Jordan Hall remembers crying on the phone with his father.

The Georgia defensive lineman had just gotten the news of another stress fracture in his legs. The diagnosis came as Hall recovered from the same injury in his other leg and just a couple of weeks before the start of the 2024 season.

"I didn't do it in front of everybody, you know. But I called my dad. I broke down," Hall said. "I was 18. I'm a kid. I was a kid still. You feel me? I'm 18, 19. I'm going through changes in life at a university where, you know, the pressure's on you and you're in the spotlight."

Hall estimated he's at about 80 percent health right now. But he's ready to put past frustrations behind him as he takes on a bigger role for the Bulldogs in 2025.

Those were also the expectations Hall had heading into last season. But injuries limited Hall to just six games, taxing him mentally in the process. Hall called his injury rehab "the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with mentally in my life."

While he didn't see the field as much as he would have liked, Hall did spend much of his time absorbing lessons from veterans such as Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson.

"Something I feel like I learned from I feel like every guy in the room, work ethic and consistency is a big thing, especially at D-line, mainly because you may have a good day, you may have a bad day, but you're never going to win every rep. It's impossible at D-line," Hall said. "As a defensive lineman here, we know and we understand that we have the most physically demanding job on the field. Taking on double teams, playing scoop blocks, you know, regardless of what it is, we've got to weather the defense on our back and that burden of responsibility is something that we care and we hold."

Hall is "more than thrilled" to be getting healthier and finally getting the chance to show what he can do on the field. His head coach is counting on him to lead a defensive line that, like many other positions for the Bulldogs, lost plenty of production from last year's team.

"He's looked much better and much more healthy," head coach Kirby Smart said. "He had his pins taken out, screws taken out, so he's practiced much better so far this spring than he did at the finish of last year, and we need him to be an integral part of leadership on this team."

How does Hall plan to take on that leadership role? For starters, by using his own experiences as an example for younger players.

"I feel like everything starts with your heart," Hall said. "You've got to want to play football. You've got to love it, especially being here. You've got to love playing football. It's not easy being here. Knowing that the job and the way everything works here, everything's not going to go your way. You've got to be positive about things all the time, and you've got to really have zeal and want for the game."