Newest UT offer Rylan Kennedy has interesting backstory, intriguing upside

Few players have seen their stock soar in the last month the way Mansfield Lake Ridge linebacker Rylan Kennedy has. Essentially an unknown as a prospect when the season started, Kennedy has now landed on the radars of some of college football’s elite programs, with schools like Texas, USC, Auburn, Cal and Washington among the programs to extend scholarship offers in the month of November. All of this for a player who hadn’t suited up for football in several years.

Also a standout on the basketball court, where he’s been an all-district selection, Kennedy played football at the youth level before giving that sport up in middle school in favor of hoops. Last spring, with one year of football eligibility remaining, Kennedy decided to give football another go. The results have been impressive on the field, and potentially life-changing for Kennedy as he now has college options all over the country.

“His freshman, sophomore and junior year, he went to basketball. His junior year he played basketball and track. He jumped last year, was a 6-8 high jumper for the track team. Last year he came back out for football last spring,” said Lake Ridge defensive coordinator A.J. Sheppard. “He dipped his toe back into the football arena, was able to play 10 games for us (in 2022) and create some film for himself. You can see the tremendous growth, even from April to November, but even more so during the season.”

A rare combination of speed, explosiveness and size, Kennedy’s measurable (6-4, 220) and raw athleticism jump off the screen when viewing his film. According to Sheppard, his character, work ethic and personality are equally impressive.

“He’s a student of the game. I would send him different pass rushes, guys like DeMarcus Ware, guys like (Micah) Parsons from the Cowboys. He was always watching clips of what they were doing,” Sheppard said. “He’s just a sponge for information. That made him a joy to coach.

“He’s as modest as they come. He’s just a top-notch kid. He’s always taking care of his business - in the classroom, on the field, at home. He’s just a pleasure to be around. I think more than anything, wherever he goes, that college program, that’ll be one of the first things they notice from what he brings to the table, from a young man and human being standpoint.”

Kennedy’s Texas offer happened on Friday after he made his way to Austin with his mother to watch the Longhorns take on Baylor. The Texas staff got to lay eyes on him for the first time and confirmed that his measurables were up to their expectations, and Kennedy left town with an offer. Needless to say, Texas liked what it saw, and Kennedy enjoyed the experience of taking in the game as well.

With Kennedy getting such a late start in terms of recruiting interest, and with things moving so quickly, he’s keeping an open mind and still trying to figure out how he’ll sort through the process. He’ll likely schedule some visits soon and Texas should have a good chance of landing one of those visits.

“It’s all coming at him so fast,” Sheppard said. “He’s as humble as can be, taking it all in. The thing he does a great job of, taking a step back from it all, listening to everything he’s hearing. As far as visits, I think a lot of colleges, with all the changes … guess we’ll find out this week where he’s going and when he’s going there. Hopefully we’ll have a schedule this week of where he’ll be going.

“I can’t imagine all this happening in a 2-3 week span, life being turned upside down in a positive way. … It’s gone from 0-100, really. If there’s any kid who can handle that, it’s Rylan.”

As if finding a school isn’t challenging enough, even for prospects that have been recruited for multiple years, Kennedy has to try to decide if he wants to sign in December or wait until February to give him some more time to process the recent attention he’s received. The addition of the transfer portal has made that a much trickier decision than it used to be.

“I think that’s the million-dollar question. It’s a tough one to answer because of the transfer portal. Do you hold off in December and then it fills up? That’s something he’ll really have to decide once he goes to those campuses,” Sheppard said. “Once he spends time around the coaches, the players that are there, once he sees himself as a fit, I think that’s a decision that will transpire then.”

Kennedy is also very strong in the classroom, so academics will likely play a big part in his eventual decision. He’s a player that’s only scratching the surface of his potential and still learning the nuances of playing linebacker/EDGE, but it’s easy to see why college coaches find him so appealing.

“Just the athleticism is off the page,” Sheppard said. “His ceiling is so high of what he can accomplish.”