By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine/TV
One of the best kept secrets in the state’s recruiting world is a kid I saw play all the way back in 2021 as a quarterback for Shreveport’s Woodlawn High School – Isaiah Kennedy.
It was his first year to start at quarterback, but he popped out quickly. I saw an incredibly talented young athlete just beginning to learn the position. In 2022 Kennedy was much more polished, and an even better and bigger player.
I look forward to seeing this kid have a great fall. I think Division I schools, even in the Football Bowl Subdivision level, will be all over Kennedy with offers either as a QB, a receiver or free safety. He undoubtedly has at least 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash and is obviously a really smart player with great size — 6-2 and some change, up to 185 pounds now.
Chris Johnson, his QB coach and the offensive coordinator at Woodlawn, has enjoyed coaching Kennedy.
“Coaching Isaiah has been a great experience for both of us. He’s one of the most coachable kids I’ve been around,” said Johnson. “He’s smart, very athletic, always has a great attitude, and he’s a great leader.
“He’s one of the kids that you look forward to working with. He’s always asking questions about things he can do to get better. When he graduates I personally will miss him dearly and so will the Woodlawn family,” said Johnson.
As you hear from the young man himself, it’s apparent that he’s mature and fits the billing that Johnson provided. He definitely respects his head coach.
“I believe and see with my own eyes that my head football coach, Thedrick Harris, is a very diligent person. Since the first time I met him, he’s always been big on time. If I won’t remember anything else about coach Harris I’ll always know he was always big on time and urgency,” said Kennedy. “He’s showed me a lot of new things, not just about football but about life too, and I really appreciate coaches like him. He’s a coach you don’t get often enough. He’s very genuine and pure.”
Kennedy was part of the Knights’ 4×200 meter relay team that qualified for the state meet, and acknowledged the hard work that went into that. While Woodlawn’s team didn’t fare as well as hoped, he expressed appreciation for his coaches and optimism for next spring.
“Track was tough, but we made it happen. With two dedicated and good coaches, even though we didn’t have the season we were hoping for, those two coaches still put in effort and helped us go to Baton Rouge and compete at the state meet. It was tough down there at LSU, having (drawn) one of the worst lanes in the 4×2 but we did come in seventh. We were all underclassman so we’ll all be back.
“Our 4×2 team won at regionals with a 1:39 which was our best time, and, we gapped the second-place team by eight yards. Taking first place this year was the first time in a while for Woodlawn to get a regional championship. My coach says he was proud that me and the team could establish that and I am thankful.”
More about Isaiah Kennedy:
So far he has two offers in football, from Grambling and Lane College (in Tennessee).
His brother Cameron Kennedy also ran track for Woodlawn and was district MVP. He’s the one that “pushed me at a young age to have fight in me, a ‘leaders don’t lead in the back’ mindset,” said Isaiah.
There are four brothers in the Kennedy family.
He has a 3.4 GPA and has run a low 4.4 40-yard dash. He enjoys swimming and reading.
As a junior in 2022, he passed for over 1,500 yards.
Contact Lee at lbrecheen@aol.com
Lee Brecheen has operated Louisiana Football Magazine for over 30 years and is one of the state’s foremost experts on high school football and especially recruiting. Based in Baton Rouge, Lee travels statewide to watch practices and games and has broken down film and tape since the late 1980s. He has converted the printed product to a website (Lafootballmagazine.com) that will preview every high school and college football program in the state before kickoff this fall. Lee also hosts a football-centric TV show on YouTube, The Sports Scouting Report, on weekdays.
