FAU football recruit recap: Kevin McCrary

Part 19 of our weekly series highlighting each of the 19 players that signed with Florida Atlantic on National Signing Day.

A large flag is stretched across the field before the Owls’ game versus Miami on Sept. 11, 2015. Max Jackson | Staff Photographer

Brendan Feeney, Sports Editor
April 14, 2016

Normally when the head coach of a college football program visits a a high school recruit, it becomes a moment in time that the recruit will never forget.

Mainland High School senior defensive lineman Kevin McCrary made his recruitment not only memorable for him, but for his future Florida Atlantic coach Charlie Partridge as well.

“I went in, and I don’t want to exaggerate, but there had to be at least 30-40 people in that home visit, it was incredible,” Partridge said on National Signing Day. “It was a celebration, it was one of the moments you don’t forget for a long time.”

The Daytona Beach local earned a spot on the Class 6A All-State team after recording 88 tackles (19 for a loss) and nine sacks.

“Talent wise, the tape speaks for itself, he has tremendous talent,” Partridge said. “Defensive tackles are really hard to find. To find big kids that can move the way he and Will Davis do … [Defensive tackle is] one of the hardest position groups that you scour the country for and I couldn’t be happier to get Kevin and Will Davis.”

Partridge isn’t the only head coach to scour the country and stumble upon McCrary. Averaging out as the 54th ranked defensive tackle recruit in the country according to 247sports.com, McCrary received offers from the University of North Carolina, West Virginia University and Duke University.

Davis said he and McCrary have played each other in the past and is excited to team up with him in the future.

“He’s a go-getter,” Davis said. “To hear that really excites me, that [the coaches] trust us enough to offer us and give us a chance to go fight.”

Brendan Feeney is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @feeney42.