Last to be offered, first to sign: How Kenny Soares become a Wildcat

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Northwestern signing days are typically as predictable as a Marvel movie, so you can imagine the surprise when the first player that signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday was someone we had never heard of before: three-star athlete Kenny Soares.

We would eventually learn that Soares, a former Colorado commit, had just received his offer from Northwestern the night before. But, as it turns out, this was no last-minute, shotgun marriage. The Wildcats had been recruiting Soares for nearly two years, since his sophomore year at Avon (Conn.) Old Farms.

The issue between Northwestern and Soares wasn’t fit. The staff liked Soares as a player, and Soares said that Northwestern had always been his “dream school,” for as long as he could remember.

The problem was that Soares didn’t have the grades to get past admissions. Rather than throwing up his hands and accepting is fate, Soares rolled up his sleeves and went to work to get his grades up.

After a lot of long hours over the next three semesters – and, he says, a lot of encouragement from the Northwestern staff – Soares finally got his GPA up to an acceptable level. So when head coach Pat Fitzgerald finally called Soares on Tuesday night with an offer, he accepted it and officially became a Wildcat some 12 hours later.

Soares’ head was still spinning on Thursday, when WildcatReport talked to him.

"It was the craziest 24 hours of my life," said Soares. "It was a whirlwind. Everything happened so fast."

Soares credits Northwestern – and, in particular, recruiting director Bryan Payton – for pushing him to improve his grades. Really, for much more than that.

“Northwestern was patient with me,” said Soares. “Coach Payton really pushed me, and I’m really glad he did. I'm a better student and a better person now, and they [Northwestern’s staff] played a big part in that."

Maybe it was karma, but after all that extra work to get his grades in order, Soares then benefited from a little luck. On Sunday, three days before signing day, defensive end Denis Jaquez decommitted from Northwestern. For academic reasons, of all things.

Once that scholarship slot opened up, Fitzgerald knew the direction they would go to fill it. His staff had been keeping tabs on Soares for two years. What’s more, Soares had impressed them at an NU camp last June.

“We absolutely loved Kenny, but we were full in what we saw in our number allocation,” said Fitzgerald. “So when a scholarship came available, we kind of started back down that road].”

First, the program reached out to Soares last weekend and requested transcripts to clear him with admissions. Then, on Tuesday night, Fitzgerald, defensive line coach Marty Long and defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil had the Zoom call that changed Soares’ life.

The funny thing is, even after all that time, Northwestern still isn’t exactly sure how they’re going to use Soares. The program labeled him as a defensive athlete in his commitment graphics. He played tight end, running back, H-back and linebacker for Old Farms.

Soares took an interesting path through high school football. He started his career at Old Farms, but then transferred to Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep last year, when Old Farms opted not to play football because of COVID-19. Soares then transferred back to Old Farms for this, his final season.

Northwestern’s plan is to start him out as an outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid, but then “move me around and see where I fit best,” said Soares.

A 6-foot-3, 220-pounder with speed, Soares is a versatile prospect. His 14 offers were divided among linebacker, tight end and athlete, where teams planned to figure out later whether to play him on offense or defense. He committed to Colorado in August as an inside linebacker.

“I think my strength is using my athleticism,” he said. “I’m a bigger guy, and a lot of guys my size can’t move as well as I can.

“As a pass rusher, I’m definitely more finesse, rather than power. Coming off of the edge with speed, I can get to the quarterback and apply pressure.”

When Soares received his offer on the Zoom call on Tuesday night, he did not commit right away. He talked to his parents and coaches about the opportunity first. It was a unanimous decision. Then, he called Colorado’s coaches to let them know that he wouldn’t be a Buffalo.

About two hours after the Zoom, Soares called Fitzgerald back to formally commit.

“The football and academics combination [at Northwestern] can’t be beat… It’s a Top 10 school. You have to consider more than just football,” he said.

Maybe it was fitting that on Wednesday morning, Soares turned out to be the first Northwestern 2022 class member to send his signed NLI into Evanston.

“Last to be offered and first to sign. That’s pretty cool,” said Fitzgerald.

While Soares is thrilled the way things worked out, it was still a wild, hectic ride. Put yourself in his shoes.

For four months, he was planning to sign with Colorado. Then, the night before signing day, he gets the offer he’s always wanted, and winds up at another school, in another conference, in a completely different part of the country.

On top of that, Soares is enrolling early. So he’ll be starting classes at Northwestern in January, which is just a few weeks away.

“I couldn’t be more excited, but it was still nice to wake up today [Thursday] and know where I’m going,” he said. “Everything’s over.”

Really, he knows that it's just getting started.