When talking with his new coaching staff after being hired as Cinco Ranch’s head football coach in May, Chris Dudley kept hearing one kid’s name pop up all the time.

Veteran, highly-respected coaches like Barry Minter talked highly of then-freshman Kasey Murry, a precocious talent who was bringing to mind former Cougar greats like Ayodele Ilesanmi.

“Kasey has a chance to be special,” Dudley was told, more than once.

And then Dudley was able to work with Murry during skill sessions in the summer, and he saw what his fellow peers already knew. He saw Murry work tirelessly on his footwork. He saw how quickly Murry was able to make reads as Dudley installed his 4-2-5 defense.

Even without pads, Dudley could tell “pretty quick” what kind of tools his 5-foot-10, 175-pound outside linebacker had.

“He excited me from the get-go,” said Dudley, who has coached linebackers for 18 years.

All that promise and potential has turned into reality.

In what has been a tough season for the young 0-8 Cougars during Dudley’s first year at the helm, Murry has been a revelation. He is averaging 7.7 tackles per game (32 solo tackles) to go with 5.0 sacks, one fumble caused and one fumble recovered.

“He plays with really good leverage,” Dudley said. “He understands about playing behind your pads, as they say. He’s physical. We’ve had guys that have come through here that are even smaller than him, but they’re very physical players and that can make up for a lot. Kasey can be a guy who pushes 200 pounds, tops out close to 6-feet maybe, so we’re really excited about him going forward.”

Murry is a football savant. When he was moved to fifth period, the varsity athletic period, over the Christmas break last winter, he was ready.

“I came in with a mindset that I was going to outwork everybody,” Murry said. “I wanted to set my impact from the start.”

So he hardly left the weight or film rooms. Murry added 10 pounds of muscle, which explains the impressive balance and leverage he plays with.

But what sets Murry apart, Dudley said, is his infatuation with game film, learning the nuances of the sport. Because of Murry’s work in the film room, he is better at reading plays, defeating blockers, and taking better angles to the football.

“He is really into the X’s and O’s. He wants to know why,” Dudley said. “When you get a kid that young, who is interested in that stuff, that tells you a lot, right off the bat. He’s got good instincts to pair with being deep into the nuts and bolts of things, and he gets better every week. That’s what you want to see with a kid that’s thrown into the fire like that.”

Murry said his love for studying the game comes from his father. “Watch the game, son,” his father tells him.

“Eventually, you’re going to translate what you watch and see into how you play,” Murry said. “He always put that on me. ‘Keep up with the game.’ ‘Learn the game.’ ‘Watch the game.’”

Murry discovered that watching film is a necessity to succeed as a varsity football player, particularly an underclassman doing so. He said the game is slower for him. He finds himself in better positions to make plays.

“The varsity game, the techniques and formations come down to the smallest detail,” Murry said. “It’s more broken down. As a freshman, it was just go out there and play, pretty much. For instance, now, I go off the guard-to-fullback read. So, I’m reading my guard, whether he’s pulling or zoning, and I fill in with him most of the time.”

That knowledge has helped Murry do what he set out to do—set his impact from the start.

“He’s really solidified himself as the leader of the defense,” Dudley said.

Dudley said Murry has the same work ethic and intensity as David Gbenda, Murry’s predecessor at outside linebacker who earned his first start at the University of Texas during a recent win over Kansas. Dudley includes Murry in the same sentence as Cinco Ranch stalwarts like Zac Mersmann, another smallish linebacker who was essential for the Cougars’ 2016 state semifinalist team.

“Sky’s the limit for Kasey,” Dudley said. “With the amount of growth he’s had this year and his work ethic, he’ll only get bigger, faster and stronger. He has that inner drive. You put him on tape and see him running around making tackles and getting to the football and being smart, that all will speak for itself when it comes to the next level. He’s got a chance to be really good.”