Derick Hall

Early life

Hall was born on March 19, 2001, in Gulfport, Mississippi. He was born four months premature, and was dead at birth without a heartbeat before being resuscitated. Weighing just 2 pounds and 1 ounce at birth, with brain bleeding, he spent a week on life support. Believing that he would likely be in a permanent vegetative state, doctors advised his mother Stacy Gooden-Crandle to allow life support to be discontinued, but she refused. Hall would spend five months in the NICU on a ventilator before finally going home with his family. In his early years he would be frequently hospitalized and suffered from asthma. Hall began playing flag football when he was 4, and tackle football when he was 9. He attended Gulfport High School where he played both offense and defense. Coming out of high school, he was a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, the 147th overall recruit and the 8th ranked weakside defensive end. He committed to play college football at Auburn University over Mississippi State and Ole Miss, citing his relationship with Auburn assistant coach Rodney Garner as the reason for his commitment.

College career

Hall was primarily a rotational player as a freshman and sophomore, recording a total of 34 tackles and four sacks. Hall became a starter as a junior, where he recorded 52 total tackles and nine sacks. As a senior, Hall recorded 60 total tackles, seven sacks, two forced fumbles, and one interception He was named second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 2021 and first-team All-SEC in 2022. Hall finished his Auburn career with 147 total tackles and 19.5 sacks.