LIVE: “Texas A&M Out-Recruited You Guys” — How Texas STILL Landed Landen Williams-Callis

Summary

On Texas Football – Episode Summary

Episode: LIVE: “Texas A&M Out-Recruited You Guys” — How Texas STILL Landed Landen Williams-Callis
Date: August 3, 2026
Host: Rod Babers
Analyst: Jerry Hamilton
Special Guest: Coach Brian Randall (Head Coach, Randall High School, Richmond, TX)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the recent commitment of elite running back Landen Williams-Callis (“LWC”) to the Texas Longhorns, despite heavy competition from Texas A&M. Hosts Rod Babers and Jerry Hamilton break down LWC’s high school career, the unique traits that make him a potential game-changer, and why Texas ultimately beat out A&M. Later, Coach Brian Randall joins to share personal insights into LWC’s development, recruitment battle, and what comes next for this Houston-area phenom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. LWC’s Commitment & What Makes Him Special

• Legacy and Family Ties

  • LWC is the cousin of NFL running back Jacquizz Rodgers, sharing a similar frame and playing style.
  • Noted for his "juice"—burst, playmaking, and rare production at the high school level (over 7,500 rushing yards).

• Football Traits & Comparisons
  [06:13]

  • Compact, low-to-the-ground (5’8”, ~196 lbs).
  • Strong contact balance and pad level—hard to bring down, similar to Jacquizz Rodgers and Darren Sproles.
  • Exceptional vision and patience; allows blocks to develop before accelerating.
  • Noted for durability: “He hadn’t missed the high school football game...” (Jerry Hamilton, [07:02])

• The Importance of Physical Traits
  [15:10]

  • Both hosts discuss unique ankle/knee flexibility for elite RBs; compare his physical gifts with NFL legends like Barry Sanders and college stars like T.J. Ford and Allen Iverson.

2. Thoughts on Running Back Usage & Durability

[09:15]

• Analytics show concern for “tread on the tires,” but both hosts note some players are natural exceptions.

• Modern high school players are bigger, stronger, and more prepared for college than in decades past due to advances in training and nutrition.

• “I know there are exceptions because we’ve seen it in the NFL...I think LWC could be one of those exceptions.” (Rod Babers, [09:15])

• Desire for RB Tandems and NFL Longevity
  [10:00]

  • Recruits now look for systems using multiple backs to preserve health and maximize NFL potential.
  • “The goal is to be in the NFL...we’re in different times now...bigger, stronger, faster workers than the past.” (Jerry Hamilton, [11:00])

3. Texas’ Recruiting Pitch & Utilization

• Sarkisian’s Approach to RBs
  [12:13]
  • Focus on keeping backs fresh, featuring them in the passing game (“teaches touches,” not just carries).
  • Example: In 2024, both Blue and Weisner were top-10 RB targets in terms of receiving.
  • “Sark really likes his running backs used in the passing game.” (Rod Babers, [12:42])

4. Why Texas Won the LWC Commitment Battle

• Texas A&M “Out-Recruited” Texas Early
  [50:10]

  • Coach Randall reveals A&M recruited harder throughout the process, but Texas turned the tide late, especially after high school coaching legend Chris Gilbert joined the Longhorn staff.
  • “It was a Texas high school football coach named Chris Gilbert...He really moved that needle.”
  • Relationship-building with LWC’s inner circle sealed the deal.

• Recruitment Challenges

  • Texas went through three RB coach changes during LWC's process, making relationship-building harder.

5. Coach Brian Randall on LWC’s Development

[41:45]
- LWC has played football since he could walk; has always been “special.” - “The kid’s doing the same things he was doing when he was a little kid...he’s just bigger, stronger, and faster.”
- LWC can play multiple positions (RB, QB, LB, deep safety) due to his unique skills and IQ. - Extremely high football character—intervenes in bullying, natural leader ("such an old soul," [58:58]). - High degree of careful management by coaches—touches scaled up each year to preserve health.

• On Player Comparisons
  [43:57]

  • Early comparison to Devin Hester for flash/activity, but LWC is a true “complete back.”
  • “He’s a four-down back...He’s a complete back. Complete.” (Coach Randall, [52:53])

• Physical Attributes
  [52:20]

  • Not just quick—also strong ("repping 315 in the 10th grade").
  • Feet "fit his frame"—key for shiftiness and balance.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Why LWC’s Frame is an Advantage

“At 5’8, 196 he’s just hard to bring down...He is the epitome of what when offensive coordinators and play calls say, man, we need. This guy has juice...he’s a game changer.”
— Rod Babers, [06:18]

On Durability & RB Overuse

“Some people just have bad injury luck...but Landon's been very durable and that’s why I think there’s a little difference. Those 5’7, 5’6, 5’8 running backs, they don’t take a lot of big hits.” — Jerry Hamilton, [08:56]

Coach Randall on LWC’s Commitment

“Texas A&M out-recruited you guys. That’s the reality…but Chris [Gilbert] came in there and saved the day… He really, really did.”
— Coach Randall, [50:10]

LWC’s Longevity and Character

“He’s a kid, but he’s such an old soul…I’ve watched him intervene when kids were getting bullied, you know, like, without not having to say anything like, ‘Hey man, y’all don’t get to do that around me.’” — Coach Randall, [58:58]

On Houston vs DFW High School Talent

“They’re separating from us because they have open enrollment…DFW has figured it out.”
— Coach Randall, [55:30]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:04] - Show introduction, recruiting update, and guests preview
• [06:13] - LWC’s style, physicality, and game impact
• [10:00] - Running back usage trends and NFL focus
• [12:13] - Sarkisian’s RB philosophy and value
• [41:45] - Coach Brian Randall joins: LWC’s football journey, character, and multi-role impact
• [50:10] - Inside the recruitment battle: how Texas closed despite A&M’s lead
• [53:18] - LWC’s strength, development plan, and managing RB tread
• [54:52] - Discussion on Texas HS football landscape (Houston vs DFW)
• [58:58] - LWC as a leader, personality, and future

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Additional Highlights

• The conversation features several real-time viewer questions (super chats), adding context and depth to the discussion about LWC, Texas recruiting, and high school football culture.
• Playful moments recalling classic Texas high school athletes and legendary DB "loose hips" (Aaron Ross).
• The contrast in recruiting structures (open enrollment) between Houston-area and DFW schools is examined.

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Episode Tone

Friendly, expert roundtable infused with high-energy storytelling and deep football culture appreciation. Coach Randall’s segment is particularly warm and insightful, providing a rare peek behind the scenes of elite high school football development and recruitment.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Show

If you want to understand why Landen Williams-Callis is so highly prized at running back, how Texas nabbed him despite A&M’s efforts, the evolution of RB recruiting philosophy, and why high school culture still matters in the NIL era—this episode delivers. Coach Randall’s insights make it a must-listen for fans of Texas football and recruiting.

Transcript

[Child]

Mum, why do they call it Scottish cheese?

[Mother]

It's cottage cheese, honey, and I'm not sure.

[Child]

Do dogs in other countries speak different languages?

[Mother]

Yeah, I think so.

[Child]

When will we get there?

[Mother]

Well, we've got to fix the car first. But there's someone coming to help us.

[Child]

Is it the man from Geneva?

[Mother]

Not Geneva. He's from Aviva oh, there's the van. Now for car insurance with breakdown rescue, it takes Aviva visit Aviva ie to

[Aviva Insurance Announcer]

save 15% acceptance criteria terms and conditions apply. Minimum premium of 310 Euro. 15% applies to new policies bought online. See Aviva Ie for details. Car insurance is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Ireland dac. Aviva Direct Ireland limited is regulated by the Central bank of Ireland.

[Rod Babers]

Welcome back to on Texas Football. Welcome back to your Sunday night live stream. I'm lifetime Longhorn Rod babies. Pleased to be joined by the estimable Jerry Hamilton. Yes, I know Longhorn fans still riding that high of the recent commitment of Landon Williams College. So we'll get into that. We'll talk about it. Lwc. As a matter of fact, Jerry, this is why Jerry is the man. Because Jerry hooked up. A very special guest coming up for us at 7:45. Jerry, you want to tell the folks who's coming on with us at 7:45?

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah. Coach Brian Randall, the head coach of Randall High School in Richmond, Landon Williams callis the head school he goes to. Head coach Coach Randall state champion. They won the State Championship in 2425 season. They beat South Oak Cliff in that state championship last year. They got back to that state championship, lost to South Oak Cliff. And they begin the season with south oak cliff in 26 days. So kind of crazy there, but we will get coach Randall's thoughts on his star and Houston legend running back Landon Williams. Callous Rod, I don't know if you if you've seen it, but we have an interview up on.

[Rod Babers]

On.

[Jerry Hamilton]

On Texas Football YouTube with Jaquiz Rogers, who is his cousin.

[Rod Babers]

That's crazy.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah. And Jacquiz it was Jacquiz talked about land and then kind of his in Jacquiz's process as a running back and what Landon's gonna have to do and kind of his thoughts on Landon. You know the one thing that came out in that interview, Texas was his favorite growing up.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, hey, come on. Well, I will say. Okay.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He was at that age too. That was the right.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah. What year did he come out though? Because I'm trying to figure out what recruiting that running back then I think quiz Came out.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Hold on.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, and shout out to our friends over at Prize Pitch, by the way, in Von Lane. Sorry about that. Shout out to prospective online for a sponsor this edition of All Texas Football. Very thankful for them and have them as partners. We'll tell you more about their message coming up later on.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Quiz was 08, so I'm trying.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, wait, what's that?

[Child]

Who?

[Rod Babers]

Them running backs in LA for Texas. Actually, that wasn't bad. That was like Jay Hills and like, who's the running backs back then? Fozzie. Was Fozzie around that time? Trey Newton.

[Jerry Hamilton]

They were around the same time. Yeah. Justin York says 08, same class. Yep. I mean, so that's, Honestly, I don't,

[Rod Babers]

I don't know if Texas necessarily had some, I don't know. They didn't have, like, game changers necessarily. I mean, they were good players, but

[Jerry Hamilton]

yeah, that was a two running back class. That was Fozzie and Vondre McGee.

[Rod Babers]

Seven, though.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Fozzie was 07, but he.

[Rod Babers]

Okay, okay. It was 07, all right. I knew he was around. Okay. So honestly, maybe he had a case. I, I, I gotta go back and look at your court. I know.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He was Cody Johnson. Thank you, Chris.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

So Cody Johnson and. Yeah, so. You know what's crazy though, Rod? It's also how similar they are in size and how they played the game. How they play the game. They're running style. It's crazy that they're, you know, look, maybe you say, oh, it's not crazy. They're from the same family tree. But, you know, I was [e-mail] earlier, the best players, 58 or under in the NFL, and Quiz was on that list. They listed 11 guys. Yeah, was on that list.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, that's interesting. Who would they do? Who'd they get on that?

[Jerry Hamilton]

There was a number of guys, but that, that was just all players, so.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, not just running back.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Antoine Whitfield, Bob Sanders. So some of those guys. But Quiz was on that top 11 list, and obviously number one was Barry Sanders, man.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, no doubt about that.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's the best 5, 8 player in the history of football, so. No question.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah. College. College R pro, by the way.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah. Darren Sprols was on that list. Was on that list.

[Rod Babers]

I played against some of them. Guys like that. Listen, I played against these types of players. 5, 8. Oklahoma had one of these guys. What was his name? William the. What's his name? Quinn Griffin.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Quinn Griffin. 5 5. He was probably shorter than all of

[Rod Babers]

them on a good day. Played against guys like Darren Sprouls and the one thing about these guys, especially on offense at the running back position and, and LWC's got this advantage too. You really don't see it when Eric and I don't know, maybe I don't look at the O line, like height of his O line there at Richmond Randle, but when Quinn Griffin was running behind the Oklahoma O line or Spros was running behind that Kansas State O line, you couldn't see him. Right. You, I'm not joking. It is so, it is a wild thing. You couldn't see them. They were so small and by the time you actually got a chance to see them, they're so quick. The acceleration and their pad level, you're out of position, you're out leveraged. You got no chance against those kind of players. And so it, it, it is a huge advantage. It's one of the things you think it's like, oh no, that's, that's got to work against them in 5, 8. It does at times. Situationally. There are some situations where, man, they can make those guys held on wheels and that is essentially Landon Williams callous because he's, I would say what I love about him.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I was going to say what do you love about him? Because we haven't talked to you about him.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, because at 58196 he's just hard to bring down low pad level, great contact balance. So that low center of gravity, it really keeps him well balanced. He's got really good vision and patience that allows him to kind of, you know, let his blocks align before he decides to accelerate whenever it is. And like I said, he's got, he's just, he's got juice. He is the epitome of what when offensive coordinators and play calls say, man, we need. This guy has juice, that guy has juice. Certain guys move the chains. There are certain guys that change the game and he's just, he's a game changer. Guys who are that productive too at the high school level, I mean that kind of productivity, you can't fake it. Yeah, you can't fake that kind of. What is he talking about? 7,500 some rushing yards over three years.

[Jerry Hamilton]

10 yards of pops, about 754 carries. But Rob, the other thing about guys that height, the one thing I'll say about them too is when they hit the high to low button near contact, they are such, such a low center of gravity. They very rarely get hit in their lower legs.

[Aviva Insurance Announcer]

True.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Everybody's glancing off their hips and their shoulders and so that brings us to a Cisco Diaz question. Do we have to worry about Landon Williams cast being overused like James Gray? I think it's totally different. Like, so James Gray had had.

[Rod Babers]

Jonathan Gray. He was.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Sorry, just. Thank you. Thank you. I called him his dad's name, Jonathan Gray. You know, he had had surgery on both shoulders coming out of high school. So that's a little different. He was a taller guy. Landon has been very, very durable. He hadn't missed the high school football game. I feel like, you know, when. And I. Cisco, I appreciate the question. I feel like everybody's like, oh, has he been used too much as the question?

[Rod Babers]

That's.

[Jerry Hamilton]

And Texas fans have Jonathan Grader reference. But yep, Setter Benson carried the ball a lot. I mean, you can go through the list of guys Maurice Jones drew in high school. A lot of these guys carry the ball a lot. Some people just have. They just are not lucky from an injury standpoint. And Jonathan Gray was one of those guys. Whether it was the Achilles in high school, I've never seen a running back come out of high school that had surgery on both shoulders. So he had something going on. He was with those shoulders, number one, bad injury luck number two as a player and there's nothing you can do about it. But Landon's been very durable and that's why I think there's a little difference. Those five seven, five six Sprols seven, eight running backs, they don't take a lot of big hits.

[Rod Babers]

It's a good point.

[Jerry Hamilton]

They do not take a lot of big hits. Somebody asked in the chat about Emmett Smith. Emmett Smith was officially listed at five nine. That was. That was. So he's over the five, eight in terms of what people thought about that. I'm not sure if he actually measured 5, 9 without shoes, but he's listed at 5, 9, so he was not on that list.

[Rod Babers]

I would say there is a. There are a lot of numbers in the analytical era that lead folks to believe that basically running backs can get used up, that you can just use the tread on the tires. And I do think that there is some substance to that argument. But I know there are exceptions because we've seen it in the NFL. And so, yeah, those analytics are real about running backs being kind of overused and honestly having been worn out and by the time they actually get to the highest levels of football. But I think LWC could be one of those exceptions. Michael here says in the past running back recruits wanted all the carries. Are you finding recruits? And thank you for the super Chat. By the way, Michael, are you finding recruits wanting to find that tandem backfield to limit wear and tear?

[Jerry Hamilton]

Boom.

[Rod Babers]

That's what we talking about. Exactly what we're talking about.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yes. I think the. I think backs are being recruited that way. I think the goal. And hey, Landon said his goal is to be in the get into the NFL. His uncle Rodney Williams goals to get to the NFL. Jaquez goals to get to the NFL. I mean, I think there's. It's just we're in different times now. I also think this rod is when guys came out of high school in the 90s and you're running back, the players weren't as big, strong and fast that you were going against. Think about how much bigger, stronger and faster athletes have gotten in the last since 2000. Just the. Just where nutrition's gone, where weight training, strength and conditioning has gone, where in individual training has gone at a young age in high school for these guys, they're working out in different ways. They're maximizing their frames in different ways. And honestly, guys have gotten bigger. I mean, I don't know what else to say. Guys have gotten bigger. I mean, Jonathan Scott came out of Dallas Carter 6. I don't know, 67260. In high school. 255. 260. Nowadays, if a guy comes out at 67260, the question is, can he get big enough? I mean, just think about how far we've come since Jonathan Scott got came out of high school. Eric Johnson was 195lbs coming out of high school.

[Rod Babers]

That's right. That's crazy.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Just bigger, stronger and faster now. And they're bigger, stronger and faster on every level. So the hits are different than they were 30 years ago.

[Child]

Mum, why do they call it Scottish cheese?

[Mother]

It's cottage cheese, honey. And I'm not sure.

[Child]

Do dogs in other countries speak different languages?

[Mother]

Yeah, I think so.

[Child]

When will we get there?

[Mother]

Well, we've got to fix the car first. But there's someone coming to help us.

[Child]

Is it the man from Geneva?

[Mother]

Not Geneva. He's from Aviva. Oh, there's a van now for car insurance with breakdown rescue. It takes Aviva visit Aviva ie to save 15% acceptance criteria.

[Aviva Insurance Announcer]

Terms and conditions apply. Minimum premium of 310 Euro. 15% discount applies to new policies bought online. See Aviva Ie for details. Car insurance is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Ireland dac. Aviva Direct Ireland Limited is regulated by the Central bank of Ireland.

[Rod Babers]

Totally agree with that. And yep, AK817 Mr. Talk Too Much. I agree. You gotta have multiple backs in the sec. And I think that's part of the pitch as well from Sark is like, hey, we want you fresh for the league. You go into the league. I think he's like, I'm helping you living your dream. We're going to showcase your potential and productivity and then you'll still, still have enough, you know, legs left to have your second in it to get your second NFL contract, which is what all the, the running backs want. So I, I think it's. And Sark. I think Sark probably preaches touches.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yes.

[Rod Babers]

You know, the belief is that it's. If you're obviously handing the ball off and you're running into the line of scrimmage, that's more wear and tear and brutality than a guy catching out in the flat or being used in the passing game. So I bet Sark teaches touches too. That's something we'll talk about with Landon Williams. Callous as well. Because that there's. There. There ain't much to critique about the young man's game if you're talking about him being a overall running back prospect. The passing game, he doesn't just have a lot of experience. I mean, he's got some good, some decent numbers in the passing game, but he. That's something at the next level that he's going to showcase that he can be a weapon. And Sark really likes his running backs used in the passing game. All right, Justin Yarbrough, thank you for the super chat. We appreciate it. Says, how do y' all see Stark utilizing lwc? Not a lot of catching the ball out of the backfield, but plays seven on seven. I could see a blue like role. Thoughts? Andrew Quist was a superstar as a sophomore. Shredded tc. Yeah, he was. Sarka said this on the record and I do believe it. It actually does track. If you look at the stats and you look at his philosophy and play calling, he believes running backs are the most underutilized weapon in the passing game. And he treats his running backs like that. In 2024, both Blue and Weisner were top 10 running back targets in the country. So when his. His offense is clicking, he likes to give running backs a lot of touches in the passing game.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yep. Relief Brown this year. That's my prediction out of the backfield. The second part of that just in Yarborough. What? And I joke with Jacquiz about this yesterday, what he did to friends would in the playoff game. I've never seen so many Mustangs on the ground. Rod. The guy was literally throwing 2 and 3. Jump and skip cuts behind the line of scrimmage. And guys are just grabbing turf. Takes off out the backside. You know, it's like Mustangs on the ground everywhere, man. Save the Mustang. Save.

[Rod Babers]

Just diving over. It looks like a movie. It's like.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah. I've never seen so many defensive players grab air and grab grass than when I saw watch Jaqu Rogers against them at a playoff game. It was pretty crazy. Jaquiz could throw three jump cuts in a phone booth. And it was literally. But he did it so quick and gave you a little shoulder shimmy when he did it. The guys in high school just hitting the deck, man. They're just hitting the grass, grabbing grass, and then he shoots out the backside and goes 50. And you're just like. Like, if you blinked, you missed the whole run.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, normally. And it's the guys like that have. I mean, you would go see it. And I bet now they have better technology, better to catch it. The flexibility of these. Of their ankles and knees. Highly underrated quality for running backs. It's just a weird, freaky thing where they can. They. I hit a cut like that and Rod B's ankle gone.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Rod, have you seen the pictures of Bar? Have you seen the pictures of Barry Sanders? His foot and ankle?

[Rod Babers]

Yes, yes.

[Jerry Hamilton]

The angles when he's cutting hard. All of us. All of us would tear our Achilles.

[Rod Babers]

Exactly right. That's a. I don't even know how you measure that.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Ligaments all. Yes.

[Rod Babers]

That. Some guys are different that way. I mean, there's a great picture of. Of Peter Warwick, actually.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's amazing when he gets.

[Rod Babers]

You seen that one, Jimmy?

[Jerry Hamilton]

And stick his foot in the ground.

[Mother]

And his ankle.

[Rod Babers]

His ankle is almost turned. Like it looks like it's broken. And he's just making a cut. Some guys are built different that way. And that is one underrated quality. I know there's got to be a way these days to test that. Ankle flexibility, knee flexibility, but hitting it full speed. Who knows? You know how everybody's body's gonna hold up. But that is. I'm telling you. Because Bijan, this is why I saw it on Twitter today. Y' all remember the Texas Tech game? He jumps in the air.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yep.

[Rod Babers]

And he lands. And now he got.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Hit him square in the back. Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah. Guys. We know most human beings.

[Jerry Hamilton]

You done. You're done.

[Rod Babers]

Broken neck, something. Never played football again. Be lucky to walk again. This dude jogged off the field. Tom Herman admitted later. I kept him out, held him out. Not because he passed all the protocols. I just didn't feel like he should be playing. So it's. It's one of those things, like, I think that's an underrated quad. And. And, you know, I think LWC's got some of that.

[Jerry Hamilton]

And by the way, you know what else? Landon Williams, callous as. We'll talk about all this with Coach Randall. He's got tiny feet, man. Like he is, you know. You know, his feet fit his body.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's not like 58 with wearing a size 12 or something. You know, where you kind of say those guys aren't the. They don't make those cuts and they're an athlete.

[Rod Babers]

No, great point.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

You don't see ballerinas with big feet.

[Jerry Hamilton]

No, that's exactly right.

[Rod Babers]

Your best dancers don't have big feet. They don't.

[Child]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah. His feet fit his body, which is a great thing, a great place to be.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, I like that. Yeah. And that's great point. Dallas mascot says ankle flexion with edges is huge. Yeah. You see that with the bend. They always talk about the bend of a. You want to see it How. How. Basically how Low pad level and how. How much flexibility. Hip flexibility.

[Jerry Hamilton]

You could see that. You could see the same thing in basketball. T.J. ford and Allen Iverson.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, it's a good one.

[Jerry Hamilton]

They. They both cut and change directions at angles where a lot of people lose their acl. Because people lose their ACL when you plant your left foot one hard and then you're changing direction going right.

[Rod Babers]

How the weight's going in.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah, that's when you see a lot of ACL injuries. And those guys, I mean, they never had them.

[Rod Babers]

It's crazy. I see somebody said a black Jesus. Yeah, I heard that he's got a nickname.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That's his nickname in the Houston area. That is his nickname.

[Rod Babers]

I will say. I'm just gonna say because CB is my witness too, here in the chat. I was calling Vince White Black Jesus a long time ago as well. So it. It. I guess down.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I think it is some of the same people, by the way, Rod and Houston.

[Coach Brian Randall]

It might be. Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

It's some of the same people that I saw. I saw a couple of the same local media guys at this press conference or the commitment yesterday that were around for the Vy years.

[Rod Babers]

He does have that Lord legend in H town because I've talked to some folks in H town too. He's got some of that, like you talked about, TJ4 thing to be.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That's where I can be. That's who I compare him to, Rod.

[Rod Babers]

It's. It's.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Nothing's like Vince where it was 50,000 people in the Astronomer. I think Landon is right there on the same level as TJ Ford. You know, TJ Was from Missouri City down there. Yeah, Sugar Land, Missouri City line. Landon is right down there in Richmond. Rosenberg line. I, I see a lot of similarities in the way their popularity. You know, I see. I see those guys very similar. Having covered both of them.

[Rod Babers]

All right, I like that one. Okay, we'll get back to. Because I'm gonna. Oh, yeah.

[Child]

Yes.

[Rod Babers]

How about this from Juan. Thank you, Juan, for the super chat. Appreciate it. Says, can you all do interviews with the remaining recruits? You all haven't interviewed in the 2020 class?

[Jerry Hamilton]

We're going to work on that this season for sure. Yeah, it's a great question. We're kind of trying to save some of those for the season as well, so. So our plan is to have guys like a Lucas row. Some of those guys we haven't had on before have them on this season.

[Rod Babers]

Thank you for that, Juan. We appreciate it. Thank you for the super chat. How about this one? I think this is from Mike. I don't know if we got to this one. The super chat from Mike. My question for Jerry. Do you foresee any of the 2022 class who have now been ruled eligible for another year return to Texas? Yes. Those don't know. Yes, they have the ruling where the 2022 class is eligible. The strange thing about this though, Jerry,

[Jerry Hamilton]

unless it's gonna be changing, I think Rod.

[Rod Babers]

Yes, because it will be appealed. There's no doubt about that. But it was. At least they. They put in or at least the language says that you can't transfer with this thing.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That's right.

[Rod Babers]

Throwing it out there. That's basically your school that you are currently a member of. Even if at 22 class that you were last a member of, I should say that's the way it's written. That's the only school that you could be eligible for.

[Jerry Hamilton]

And that, by the way, I love that.

[Rod Babers]

Okay.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That's the way this should be. Look, we should not. And I don't know what's going to happen because everything's going to be a lawsuit. My question on this is, look, we're running out of time for the football guys and the semester, by the way. You're running out of time here. We're only on August 2nd, by the way. Hey, three days away from practice. But we're already on the 2nd.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

When do classes start? 14th. This stuff, I mean, you know, this stuff can keep going and Cohen and fighting for eligibility, but I. If this, if this sticks in this regard, if it ends up being. And look, there's going to be so many different injunctions filed in different places. I don't know what's going to happen. I do think it's going to keep colleges, make them hesitate somewhat on all this. But the best thing that could come out of this, in my opinion, is if something happens where some of these guys have get a year of eligibility, it can only be going back to the school. They were at that, to me, I think is paramount in all this because what we. What I just don't think should happen right now is guy who gets extra year, who played it, Texas, can go transfer to Oklahoma if he's eligible to do that, or Oklahoma to Texas or anywhere else, really. It's not about rivals anywhere else, really. Yeah, I mean, you know, so I. I love that that was kind of been changed. And by the way, I think the other big thing is if your name wasn't already in the portal, you can't just throw your name in the portal and go wherever you want. And that absolutely should happen. This should not be a situation where you can just throw your name in the portal a week before classes start and go wherever you want. Yeah, I'm a hundred percent in agreement with both those things and, and I hope that it holds up with all these injunctions and challenges and stuff. I. I know people will disagree, but I. I think that's the way this should be. I mean, look, you have to. You have to have some reward for the work you did to build your roster. You know what? And if somebody swung and missed on six guys, now they just go get to get six guys. Shouldn't be that way two weeks before the semester starts. That's B.S. yeah, I mean, you know, you all. You're put in your work and all those schools. Here's the thing with all those schools, it's not like they planned for this. LSU basketball. Will Wade had this plan. B.S. no, he didn't. He guy struck out more than Rob deer in the 80s. Okay. You know, Texas Tech basketball. Oh, this was our plan. We're gonna get these guys. BS that was your plan. You got your butt kicked in the portal. Deal with it. I mean, so that's. I just, that's. I don't like what would happen. That's like. Rod, that's like having free agency a week before school.

[Rod Babers]

Yes.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Fall season starts pretty much make any of that make sense.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

So I'm hoping that is where we go with this.

[Rod Babers]

And as far as Texas, I mean considering the framework of the decision obviously has yet to be appealed, will be appealed, we know that could change. There are only a couple of options for Texas in that regard. Cole Hudson is already his process trying to get another eligibility and and I believe my man CJ shout out to him [e-mail] you can go check it out. Actually did inquire about Ethan Burke. Ethan Burke is focused right now on making that roster for the Ravens, but that's I think the only two players that would be affected for Texas from that 2022 class considering where the decision is now and where it is and where how it was phrased. Okay, thank you for that question Mike. We appreciate it. Let's thank our sponsors really quickly and then we'll dive back into some LWC conversation and then also awaiting our special guest, his head coach down there at Richmond Randall. But let's thank our friends over at Prize Picks. We appreciate them and you will as well. Prize Picks is America's number one sports picks apps and honestly it's about as simple as it gets. Really easy for players picks. All you do is choose more or less on a few player stats, lock your lineup and it's easy. But if you're someone who likes picking teams instead of players now prospects has you covered there as well. You also can pick the winner. You can pick total on games, even fights prospects available in most states including the great state of Texas, California and Florida. And so chances are you can jump in today. And one of my favorite features now is that you can follow different users if you want to. If you like their picks and picks they're making you can tell them with one click and you can follow your friends picks as well. You control them if you want to have a good time. And now here's the best part. If you never tried prize kicks before, play your first five dollar lineup. If you win you'll get a hundred and fifty dollar in bonus lineups. All right, so just make sure you use the code hma and they actually just started this offer so it's a great time for you to take advantage. So download the Prize Picks app today, use the code HMA. Play that first five dollar lineup and if you win you'll get 150 $50 in bonus lineups. That's prize picks code HMA.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Good luck.

[Rod Babers]

And as always, play smart. Play responsibly. Play prize picks. All right, let's also thank our friends over at Von Lane. While we got a second here, Jerry, would you do us a favor and thank our friends over at von Lane?

[Jerry Hamilton]

I can do that. What? Crossing the red river in style. Von Lane is crossing the red river starting September 8th. Von Loon. Von lane is relaunching its Dallas to Oklahoma city route. That's going to be great for softball world series. By the way, Texas fans in Dallas with multiple daily departures seven days a week, riders have been asking for this one to come back and it's finally here, here. Whether you've got business in okc, family up there just want to catch a game without the three hour drive. You can book right [e-mail]. and here's what makes Von Lane different from hopping on a flight. No bag fees, no paying 80 bucks just to pick a seat. No TSA lines. You walk to a hotel terminal, board a Coach with just 22 first class leather seats. Enjoy Sterling Wi Fi complimentary snacks, drinks and hot towel service. The the fair is a flat 129 one way with no hidden charges. Try getting that kind of transparency from an airline. Von Lane serves Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Plano, the Woodlands, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Memphis and Atlanta. Head to vonlane.com and use promo code OTF26 for $20 off first trip. What is online? It's a private jet on wheels.

[Rod Babers]

All right, thank you very much, Jerry. Appreciate it. And thank you to our friends at prospects and Von Lane. All right, I think we do have another super chat here. I believe it's from Brandon. Hey, our man B. Morgan. What's up, man? He says rider back, sitting in, hanging back to you. Come back till Sunday nights. He said our Sunday night. Sundays are bad to the bone with you and Jerry. Love to do it. Oh, thank you, brother. Appreciate that. Appreciate that. Brandon, OTF family number one. Good to have you back. Hope everything's going well. Everybody's still really excited about the LWC commitment from yesterday. And we're going to talk to his head coach actually from Richmond Randall coming up here at 7:45 better high school film LWC or Jermaine Bishop.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Oh, man, I hate to say this. On the LWC celebration day.

[Child]

Mum, why do they call it Scottish cheese?

[Mother]

It's cottage cheese, honey. And I'm not sure.

[Child]

Do dogs in other countries speak different languages?

[Mother]

Yeah, I think so.

[Child]

When will we get there?

[Mother]

Well, we've got to fix the car first, but there's someone coming to help us.

[Child]

Is it the man from Geneva.

[Mother]

Not Geneva, he's from Aviva oh, there's a van now for car insurance with breakdown rescue. It takes Aviva visit Aviva ie to save 15%.

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[Jerry Hamilton]

It's. But Jermaine Bishop did what he did on offense and defense and special teams was ridiculous.

[Rod Babers]

All three phases.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That, that was just ridiculous. I mean because, and I say this all the time about Germaine and this was even his sophomore year. I went up there with my buddy Keith Neber, who's Gators online, and we went up there, I wanted to see Bishop and some guys that were playing and obviously DJ Lagway was committed to Florida. So this is when Bishop was a young player. He was still the most physical player on the field. He was 150 pounds. I mean that's just, it was just so rare what he did in high school because he did it at 150, 155 pounds. And you could say, wow, that guy, that guy hits it may not have the, may not be the knockback tackle like a 220 pounder, but he brought his hat or as much Champ says, put your face in the fan with the mentality of a 220 pound player. It was crazy to see that because you just don't see that very often. I think down the line in the playoffs. What Landon and Coach Rano I'm sure would love to comment on this. What Landon Williams callous did in that state championship year in the playoffs was ridiculous. So playoffs, you might have to go with Williams callous as you get deeper in the playoffs. I think just a high school highlight film. If you just went out on a Friday night to a game and you watched your main Bishop play go 8 for 150 in the air, make 10 tackles with an interception, return, a punt, 40 or 50 yards, you're just like, what the hell did I just watch? This guy's 155 pounds.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, I agree with Jerry on that one. Just because I mean you're playing affecting the game in all three phases.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I mean, to that point he did, he did more on a football field. And remember Jonah Williams played some offense, played a lot more defense, was on special teams, kick returns, all that. Jermaine Bishop was more productive than Jonah Williams in the same ways. Weighing 75 pounds less. Put it in perspective.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Carry Galveston ball in similar ways against the best teams. £75 difference. £65 difference, high school.

[Rod Babers]

It's a great point. No, it is. I, I agree with you. That's a. It's a great case. But it's rare, man, to be able to affect the enemy and be elite in all. On all three phases, not just play. I. All these bases. I got played some offense, score some touchdowns, but I wasn't the elite offensive player. I was an elite defensive player, and I played special teams, but I don't know if I was an elite special teams player. I was pretty damn good. That young man was elite in all three phases. That's. That's pretty.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I. I actually one time went back and looked for Nathan Vasher high school film. I couldn't find it.

[Rod Babers]

That dude just.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I would have liked to seen how that compared.

[Rod Babers]

Yes. I. I believe that maybe productive, but

[Jerry Hamilton]

I bet we'd have seen a lot of the same characteristics because those Texas high teams were so good, he didn't have to do as much.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, no, that dude was. He was. Because he was really skilled. Nathan Vash was one of the most skilled DVs. I meant like his hands, hand, eye coordination. He was just a great skill player. He definitely could have played offense if that was what he focused on when he got to Texas. But I think they made the right decision. Guy was all pro in the NFL. All right, thank you for that super chat. Thanks for the question as well. Daniel's up next with this super chat. Thank you, Daniel. I think that's the one I saw. It says, what can Brad Spence do this season with Muschamp? Brad Spence is still in the conversation.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yes.

[Rod Babers]

Your second best pass rusher overall. Like, he.

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[Rod Babers]

I mean, he can make. You can make a case for it right now behind Colin Simmons, who's your second best pass rusher. You can legitimately make a case for Brad Spence. You got higher pressure rates than Lance Jackson, Xena, and some of the other edge rushers. Vosik, he got the higher pressure rate than those guys, obviously behind Colin Simmons and these guys. Versatility.

[Mother]

Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

The fact that he can play off ball linebacker for you. Also guys you can pull on the edge in certain packages. I. I'm a big fan. I feel like Muschamp's gonna find a way to weaponize Brad Spence. I just don't know in. In what way he's gonna do it.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Rod, I got a prediction on him, but obviously it comes down to health. Somebody's gotta be Healthy all season. He had 21 tackles and three sacks last year. I think he's gonna double those numbers this year.

[Rod Babers]

I like that.

[Jerry Hamilton]

And I could see him getting to seven to eight sacks on this team. I mean look, I think he could go back to the Arkansas year numbers. In 24 he had 55 tackles, four and a half sacks. I could see a season where he's 50ish tackles. But that sack number may be is going to be higher. I I because I really think he because I I don't the way they can they're going to use biles is maybe a little different than that. I could see Brad Spence being this second having the second most sacks on this team.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah. He was over 15 pressure rate his havoc rate to your point Jerry. Over 2% havoc rate by the way which is really high. He said 2.2% so he's. I said I'm with you. I think I wouldn't doubt at all if you end up doubling some of those havoc numbers or tackles for loss in the sacks just because situationally I'd want him in there on my pass rushing downs. I got to get him in there. Whether I'm getting him in as off ball linebacker to rush from the second level or I'm getting there as a straight up edge guy that I'm putting the NASCAR or the the F1 package out there with three or four edges on the field at one time in the third long. Brad Spence is a guy you get. I feel like he didn't play enough last season. But maybe you didn't. You feel like you needed a brat Spence but this season I just think he's he's way too multifaceted not to find a way on the field.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

So this was a very good no offense to pk. This was a very good coaching move for Brad Spence. Because of his skill set.

[Rod Babers]

Yes. Because it's he's in a must Champion aggressor. Right. Force the issue and that's Brad Spence's game rather than.

[Child]

Yes.

[Rod Babers]

The kind of adapt and yes.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That's kind of what attack versus read and react.

[Rod Babers]

Yes. Yeah there you go. Great way to put it. All right. I think much oh what Go back to that. Let me see that one more time. That was a good little comment. I think must champs aggression aggressiveness is better for him. Exactly. Totally agree with that 100 and there's a lot of guys going to benefit from that. By the way he's not the only guy that's going to benefit from that style. Okay. Before we bring on our special guests. I know they're coming up here soon. I got one thing I wanted to bring up because from Big Ten media days a couple days ago they actually asked Jeremiah Smith and mellows in.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Our Ohio State guy mellows in the chat.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, this is perfect. Then the Astrovia Smith like what game he's most looking forward to on the schedule. Like I think I want to say they, they literally told. They gave him a physical schedule.

[Jerry Hamilton]

You got Indiana, you got Oregon, you got Michigan.

[Rod Babers]

He circled Texas. He literally circled Texas.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I love it.

[Rod Babers]

And I love it too because by the way, Jeremiah Smith is a dog. Nobody will deny that. But it is so fascinating that his worst games of his illustrious career and he is the real deal. I don't want this. Ain't no disrespect happening on this channel. His worst games and hands down have been against Texas.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That's why it's not even close.

[Rod Babers]

I'll give you these numbers really quickly. They're mind blowing. So in 2024, his 33 receiving rate against Texas in that game was the lowest in his career. He his 3 yards receiving, lowest in yardage total in his career. He had a 55 pro football focus grade. That seat, that game. Excuse me, that was his lowest in his career. He had a 55 pro football focus receiving grade. That was also lowest of his career. His yards per route run, which was 0.08 was the lowest of his career. And he had a 70 passer rating when targeted, which was the second lowest of his career behind the 2025 game where that was apparently a 2.8 passer rating when targeted according to PFF. It's fascinating. He had a 58 Pro Football Focus offensive grade in 2025. That's the second lowest of his career. 60 Pro Football Focus receiving grade was also the second lowest of his career in 2025. I mean no matter which way you're looking at it, 2.1 yards per. I think his yards per route run was the fourth lowest of his career in 2025. I see why he circled the game 100.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He should. He's a competitor.

[Rod Babers]

He's been in for his standard. He's been embarrassed in the Texas games.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Oh, he had a couple of breadbasket drops last year too on very simple routes. Right. Remember the. Again the game.

[Child]

He's had three.

[Rod Babers]

He's had three drops in his career according to pff, Jerry. And two against Texas. Two of them against Texas.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yep.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, it circled so.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah. I mean that. I love that from a Competitive. Look, I want Ohio State to play their best game and I want Texas to play their best game, see who comes out. I mean I think that's what's going to be great about the game is I hope everybody, I hope both teams play really well in both fan bases said, okay, that team was better that day, whoever it is.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, it'll be if you're Texas. I mean of course they're trying to give them the football, but how Arthur Smith is going to do it is going to be fascinating. And how much of the 2025, 2024 game plans of PK does must champ decide? Well, hell if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Right.

[Rod Babers]

But you have to do something because they're going to have I think a dramatically different game plan concerning how Texas has had so much success neutralizing one of the greatest all time receivers in the history of college football.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

In the two times they played. Fascinating.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Brandon Morgan's got a super chat. That's going to be fun.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, all right, let's get to the super chat. All right. Let's get get to Brandon Morgan's first. Let's get be Morgan. What's up man? Jerry, can you give me a ride Texas stats or would you have to look into it if he was not here since you knew of him from the high. From high school early on. Oh, I don't know if we get. Yeah, that's. It's a pre Internet guys.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

So pre Internet process.

[Jerry Hamilton]

People that haven't heard. People that haven't heard. So some guys used to get together for workouts.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

At North Shore High School. Sometimes it was at old Dobie High School if North Shore guys weren't around. And I knew a Rod but and it's pretty much just throw guys playing. It's one on ones. It was just one on ones for an hour, hour and a half pretty much. And a lot of times I'd be throwing the rock to guys and I, I just remember, I just remember how quick my initial thought was how quickly Rod came out of a cut and reacted the receiver coming out of a break. And I was like o like that was, that was a little different. And how quickly. Quickly. If a guy ran an out and say Rod took was maybe took the wrong step and had to recover. He took one more step back and his pedal then had to recover. How quickly he covered the ground and closed the ground. But that was the first thing with Rod that impressed me because when you're out there throwing the ball to all these Guys and Cedric Cormier, whoever it was.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Running routes.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yep.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Everybody's a hell age is now Power 4 player. Who was the kid? The receiver from Madison that went the lsu. Rod.

[Rod Babers]

Jerrell Myers.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Jarell Myers.

[Rod Babers]

Jerrell Myers.

[Jerry Hamilton]

And when Rod was quicker than those guys coming in and out of cuts. That is one thing that would stick out if you were the guy throwing the football. I'll say that.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

That stood out to me about Rod.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, no, I remember that's. That's when. Because now everything's so different. But you had to go try to find work. And those were all really good players who wanted to be really good. And we all knew North Shore had probably, I don't know, 8D1 guys. They're on that team that we played the Cedric Cormier. I think they had a. Was it LaVar Johnson, the running back went to LSU.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I mean Walker was it going.

[Rod Babers]

They were. They were always loaded. So that's what we. That's where the players were.

[Jerry Hamilton]

So we went Alex Evans with the Arizona as a corner. They were loaded back then. Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

And me and Jerome SAP, maybe a couple other guys.

[Jerry Hamilton]

The one guy could never get to go out there was Adam Dunn.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Remember?

[Rod Babers]

He's too big time. He's too big time.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He was playing too much baseball.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, I'm saying he's too big time, man. He was too big size. He had real money on the line. Yes, but no, I remember those days, man. We had to go find work. We had our cleats in the trunk and so we. We could always go to a. Literally pickup games of football and sometimes we end up going to pickup games and that's how you know Jerry was. Was hard working even back then. He was getting the scoops even before

[Jerry Hamilton]

you could put them online. That's the best conversation. Timothy, we're going to get to that question. Like we got our special guest. We got to do it. Coach Brian Randall, head coach of Randall High State champion been the two state championship games. Obviously head coach has watched the Landon Williams cows grow up as a football player. Coach Randall, thanks for joining us. Good to see you yesterday, by the way.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yes, sir. It's good to see you as well.

[Jerry Hamilton]

You're here with Rod Babers. Obviously you know Rod played at Texas in the NFL. Houston. Lamar, we were just talking about some of those days. But Coach, I just wanted to ask you, you know, the first question is. I kind of want to start when the first time you saw Landon. First time you saw Landon run with the football, what were your thoughts first

[Coach Brian Randall]

time I saw him or the first time I saw him run with the football.

[Jerry Hamilton]

First time you saw him run with a football?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Nothing short of amazing. It's funny because the kid's doing the same thing that he was doing when he was a little kid. You know, he's just, he's just bigger now. He's just bigger, stronger and faster. You know, it takes him less time to get to the end zone. But he looks like when he was playing for the Oilers and then when he was playing at the, at the junior high doing the exact same thing, just, just faster. Now.

[Rod Babers]

How long has LWC been playing ball, Coach?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Oh gosh, that kid. Yes. Since he could walk, maybe. Yeah, I want to say since he could walk. He's a. Is a very special young man. Extremely special.

[Jerry Hamilton]

How often do you and the staff watch tape the day after a game and at the time you said how the hell they do that? And then you watch the tape and you say, how the hell did you do that?

[Coach Brian Randall]

We do it during the game. But it's funny because you always, you always have a chance, you know, like you're never out of a game. It's a, it's a picture. It kind of made a mean of me. It was like, I guess 2 minutes and 33 seconds left in the state game this year. And I look up at the clock and that's when I kind of. That's the only time I felt like, man, we might, we might really be done, you know, because you always have a home run in landing. You always have a home running land. You just got to give him the ball in space. It's really. Just give him the ball and he'll, he'll correct the space he needs.

[Rod Babers]

No, coach, he's obviously an electric player. There's no doubt about that. Have you, do you have a player account for him that in mind that you like? Oh, no, he's. He's very much like this player, similar to this player because he is so unique and so spectacular. But do you, do you guys have a common player comp for lwc?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Well, not, not really. Like when he first got there, we're thinking kind of like a Devin and Hester type like Devin a little bit. And then like. Well, no, that's not, that's not it. Because this kid, he's a true, he's a true running back. Because we didn't know exactly where to play him. You know, we had, we had some pretty good running backs, you know. And the kid gets there, he's like, well, coach, I'm running back. I'm not a. I'm not a slot receiver now, mind you. He's 14 years old, you know, and I've. I've seen him throw. Throw a dime, 60 yards. So they played him at quarterback at the middle school. He played linebacker at the middle school. Like he can do. The kid can truly do it. He can do it all. And we. We allow him to do it all. You know, we got a package on defense. We haven't playing deep safety because he can. He can go from sideline to sideline faster than anybody on the field.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Coach, one of the things I'd said previewing leading up to his announcement was it's because of him, obviously, but Jacquiz, Michael Lewis, how much of a hometown hero you're coaching in that Richmond Rosenberg area? And I said it. A lot of people said Vince Young. But I was like, hold on. Vince played in front of 50,000. I said, T.J. ford, when he was at Willow Ridge, in basketball, as a boat down that Missouri City area, they had this following that was different than most people. You see how. How cool has it been to be a part of that. Obviously, y' all success on the field, and you also have another year coming up, and we're going to get to who y' all are playing the opener coming up. But how cool has it been to be around that and kind of watch all that? Because that's pretty special. Not a lot of coaches get to coach and go through that level of kind of fandom of a high school player.

[Coach Brian Randall]

No, it's. It's extremely, extremely special to watch. And to watch it grow is probably the neatest thing, because you get. We got to watch it grow. It wasn't. Now, he was already kind of. I guess the word is mythical. I'm thinking when he was in Little League, when he played for the Oilers, because I was the head coach at May Creek, and I get a phone call when the whole thing with Randall happened, when the school got ready to be opened up and everything. And some. Some of my buddies from Galveston were calling me. He's like, hey, man, if you, if you get that job at Randall, you're going to get a chance to, To. To coach a kid that walks on water, you know. Now, mind you, this is. This is Little League, right? These are Little League kids. And I'm not a big. I mean, I'm a fan of Little League, but kids, yeah, it fizz out, you know, I mean, sometimes they don't ever grow again. All that kind of stuff. So you think about it like, well, I don't know. And fast forward six months, we get the job and for whatever reason we're sitting in the office and I tell my guys, I say guys, let's go, let's go to Navarro Middle School and let's check this landing kit out because everybody keeps telling me about them and I don't want to lose them because these kids here, you know. Yeah. Pick up and move and you look up, it'll be, it'd be Katie Tiger, you know, mind you, like in the fifth or sixth grade. So we get, we get on the campus and it's. I guess that's probably the closest have been to. Well I guess a college coach would be like getting to go recruit kids and all that kind of stuff. So we get in there, we, we see them come around the corner and all you see is a smile and calves. You see these big old calves and this big giant smile, man. You know, you build a relationship. And we kept him on the silver track because everybody and their mom was trying to recruit that kid away because in LCISD we're, we're not open enrollment, we're on silver track. So you, you like, it's truly you, you play where you're zoned, you know. And his dad was zoned around the high school.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Hey, we have a super chat. Rod. Let's bring this. This is an interesting question from Daniel. How do you continue to develop a talent like lwc? What's next for his development when, when he pretty much walks on water?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah, well, as coaches you don't want to mess it up, you know. And a lot of times you can over coach things. Believe it or not, you can overcoach things. And when you put too much on a kid's plate and you make them think, then what do you think that's going to do? It's going to slow them down. It's going to slow them down. So you, a kid like that, you've got to understand that he picks things up quick. If he picks things up quick and you, you walk it one time with him, then you run through it and then he's got it, you know, and then if he doesn't have it, he'll make something happen.

[Rod Babers]

He'll make something, he'll make you look good, huh?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Coach, we got, we got a chance to be good coaches for one more good year.

[Rod Babers]

Hey coach, let me ask you this. Is, is he better in zone concepts, Power concepts, You guys run a healthy mix there that he, he obviously is going to Be well trained and obviously, I think well conditioned in both the zone and the gap schemes.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Absolutely. Like we actually ran between tackles a lot this year. The year before we got him outside on some different sweeps and things like that. So he's just, he's one of those kids that, he can pretty much do it, he could do it all. And I, I, it's funny because I think about it all the time. If he was in another campus, possibly he probably already breaks that record because his freshman year he was. He's amazing. But we, we limited his carries, limited his touches. His sophomore year, amazing, but we limited his carries and touches. You know, this year we didn't. So it's freshman year. Yeah. 10 to 15, sophomore year, 15 to 20, junior year, 20 to 25, you know, and that was by design because when you see a talent like Landon, some coaches can get greedy. You know, we gotta win this thing every year. We gotta do this, do this. Well, you run the kid in the ground. His, he's still, yes, he's 14 and yes, he's, he's amazing, but he's still a 14 year old kid in a 14 year old body, you know, so you wanna, you want to take care of kids like that. Not that. And to where they can have some tread on that tire. So he can, he can get that gold jacket in, in 10 to 15, you know, 20 years from now.

[Jerry Hamilton]

What, what is his decision? Not to get into like his decision, but the decision to go to Texas. What, what kind of did that surprise you? One and kind of. What is it about Texas that you think drew him there?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Well, it's funny because I'm gonna, I'm gonna be honest. I'm gonna be honest. Texas A M out recruited you guys. Like, that's, that's the reality of the situation. They, they did like throughout the entire process, right from his being a, I guess a sophomore year when it really, really picked up. Now he had offers when he was a freshman, but throughout the entire process, they, they really did a, a better job recruiting the kid. It was a Texas high school football coach named Chris Gilbert, I think. Yeah, Chris, Chris kind of came in there and saved the day, you know, like, he did a heck of a job. Man, when I tell you Chris did a heck of a job building that relationship with Uncle Rodney, building a relationship with Landon. Now, mind you, don't, don't, I'm not pooping on anybody else because everybody, they did a good job.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Texas went through the running back coaching changes three times. Dennis or group.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah, right, right. But Jalu does. Jalu did well. Did well like they did. They all did a good job. But it wasn't quite that same thing that that A M presented. But it wasn't until Chris got involved. Chris really moved that needle, man. He really, really did. But I mean Texas high school football coaches, they, they do a great job building relationships. You know, we don't get to, we don't get to recruit. Like we have to work with what we have. Right. You have to keep those kids there. And I think that kind of helped him to because he built that relationship super fast man. So kudos to that guy.

[Rod Babers]

Wow. Hey coach, when did LWC get his first offer? Do you remember that?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah. Seventh or eighth grade. Yes.

[Rod Babers]

Wow. That's crazy.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Probably showed up at a college camp and they're like, what? Yeah, exactly guys. Yeah.

[Coach Brian Randall]

You ran a 105 in the eighth grade. A 10 5.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Come on. You know what one of the funny things I said coach about him, his feet fit his frame. He doesn't have big feet. You know, like I was kind of joking about that. You know, you ever seen a 5, 7, 58 guy that has a 12 shoe and you're like, that doesn't look right. He's got those tiny feet. I don't know what size he wears. Ten, nine and a half, ten maybe. But the feet fit his frame.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah. Probably helps with that balance because that's, that's why he's so good. Because his, his balance and he's so strong. People don't realize how hard it is to tackle that kid because even he's a track guy when we get him. Now. Landon was repping 315 in the 10th grade, you know, so. And his, his, his uncle, his dad, everybody, we, we talked and you don't want him to get too big because if we allowed him just to lift weights, like if Landon lifted weights like everybody else, he would, would be what's the guy's name played and leave them giant legs strolls. That's name.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Maybe Aaron Sprouls.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah, because he wasn't a good tall guy, but just a big old yoked up dude. Like Landon can go sit in the weight room and gain five pounds of muscle and just, just look at the weights. Like that's the God honest truth. Like the kid's truly, truly blessed. I tell people when he come out those shoulder pads, that's a man, you know, that's 200 pound man right there. You know, he can, he can run in between tackles. He's a, he is a four down Black. He's a complete back. Complete.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Hey, coach, you. I kind of previewed you guys, you coming on and thank you very much for the time. And I gotta ask, I mean, it's really rare what, what you guys are going to do to start the season. You guys beat South Oak Cliff for the state championship. And congrats on that because that's really quick for a school that opened to win a state championship. Y' all won a state championship, beat South Oak Cliff, dropped the state championship game to South Oak Cliff this year, and now you're playing in the beginning the season at Prairie View A. M. I guess you don't do have to do a lot of film review, right? You don't have to get the kids up for this game.

[Coach Brian Randall]

No. Well, it's funny because Todd, Todd's a real good dude, man. Like, we've, we've developed a good relationship over the, the years of just playing against each other and talking and you got to break the tie, you know what I mean? Like the competitor and he's like, hey man, we can't. We gotta break this tie. With us moving up now, if we stayed 5A Division 2, we're, we wouldn't play, you know, because we would hopefully line up and meet in the state game again for a third time. But because we weren't gonna do that, I was like, hey, we gotta, we gotta at least break this tie. And especially when you lose like that, the emotion side, we're talking about it, we're shaking hands, we're going through the lines, hey man, we know we gotta run this back. He said, man, just call me, you know, because I mean, with socks, Socks, a whole different animal. Like that team that beat us, I, I think they're the best team in the state last year. Hands down, hands down the best team in Texas. And I don't know crap, because it's different competition, you know, like Texas high school football is different, man. It's different.

[Rod Babers]

Hey, coach, I want to ask you about that because I'm from, I'm from Houston. It's always been this competition between H Town and DFW when it comes to high school school football. Especially when the big dogs like yourself and South Oak Cliff can meet up in the playoffs to determine state championships. But then there's some folks in dfw, they believe and they got some evidence behind it and they, they starting to separate from, from H Town a little bit overall and big time high school football programs developing high level talent and elite NFL talent. What are your thoughts about that? And if there is a separate separation starting to happen between DFW and H Town, what's the reason for it?

[Coach Brian Randall]

Well, I think, honestly, I might get in trouble for saying this, but I. It's. It's by design. They're separating from us because they have. They have open enrollment, you know, so, like, you can go there when you're a freshman or whatever, and, like, it's. It's different than what we have. We don't have the freedom like they do, you know? But that's. That's from their superintendent on down, you know, like. Like, they have. The DFW has figured it out, you know, like, that's why you have those same schools. Now, I'm not taking away anything from their coaching, because I think they do a phenomenal job coaching, because you just don't. You don't just roll the ball out and win state. Like North Shore. You say you played North Shore, right, Coach?

[Rod Babers]

No, I played against North Shore in the playoffs. I played at Lamar. Houston Lamar, though.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, man, we had some tough games. I used to be the head coach of Ailey Taylor.

[Rod Babers]

Okay. Yeah, a year.

[Coach Brian Randall]

They had Daryl Colbert. I want to say quarterback there. Were you there? Were you? You're around.

[Rod Babers]

I'm old school. Okay. I graduated 99, coach. I'm old school.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Okay. I got you. I got you. Well, yeah, man. Lamar, something else. They used to be a beast, man. That was different, but kind of similar to how they have it up in the dfw because I want to say Lamar's open enrollment.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah, it's that magnet program. So, yeah, you can go outside of your. Your zone or whatever. Your zone. School and recruit. I'm from. Because I'm from South Park. I'm from, like, Southside. I'm near Paran, and I went all the way to Houston Lamar because I was a business magnet. Playing for coach? No.

[Coach Brian Randall]

There you go. You smoke some cigarettes?

[Rod Babers]

Oh, yeah. Hey, he did. Hey, Coach. Nobody believed me. I say coach used to be under. He used to be under the stand at halftime smoking a Sig, man.

[Coach Brian Randall]

That dude's a legend. He's a. He's a legend. Man, that's some legendary stuff to do. Just imagine. Imagine us doing that nowadays.

[Rod Babers]

Exactly. You got canceled.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Hey, Coach, we've had a couple of questions over the course of Landon's recruitment. One, in the chat tonight, are you related to a Coach Randall at Crawford High School? Was one question. And two, you got. You related to Randall, right, With the N the school's named after? Take people through that so the school's

[Coach Brian Randall]

named after my dad. He was the. That's my dad behind me right there in that picture. We won state. Like, somebody, one of the kids took a picture and my, my baby brother, my dad's favorite, turned it into a painting, you know. That was pretty cool, man. But yeah, so he was the superintendent in LCSD for 21 years. He sat there for like, in that chair. And that's very rare to be in that chair for, for 20 plus years. You know, they have high turnover rates. I want to say between three and five years, those guys turn over. To be there and watch this place grow to what it became is nothing short of amazing. Clayton is my younger brother, the one that. He's the officer line coach at Crawford.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Okay.

[Coach Brian Randall]

So, yeah, that's like. He looks just. We look just alike. He's just, he's taller than I am. He's a big dude. A big dude.

[Jerry Hamilton]

So, coach, I thank you very much for the time. We know you got stuff to do. We're gonna let you go. So I wanted to ask you this. Everybody knows Landon as the player. Everybody's seen the 20 minute huddle highlight guys like Antoine asked that question about your brother Crawford. He goes to a lot of high school events. I've seen him at basketball, football. He's one of those guys that's out and about. Tell us about Landon as a kid, as a dude, because I don't feel like people get to know the guys as much.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Well, it's, it's different because he's. Yes, he's. He's a kid. And I used to have to remind my coach, like, hey guys, he's. He's a, he's still a baby. You know, he's in a ninth grade, 10th grade, because they put a lot on him. But he's got such an old soul. Like, Landon has an old soul. I bet you right now Landon is at the house, probably on the couch with his dog, watching, watching TV or just kind of hanging out with the fellows. Like, he doesn't. I, I mean, mind you, it's Rosenberg, Texas. So I don't know what all you can get into out here. Richby Rosenberg. So it's not like going to Lamar where you have a zillion things you can go do in the city. Yeah, it's a little ways away. But he's just such a good kid. Like I've, I've watched him intervene when kids were getting bullied, you know, like, without not having to say anything like, hey, man, I don't. I Don't get to do that around me, you know? This one, he's in the 10th grade.

[Jerry Hamilton]

You know, it's a sophomore leadership.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's just.

[Coach Brian Randall]

He's just a good guy, man. He's just a good guy. You can't really put your finger on it. Like, he's just very, very rare. When you think about those guys, the greats, the. The Vaughn James and all those guys that. That go on to be extremely successful, the one thing they've always had is. Is poise. Right. It's like they've. They've been here before and they've done it before. I tell people all the time, this is Landon's second time around, man. This kid. This kid's been here before. Oh, so. Oh, so.

[Rod Babers]

Well, Coach, we. We appreciate you taking the time. It has been a pleasure. Pleasure and an honor as well. So we'll hope you will join us down the line sometime. But thank you so much and the best of luck.

[Coach Brian Randall]

Definitely, man. Thank you, guys. Thanks for having me, Coach.

[Jerry Hamilton]

See you next week.

[Rod Babers]

All right, Coach. Welcome. Oh, man. That was great.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's awesome.

[Rod Babers]

Fantastic.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's awesome. Like, he's. You know, when I say this, I give. I want to give him a lot of credit. I. I don't know how many times I called him during the recruitment. He always picked up the phone. You know, he was always. You know, and not everybody does that. No, he's always. He's always been. He's always been great. He does a great job promoting his players. Obviously, he's at. Look, everybody thinks, oh, if you have a lot of talent, it's an easy job. I think those are the toughest jobs. I've said before, North Shore is a tough job because there's a lot of expectations, and everybody. Because North Shore had success, the next group just thinks it's going to happen. They don't know the process of why it happened. I think. I think coaches. He's one of the great young coaches in Texas high school football. And, you know, when you get talented kids to buy into the process.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

And listen. And because he went to a school that had never done it before, that opened up, it's hard.

[Rod Babers]

He built the culture of it. He built a championship.

[Jerry Hamilton]

People think those things. Those jobs are easy. I think those jobs are very difficult. I mean, my years doing this, obviously, my father coached 38 years.

[Rod Babers]

Yeah.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Like I've said before, you know, people think Coach Samples has the easiest job at Duncanville. I disagree. I don't think that's an easy job. I think that can be a difficult job. Yeah, it's great to have talent, but there's still one thing that has to happen, that you have to get guys who have all these offers and all these accolades to come together for the common goal. Yeah, and that's hard when guys are getting all this attention. Some guys aren't getting as much attention. Guys are getting offers everywhere. You might have high school all Americans, you know, and you maybe have parents that think their kids gonna be a high school American. The reality is not he's gonna be a good high school player. You got to get all those guys to buy him for the common goal. And he won state pretty quick, was really impressive. He got a great player. He had some really good players around that great player. But you still got to go get it done.

[Rod Babers]

And do you know how old coach exactly is? Because I meant to ask him and I didn't.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I do not.

[Rod Babers]

He seems. I mean, because he seems relatively young for someone who's had that much success, but he's. You can see why. You can see why. It's pretty clear as to why he's had so much success. Fantastic stuff. There's some coach, so we appreciate Coach Randall coming on with us. Thank you, Jerry, for hooking that interview up, too. Great stuff, as always. Thank you to everyone out there who. I think we actually may have super chats left. Okay, here we go. Let's get super chat. Sorry about that. Rocky Port. He says OTF flexing that day the best with Aaron Ross coming on coffee and football this week. Oh, I didn't know that at Rod. Do you have any good Aaron Ross stories you can tell? I don't have a ton of good Aaron Ross stories to tell that, like, my personal stories with him. I mean, I remember he came people for, like. People forget. Like, I was still there when Aaron Ross came on campus originally. Like, when he was originally being recruited like him. I think that was like a. I don't know if it was a juco thing or something.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah, he set out an extra year for academics. He didn't want to go to juco, so he actually set out and was out of high school just to get qualified.

[Rod Babers]

Yes, it was. Because I remember when coach. Coach Aquina was recruiting him and telling us, he was like, no, this. This dude's legit. He's. He's twitchy. He's got loose hips.

[Jerry Hamilton]

He's got swivel hips.

[Rod Babers]

He's got some sweetest hips you've ever. They really are. They're so sweet. It Is they kind of his body?

[Jerry Hamilton]

His body can be pointing a little bit. Right. And his hips are already fully swiveled.

[Child]

Yes.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I'm like, that's not normal.

[Rod Babers]

It's not. We just talked about this earlier about the freaky. Sometimes the hip flexibility and the knee and ankle flexibility. His hips, they were sweet. You talk about loose hips for DBs, he might have had the loosest hips in the history of dbu. That's. Aaron Ross might have that also. He. If y' all don't watch Real Housewives of Atlanta, I don't know if he's still on there because I don't watch Real Housewives Atlanta anymore.

[Jerry Hamilton]

I used to watch it. Yes.

[Rod Babers]

Did you watch it when he was on it? Him and I think he was reluctantly on it because he didn't get seen a lot. And every time he was on, he didn't seem to be happy about it. But check my man Aaron Ross side. He's good people, though.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Rod, in the chat, if one of Aaron and Sanya's kids isn't like elite fast, it'll be one of the most surprising things of all time.

[Rod Babers]

Shocking.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Shocking.

[Rod Babers]

Shocking. Yeah. Agree.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Like, if one of their kids isn't just an elite athlete with elite speed, it'll be shocking. It has to happen, right?

[Rod Babers]

Because I think a Ross is like a high four three guy. He's a four three guy. And Sonya's a gold medalist sprinter. Yeah. You should walk out the womb with a 10 5.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Yeah.

[Rod Babers]

What did coach say about LWC? Did he read a 10 5? Did he say eighth grade?

[Jerry Hamilton]

Eighth grade. Yeah. So he was probably 165, 170 in eighth grade.

[Rod Babers]

Oh, my man. Oh, Marcus knows. He said this is already pretty nice in football. There you go. See, Marcus already knows. He already got the scoop. Deuce is nice on it. Okay. Put the Daniel super chat up because, Daniel, I apologize. I didn't see that. Thank you, Daniel, for the super chat said donation. The Jerry's corn dog Foundation. Thanks.

[Jerry Hamilton]

In the morning. That could make an appearance in the morning. Possibly.

[Rod Babers]

And I think we have another one there. Oh, here's one. Thank you very much. I said I drove through Brownsboro today. Really cool football stadium. Really cool.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Oh, and that's a. Used to be 3A. Like I. I went to there for the first time in my years doing this. They were 3A school, I think in Carthage's district way back in the day. They've changed so much. I might be wrong on that, but they were 3A there. So they're now the 4A, which used to be 3.3A. I'm. Look, I've told people for many years, if I had one Friday night left to go to a football game in Texas, I'm going somewhere in East Texas, I'm going somewhere. It may be the Lufkin Longview game. If it's at Longview, it may be a Gladewater Gilmer. It may be somebody playing Carthage. But there's something just. So if you're just a pure football guy and you grew up like I did, there's something about those games in East Texas where you feel like the team that's on the visitor side, they definitely turned out all the lights in the town. The lights are off and they headed. They headed 30 or 40 miles to watch their team play. There's something about that that's just so special to me. You know, it's. I think I've been about everywhere over the years in East Texas to all these stadiums, and they're all so cool on a Friday night. It's kind of like the farther we get away from 80s and 90s high school football, kind of how I grew up as a ball boy in Nacogdoches or something crazy like that when my dad was there. It's. It's. You kind of think about how special football is in East Texas.

[Rod Babers]

It's good stuff. Jeff, appreciate that. I think we're done with all of our super chats, if I'm not mistaken. But thank you guys so much. Juan, appreciate you. Appreciate you. Mike as well. Cisco with the super chat. Thank you. Michael as well. Thank you. Justin. Thank you. Brandon. Thank you, Daniel. Rocky P. Of course.

[Jerry Hamilton]

Uh, one.

[Rod Babers]

Multiple times. Uh, Brandon, multiple times too. Daniel, appreciate you as well. Thank you guys for all the super chats. Very generous of you. Uh, thank you to Blake behind the scenes because Blake's been twisting and tweaking the Dallas. So really appreciate his efforts. If we we missed any of your questions, you can direct them to this gentleman right here and Bobby Burton. Bright and early tomorrow morning. That'll be a Monday morning coffee and football starting at 8:15am Then we'll have your Monday night live stream. The winning drive. Myself, coach Bob Shipley and CJ Vogel will be available for that one. So thank you guys for all the questions. Thanks to Coach Randall as well. Great interview with Coach Randall. If you missed it, please go check it out. Man, he was fantastic. So we're really grateful for him taking the time, making the time for us, but for. For Jerry and for Blake and for all of our sponsors. Well, prize picks and Von Lane. I'm lifetime Longhorn rod babies. Until next time, hook them horns.