When he woke up Sunday morning, Braden Moody was ready to go about his day and prepare for this week’s final exams.

By the time he went to bed, his life had changed.

Moody, an offensive tackle at Warren Central, received a scholarship offer to play football at South Alabama on Sunday. Wednesday morning, less than 72 hours after he got the call, he signed a national letter of intent on the first day of the NCAA’s new early signing period and was making plans to enroll at the school in January.

It’s been a whirlwind week for the senior, but also the start of an adventure he said he’s excited for.

“It goes from Sunday morning not having any offers other than Central Arkansas and the jucos, to a decent-sized Division I offer in the afternoon, to we want you to sign Wednesday, to we want you to move in in three weeks. It’s going to take some time, but I’m excited for it,” said Moody, who was a two-year starter on Warren Central’s line and played in last weekend’s Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game.

Moody has a 4.1 grade point average and is ranked 16th in Warren Central’s Class of 2018. He will leave high school after exams this week and enroll at South Alabama at the start of the spring semester in January. Moody plans to major in chemical engineering.

Moody will still be allowed to attend his senior prom and graduate with the rest of his classmates in May.

“They’re getting a great, great player and a better young man,” Warren Central head coach Josh Morgan said. “He’s been a gem for us at the school. He’s a great leader and a great, great student.”

Although the offer from South Alabama came just before the start of the early signing period, it involved a little bit of fate and a lot of moves.

South Alabama had been recruiting Moody before head coach Joey Jones resigned at the end of the season. Moody liked what he saw of the football program and the school but he hadn’t gotten a scholarship offer.

Moody’s only Division I offer had come from Central Arkansas. Its head coach, Steve Campbell, left earlier this month — to take the job at South Alabama. Campbell has since hired several former assistants from Central Arkansas, Warren Central alum Larry Warner as the running backs coach, and they immediately tried to make Moody one of their first recruits.

The combination of a coach he wanted to play for and a school he wanted to attend was easily enough to convince Moody to change his long-term plans and sign on Wednesday.

“I knew that they offered what I wanted to major in, and offered a good football program. They have nice facilities down there. So when they said it, I said that’s a good deal for me and that’s where I want to go. That’s where I’ve been wanting an offer from,” Moody said, adding of the coaching staff, “It was a good selling point, because it’s good coaches coming in there, too. Not saying that South Alabama didn’t have good coaches before, but Coach Campbell has a tendency to win. So that’s something you want in a coach.”

Moody said that while enrolling in January and getting a jump on college will be a sudden adjustment, he felt it showed a level of trust that Campbell and his staff are placing in him. Moody expects an opportunity to earn a lot of playing time next season.

“That shows me right there that they have faith in me and really want me to come down there and get better with the team, and be a part of the team at an early stage,” Moody said. “I’m excited. I’m ready to go. If I could move in today, I would.”