Roderick Heard began classes on Monday at Northwestern as one of the first. He is one of three early enrollees from the Wildcats Class of 2019, so he started his college career before his other classmates, who will arrive in June.

Yet Heard is also one of the last. He is one of the last players who will ever come out of Farmington (Mich.) Harrison, a powerhouse football program that produced a record 13 state championships. In fact, he is one of the last students to graduate from Harrison, which will close at the end of the school year.

Heard, who will play cornerback at Northwestern, had by any measure a tremendous senior year in 2018. He was named team MVP and a member of both the all-state and – most important to him – the Harrison all-time team.

Yet Heard still felt disappointed that he couldn’t deliver a championship in the final year for legendary coach John Herrington, who has been the coach of the Hawks since the school opened in 1970.

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