Tennessee safety, Bill Bates, breaks down into a perfect tackling stance and he is moving towards the ball carrier ready to stop him cold. Imagine for a minute that Bulldog great, Herschel Walker, is a 21st century social media football recruiting phenome. Suddenly, it’s no guarantee that Walker was carrying the ball and well Larry Munson never utters the words “My God he is only a freshman.”
Fortunately for the Bulldog nation, Herschel Walker picked up the phone when Georgia Coach, Vince Dooley called. The stories of Walker’s development running over the cross ties of an old railroad are those exact legs developed into steel pistons that charged over Bates and into Bulldog Valhalla.
You look in the eyes of Liberty County Panthers athlete extraordinaire, Richard LeCounte, and his eyes have a twinkle unlike any other. The same twinkle that accompanied lightning fast feet and reflexes on every field and court he played on growing up in Liberty County.
“I’d always play basketball and really any sport growing up. I am competitive and I love playing all sports, so I knew I would play football even though basketball was my favorite sport,” LeCounte said.
LeCounte played one season of middle school football and by eighth grade he was making an impact as a junior varsity player with Liberty County. Raekwon McMillan had created a perfect storm of recruiting on the Georgia coast. Watching McMillan’s accelerating linebacker agilities with the grace of a ballerina, defensive coordinators such as Todd Grantham and Kirby Smart were scribbling some notes and salivating over the blue chip, McMillan, when they started to watch another player smaller than McMillan but just as quick; a senior-confident, athletic ball- hawk in a 14-year-old gangly body.
The Legend of LeCounte started to gain following in 2014 with a YouTube highlight, garnering half a million hits, and making it into the page of Sports Illustrated’s most elite high school athletes, Faces in the Crowd. By the end of his freshman season, he was selected to play in the Freshman All-American game sponsored by Football University, which also coordinates the U.S. Army All-American Game.
“The Army All-American game is big. It’s the original all-star game; you get to play with some amazing players. For me, it’s even bigger because I get to be a part of something that is a positive impact on this area, Fort Stewart and the Third Infantry Division. My friends that I have grown up with, their parents have been in the military. This is a chance to honor their sacrifices and patriotism,” LeCounte said.
Richard was at the table with his mentor, McMillan, when he made his decision to play for Ohio State. Just as McMillan had finished the recruiting journey, LeCounte’s was starting. The summer before LeCounte’s sophomore year, he was hitting camps stretching dri-fit numbers with his name and three digits seamed across. An emerging stock, LeCounte came onto the scene when every step of your back pedal is dissected, fandom debates your 40 yard time, and people twice your age live vicariously athletic personas on message boards.
“I knew that everyone was watching how I did in combines. The attention has kept me grounded. I love the game and the competition, so I know every time I step on the field I will be working my hardest, bringing my best game,” LeCounte said.
A 15 year old’s body with the raw skill set of a Division I impact player is a hard fit, and it can’t be explained. The only ones that truly understand are the ones that lived it. By his sophomore year, he was full blown in the recruiting process and everyone wanted him. However, Richard had a courtside seat to McMillan’s recruitment coupled with the counsel of his parents, Erika and Richard, so he remained comfortable, confident, and grounded.
In the SnapChat, Facebook, Instagram, chasing Pikachu down the street universe that 21st century blue chippers live in, college coaches will venture there if it can secure them great players. It wasn’t a personal Instagram, a letter to a pet cat, or even parking the team eighteen wheeler at Liberty County High School to entice LeCounte. It was something as honest and pure of the love and effort that he puts into each step of his backpedal, while locked down on a receiver like a heat-seeking missile. Georgia chose Richard, and Richard chose Georgia, too. Unlimited choices abound, LeCounte is headed between the hedges, because it’s home. The same reason that Herschel went to Georgia and even closer to LeCounte, his head coach at Liberty County, Kirk Warner, was an outstanding tight end for the Bulldogs from Cochran.
“I am excited to be going to Georgia. I started considering them when I was in 8th grade. Once Coach Kirby Smart took the job, there was absolutely no question for me; Georgia is home. I am also glad that I’ve made my choice; it’s out of the way and I can just enjoy my senior season and playing with my teammates. A lot of them that we have been together since elementary,” LeCounte said.
2016 has been the year of the Liberty County Panthers. In March, LeCounte and best friend, Auburn commit Davion Mitchell, led the Panthers on one of the most successful runs that resulted in the AAAA State Basketball Championship. The bling of those championship rings got brighter when Liberty alum Jordan McRae, helped LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers win an NBA title. Days before, LeCounte’s mentor, McMillan, was named one of the captains of the Ohio State Buckeyes and featured on the cover of Lindy’s Football Preview.
Richard furthered Liberty’s national press coverage showing why he is an impact player and a driving force that will be the platform to have an amazing senior year that will jettison into quick success at Georgia. Five years ago, Nike created the ultimate battle royale of recruiting combines at its corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.
The Opening is unique, all of the participants are the best of the best, and the camp counselors are apex players those recruits envision themselves becoming. It’s a test of physicality but also an acute mental test to be able to quickly digest a complex playbook and evaluators are looking at everything. Most of the coaches are either NFL players or coaches.
On paper and the eye test, LeCounte all 5’11”, 175 pounds is every bit the athlete you would think him to be. Taking into consideration of the fact, most blue chip defensive backs are six foot plus and the prototypical Division I wide receivers are usually at least 6’2″ with a wide wingspan.
Size lessens when you smother a wide receiver and black out the sun plucking footballs from the air.
“The Opening was big. People have said I am too short to be an elite safety. I just wanted a chance to go against the best in the country, and at this event I was blessed with that opportunity to do that. I locked onto the receivers, matched them move for move and was able to make the play. Ultimately, I think one of the things that helped me get the fifth star was my attitude and work ethic. I love playing the game, and I am going to play the best I possibly can, and if a receiver isn’t giving it his all I am going to make him pay,” LeCounte said.
LeCounte’s experience at the Opening also reveals one of the greatest assets he brings to any team, his relentless pursuit of the cerebral part of football. Even as he grabbed that fifth star becoming the bonafide number one safety prospect in the United States and Georgia, the 11th ranked player in the Class of 2017 added to the legend. Search YouTube and you will see an amazing interception that will make your jaw drop.
A year from now, Richard will be working his backpedal on the practice fields of the Butts-Mehere facility surrounded by recruits, the signing class of 2017, the first piece to destiny during Kirby Smart’s career.
“I knew I was going to Georgia. I totally believe the best players stay here. I am going to be there in January and spend as much time as I can with Coach Tucker (Mel Tucker, UGA Defensive Coordinator) and work hard in the weight room. I want to get the playbook in my head and know it like my phone number. I am going to work as hard as I can, so when I make that Dawg Walk I am coming to play,” LeCounte said.
Keeping with the dominance of Liberty County in 2016, the Panthers move into AAA this year as a part of reclassification, after losing to Cartersville in the AAAA state playoffs last season.
“We have had a great off season. It’s a new region and we are ready to compete with every team we meet. This is going to be a great season, and I am going to play as hard as I can every down and really enjoy my teammates. The game is always going to be fun, but the thing that Raekwon and others have impressed on me is that this is the last time that you get to really be with your teammates and enjoy the experience. I am going to love college and can’t wait for the Dawg Walk, but also understand once you sign your name at the next level it’s a business,” LeCounte said.
The legend continues to grow.
ITG Web Content
Featured: Richard LeCounte
Written by John Wood
Photos by Charles Smith Photography
