Callaway duo commits to Mississippi State
Mississippi State added four new commitments on Saturday during their annual spring Maroon and White spring game. Ocean Springs wide receiver Austin Williams got the day started, and the final commit of the day was Gautier offensive tackle Paul Gainer.
The two commitments in between came from a pair of prospects from Callaway High School in Jackson, Mississippi. Three-star 2o17 linebacker Aaron Odom and 2018 wide receiver Malik Heath made their pledges to the Bulldogs.
To get a better understanding of the Callaway duo's pledges to Mississippi State, BulldogBlitz.com talked with Callaway head football coach Darius Brown.
On Aaron Odom: "We were going to the Opening regional last weekend, and he asked me if he committed, would it be too early? And I said, 'No, not if you know where you want to go.' He didn't mention anything else about it. Tuesday, he told me that he wanted to go to Starkville for the spring game. I asked, 'For what?' and he said, 'I'm thinking about committing.' So I told him to make sure he wanted to do it.
"He said that State feels like home, and they want him more than anyone else does. I think that the whole deal was that they were really personable with him. He's a real laid back kid, and he doesn't like much attention in the recruiting process. He wants to focus on the season and his academics because he wants to graduate early."
On Malik Heath: "Malik's situation was that the relationship [with Mississippi State] developed over the summer, and he just really feels really, really good at Starkville. I think they even offered him first. He goes up there a lot. With coach (Patrick) Austin (former Callaway H.S. head coach) going there, he and coach Austin were really close. I think that this played a part in it. They're really close and that's his mentor. It made him comfortable, and he has someone looking out for him."
Coach Brown played on the defensive line at Mississippi State and graduated from MSU in 2001, but Brown did not push his players to follow his footsteps.
"That was the one that I was constantly trying not to do was to push State on them," said Brown. "I would always mention everything else before I mentioned State. If I went to a Mississippi State game, then some of them would come with me because they're my players. I didn't really have to explain State to them, because they saw it a lot by going to camps and going to games. It was more about us talking about other schools rather than State. I didn't want them to feel any pressure from me to go to State because I went there. Just because State was the best fit for me, we all know that every place is different for everybody.
"As a Mississippi State alum, I'm really happy. I'm stoked about it. More so as their head coach, I'm happy that they're going to continue their education and it's close to home. It's a win-win for everyone - especially for Callaway."