ROSENBERG – Landen Williams-Callis has always been a throwback recruit. He was the first solo high school athlete on the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football since Midland Lee legend Cedric Benson in 2000. He's rushed for 7,500 yards in just three years at Richmond Randle. And, his recruitment harkened back to the late 1990s, where no one in the country had any idea he was committing to the University of Texas until he announced it in front of a standing room only crowd at the Rosenberg Civic Center.  

But, of course, some people always claim to know something they don't. 

“Late in the day, people were saying the decision has already been made," Landen's uncle, Rodney Williams, said. "But, in all honesty, that decision was not made until today.”

How does he know that? Because Landen called him today from his bedroom asking, "Is Texas the move?" Uncle Rodney, a current NFL agent, is always one of Landen's first calls when he has a big decision to make. And this was the biggest of his young life.

“He gave me some advice, but he really didn’t give me the advice I really needed,” Landen joked.

Landen wanted Uncle Rodney to tell him an answer. Instead Uncle Rodney asked him what mattered to him?

"I asked him a whole bunch of questions back to himself," Uncle Rodney said. "I did that on purpose to make sure he had to think about what he was doing and get back to football. I wanted him to own the decision, not have something coming from me."

After the call, Landen was 99 percent sure where he would play college football. But, in order to be 100 percent, he asked his French Bulldog, BJ, for his input.

“I had put all the schools up to him, and he picked Texas,” Landen said, cradling BJ in his arms, both human and dog decked in burnt orange regalia.

But then Landen called his other dog, John Meredith III, who recently reclassified to the Class of 2026 and enrolled at the University of Texas. 

"I had gotten on the phone with John Meredith today," Landen said. "He was giving me advice. So, after that, I knew where I was going."

The family said that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian's offense, combined with the pitch to be a four-down running back, pushed Texas ahead of the other finalists, Texas A&M, SMU, Houston, and Missouri.

“I think that Sark’s offense has shown the capability to feature a back in all types of areas, from the standpoint of running the ball inside and outside and showing his skillset as a wide receiver," Uncle Rodney said. "I think it gives him a pro-look, if his goal is to go pro, it gives him a chance to look at a pro set and see exactly how he fits into it and what goes into it."

Now, the state's No.1-ranked running back will join the state's flagship university. Richmond Randle head coach Brian Randle couldn't imagine a better fit.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding biased," Randle said. "But when you look at UT, you think of VY (Vince Young). You think of Ricky Williams. You think of all the stars. What do they say? The stars are always brighter on the Forty Acres. The star power out there is just different. Landen is a gold jacket guy.”