Hallick follows his heart to Stanford

New Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh picked up his first commitment tonight from Pottsville, Pa. offensive tackle Brad Hallick. After being committed since May to Virginia, the 6-foot-6, 275-pounder made the switch to the Cardinal.

"I decided to decommit from Virginia earlier today," he said. "I think I did like Virginia a lot, but my heart is at Stanford and I felt that's where I should go."

Hallick called Jim Harbaugh to break the news to him this evening.

"He was really excited and thinks I'm going to be a big part of their program," he said. "I really like him and his vision for the future is exciting. He told me after I committed that he could do a cartwheel since I was technically his first commitment."

Everything about Stanford stood out to the three-star prospect including new head coach Harbaugh.

"He seems like a really energetic guy," he said. "I did a lot of research on Stanford and him and his players seem to really like playing for him. He told me that we're going to work hard and have fun in practice and that stood out to me.

"Besides him though, I love the environment there. I went last summer and it's just a great place. I like everything about it and I'm excited to be there the next four or five years. Definitely the academics are apart of it, but I also like how coach Harbaugh wants to return the program back to its glory days. He told me about how Stanford is a powerhouse and I could be part of something big. That's exciting for me."

With quite a few senior linemen leaving, Hallick will get a chance to earning playing time immediately.

"Coach Nelson has said I'll have a good shot to play early," he said. "Of course I know I'll have to work hard at it, but they are in need of offensive linemen."

The No. 57 offensive tackle prospect in the country had a final note to say to fans.

"At the end of my conversation with coach Harbaugh I asked him, how about we win a Pac-10 championship," he said. "He replied to me by saying how about we win several of them. I thought that was cool and I'm excited to hopefully make an impact to turn the program around."