KIRKWOOD, Mo. (WCIA) – Jacob Eberhart pledged a verbal commitment to play football at Illinois on Saturday, July 12.

Eberhart picked the Illini over Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri and Alabama.

He follows the footsteps of his father, Jason Eberhart, who played defensive line at Illinois from 1997-2000.

The rising Kirkwood High senior is the composite No. 4 ranked player in Missouri for the class of 2026. However, his dad won’t ever get to see him take the field at Memorial Stadium.

Jacob lost his father in 2023. His brother, Jason Jr., died in a shooting in 2019.

Tragedy like that can certainly put the game of football in perspective. Jacob Eberhart’s motive quickly became bigger than touchdowns.

“My mom need the help now,” the future Illini told WCIA News. “It wasn’t [a] choice basically, I had to do it for my mom.”

The loss of his dad and brother brought questions.

“I was just wondering where my life was going to go with football – and just everything else,” he said.

While Eberhart fought battles very few teenagers have to, he leaned on the game he loved – a love which got passed down through generations.

“[Football] was really my escape route,” Eberhart said. “There would be days I went out to the field alone and just work… My mom was still working. She had to still work. My brother was gone, I was the only man in the house. I had to cope with that. Football is my way of coping, and it’s always been my way of coping. I’m going to keep pushing.”

Losing loved ones can make highs or lows on the football field feel miniscule. While that tragedy brough Eberhart new perspective, it didn’t touch his care for the game and desire to succeed.

“I don’t want to let my team down,” he said. “I’m looking to come through because I know my team needs me, and I know my dad would want me to come through.”

His full heart goes into each play, but not for selfish gain.

“He cares about his teammates,” Kirkwood head football coach Jeremy Maclin. “He cares about doing his part to help us be successful.”

Maclin played 12 years in the NFL before picking up coaching in the St. Louis area. He played with, and against, some of the world’s best athletes. So – his opinion holds some weight on this question – Does Eberhart have NFL potential?

“Absolutely,” Maclin said. “He has potential to play on Sundays.”

Maclin and Eberhart make up a connected duo as the Illini pledge looks to put a bow on his high school career.

“He was a big part of making me the man I am today,” Eberhart said of Maclin.

However, their relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing.

When Eberhart joins the Kirkwood Pioneers as a sophomore he didn’t see the field right away, at least not as much as he thought he deserved. It prompted what the now four-star composite prospect looks back on as a ‘big argument.’

The NFL veteran turned high school coach, who racked up nearly 7,000 receiving yards in the league, had no plans of playing Eberhart based on size, strength, or genes alone.

“He wanted everything to happen right now,” Maclin said. “If you don’t know what you’re doing I can’t put you out there… He didn’t quite understand what we were doing from a game plan standpoint.”

Maclin’s tough love, and unwillingness to simply give Eberhart what he wanted when he wanted – forced maturity – and blossomed a pretty special bond.

“It’s been smooth sailing ever since,” Maclin said.

While playing time may have been the topic of discussion, the Pioneers’ head coach realized the 6-foot-3 wide receiver/defensive back had more on his mind. As Eberhart grows as a leader ahead of his senior year, vulnerability is a strength of his.

The trials in Eberhart’s life quickly taught him that any sort of traditional ‘tough guy’ football attitude where tears or emotions are pushed away was unnecessary.

The Illini coaches were real and open, he says.

“We connect,” he said. “They didn’t put on a tough act when they brought my granny, my mom and my sister out… They poured into me and told [my family] how good of a kid I was. It just made me happy, putting a smile on my Mom’s face, to show that she raised a good kid without my dad these past few years.

The 6-foot-3 athletic youngster plans to play safety at Illinois, although he’s open to whatever the coaching staff wants.

“If they put me at left tackle, I’m going to play left tackle,” he said. “It’s not about me, it’s bigger than me. It’s the team.”

When picking up the orange and blue hat, Eberhart says his father playing at Illinois was far from the only deciding factor.

“I feel like they were just a great community and they were looking to pour a lot into me,” Eberhart said. “That’s what I’m looking for. The money can come later, I’m looking for someone who can pour into me and make me a better human to go out there and face real world problems.”

So, it wasn’t the only reason, but make no mistake – putting on that Illini uniform while holding the one his father wore in a bowl game more than two decades ago was a kept promise for Eberhart.

“I told some people at my dad’s funeral I was going to bring that jersey and take an official visit to Illinois and get that Illinois offer,” he said. “Like, relief came over. I really did it. The job not done but I did one part of the story now I got to finish the last part.”

As one can imagine, that moment brought strong emotions.

“It’s like ‘We did it Dad. I’m here where you are. I am where my feet are but I’m here where you are in the sky.'” he said. “I felt like him talking to me… He would be like ‘We’re working still, we’re working.’ And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to continue to work. I’m blessed to be in this position and I wouldn’t change anything.”

Maclin says the growth and maturity, both on and off the field, has been a special sight.

“I think a lot of the really good ones you see something in common: At a very young age, I think, their purpose is always bigger than them,” Maclin said. “He’s had a lot of different things happen in his life where you’re purpose is going to be bigger than you. He has embodied that, he has taken it to the next level.”

Maclin says Eberhart is the biggest recruit to come out of Kirkwood since he arrived there and calls the impact the Illinois commit has made on his program ‘huge.’