I knew he was going to play football.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 10:44 AM.
