Kody Russey is 24 years old and was born on May 14, 1998. Even though Russey had a stellar high school career and led the Elks to a state powerlifting title, Division I schools wasn’t exactly lining up to offer him a scholarship.
A 6-foot-1, 270-pound individual would not be regarded as overly tiny by practically any criterion other than Division I football. It was difficult for Russey to get the attention of Division I schools because coaches at that level often start recruiting athletes based on metrics.
As a senior in high school, Russey made it a priority to bulk up after realizing he was small.
Russey, however, had already gotten an offer from Louisiana Tech a few days before receiving the offer from Texas State. As McElroy recalls, offensive line coach Robert McFarland of Louisiana Tech told the Bulldogs’ assistant coach that Russey’s size wasn’t a problem for them.
Even while Russey is smaller than the average Division I lineman, he more than makes up for it in other ways.
As a freshman with the Bulldogs, Russey opted to sit out the year, but Coach McFarland immediately recognized the unique player he would have for the next three to four years and decided to keep him on the roster.
After redshirting his first year of college football, Russey started on the offensive line immediately as a true freshman. Out of the 39 games that might have been started for him since 2017, he has started 35.
According to the Twitter account @BleedTechBlue, Russey has played in 1,833 of a possible 1,918 snaps (96%) during the past two seasons.
Although offensive linemen in general are accustomed to not receiving praise due to their status as the most selfless unit in sports, Russey has garnered more than his share of accolades for his outstanding play with the Bulldogs.