Randall Freeman is just waiting on somebody to fall in love with him.
The Ooltewah High School linebacker and tailback knows it would make life easier over the next four or five years.
“Somebody is going to sign him,” Owls coach Shannon Williams said. “It’s a matter of the right fit. I tell people all the time it depends on who falls in love with you.”
Entering this evening’s game at Rhea County, the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Freeman has gained 521 yards in basically five games. He also has registered 65 tackles with seven lost-yardage stops, two pass break-ups, two quarterback hurries and a blocked kick.
“Some people say he’s too small, but I think he could be an outside linebacker/safety type in the right scheme,” Williams said. “He would be an outside linebacker in a 4-3 [alignment]. In some offensive schemes he’s a tailback; in others he’s a fullback. He would be a great fit at fullback in a Georgia Tech type [option] offense. He won’t be a fit for everybody, but he’ll definitely play at the next level.”
Freeman, son of former Brainerd standout Kelvin Freeman, missed half of the 2008 and 2009 seasons with minor but nagging injuries.
“When the recruiters came by last spring, Randall was one we promoted, but we didn’t have a whole lot of film to give them,” Williams said. “Interest will pick up when we send out film from this season.
Included on that DVD will be Freeman’s game last week against Walker Valley, when he rushed for 173 yards and recorded 17 tackles, and a second-game performance against Austin-East when he ran for 163 yards.
“That 163 yards is probably average for a good high school tailback,” Williams said. “What coaches will see, though, is that 142 of those yards came after first contact. Randall is a YAC [yards after contact] kind of guy. He isn’t a blazer but he’s fast enough, and he plays with a lot of explosion. He’s so strong the first guy never gets him down.”
Middle Tennessee State and Memphis are among the schools that have expressed at least some interest in Freeman, and Tennessee Tech, Wofford, UT-Martin, Eastern Kentucky and Carson-Newman are mailing to him regularly.
“It’s been some mid-major, some Southern Conference and some OVC mostly,” Williams said. “I think the traffic will increase if he continues to play well.”
The traffic also will increase when recruiters find out that Freeman is a member of the National Honor Society and the school’s Beta Club and leadership council and that he made a 20 the first time he took the ACT yet plans to take it again with hopes of a 25 or better.
“If I can take football to the next level, I will. If I don’t, I still want to get my education,” Freeman said. “Football is important, but my education is more important.”
He is a pillar of the Ooltewah school community.
“He’s a program guy,” Williams said. “He’s always where he’s supposed to be – a ‘yes, sir, no, sir’ kid and a solid young man all the way around, the kind who’ll pick up and empty lunch trays that others have left in the cafeteria.”
The coach praised Freeman as much for his defensive prowess as his offensive production and academic capabilities.
“We play a 4-4 and he’s a strongside guy on the outside, which is a very versatile position for us,” Williams said. “He might be playing against tackles and tight ends one game and wide receivers the next, and he actually does it pretty well.”
Freeman also is a standout in track and field, having finished fifth in the state in the shot put and eighth in the triple jump. He has played basketball previously and is considering a return to wrestling although he hasn’t wrestled since middle school.
But it’s football and academic that he’s hoping to combine the two into a product with which some recruiter will fall in love.