Nephew of Georgia great details how ‘stars aligned’ for commitment to Florida

Football has always been a part of Andrew Beard’s life.

His father, Jerry Beard Sr., played running back at Appalachian State at the turn of the century. His uncle, Garrison Hearst, was an All-American running back at Georgia before spending a decade in the NFL.

The younger Beard has been around the game from an early age and learned how to excel in the sport. He worked on his physical abilities and studied playbooks as he worked to follow in the footsteps of his dad and uncle.

Since starting high school, Beard has showcased the work and talent that he developed in middle school football.

As a freshman at Lincoln County, Beard earned All-Region honors at defensive back, where he had 75 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble. He also rushed for 275 yards and three touchdowns.

His recruitment started to pick up after that season as schools such as Miami, Oklahoma and Tennessee made him offers in the spring of 2024. Over the next two years, Beard would earn more than 35 offers as he heard from schools across the country.

Heading into his senior season, now at Prince Avenue Christian, Beard has rushed for nearly 3,500 yards and has scored 50 total touchdowns. He’s one of the top running backs in the 2027 recruiting class.

“I have the right vision to be patient and hit the hole when it opens up,” Beard said when breaking down his game. “I feel like you can’t really, like, there’s no better practice than actually just going through it. So I feel like getting a lot of reps with the offensive line and figuring out the timing was the main thing.”

During his recruitment, rated as a 4-star running back, Beard took visits across the country, taking in experiences that he otherwise wouldn’t have had, he said. He hung out with idols, such as DeMarco Murray at Oklahoma, and dined with big names in college football, such as Dabo Swinney and Josh Heupel.

“I definitely enjoyed the whole (recruiting process),” Beard said. “Those are just like special moments that I’m just never going to forget.”

Along with his parents, Beard spent much of his free time speaking with coaches, going on visits and taking part in the recruiting process. One of his first offers came from Georgia Tech and then-Jackets offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and he started building a relationship.

After the 2025 season, Faulkner took the offensive coordinator job at Florida and the communication continued between him and Beard. Another key coach in the running back’s recruitment was Chris Foster, who was the running backs coach at Duke before joining Faulkner in Gainesville this offseason.

Beard took a visit to Florida in January and loved what the Gators had to offer. In May, he committed to Florida over Clemson, Tennessee and Georgia, the school that first made him an offer back in 2023.

“I really just felt like it was just like all the stars aligned,” Beard said of his commitment. “I already had a good relationship with Coach Faulkner and Coach Foster, the running backs coach before they ended up coming to Florida. So I feel like when I took that visit in January, I just felt like all the coaches were in place. Meeting (head coach Jon Sumrall) and seeing the energy he had really made me confident about my choice.”

Prince Avenue head coach Jon Richt, who grew up going to Georgia games to see his dad, Mark, coach on the sidelines in Athens, was proud of the way his all-state running back handled the recruiting process.

“His parents were looking for who’s going to be helping raise their son over the next three to four years,” Richt said. “That’s kind of the way they went about it. They took their time. They didn’t rush, and I was happy to see that. And once they commit, they’re committed.”

Once Beard arrives in Gainesville after his senior season, he’ll be joining a couple of former Prince Avenue stars in quarterback Aaron Philo and receiver Bailey Stockton. The two transferred from Georgia Tech to Florida this offseason as they followed their offensive coordinator. Philo hosted Beard on his visit.

Stockton attended some Prince Avenue practices and has been able to see Beard’s development over the past couple years.

“It’s pretty cool to get another Bogart (Georgia) guy,” Stockton said. “I think he is very explosive out of the backfield as a runner and a receiver. He also catches the ball really well.”

Beard’s stats have been better since he got to Bogart and started playing for the Wolverines, but he feels like the ability has been within him for a while.

“I wouldn’t really say any changes that I made, but I feel like I just improved my game during the offseason with track,” Beard said. “I also had an offensive line that did their thing in the entire season, so I feel like that played a major part in (the production).”

Richt was Prince Avenue’s offensive coordinator before being named head coach in February 2025. He noticed quickly the raw athleticism in his new running back.

It was up to the coaching staff, Beard and his teammates to really utilize the running back’s athletic abilities.

“He didn’t come in here beating his chest, saying ‘I’m the guy,’” Richt said. “He came in here and earned it. He earned the respect of everybody in the organization, in the school, in the school building. He’s a great kid. It’s a joy to coach a kid like that. That as talented as he is, he still understands how to be just a quality human being.”