Susan Rollins
February 22, 2018
DESIRE TO WIN IT ALL
February 22, 2018
E.D. White quarterback Brandon Legendre is becoming a hot commodity among football recruiting circles.
The rising senior has collected offers from several major college in recent weeks as he continues to keep himself polished and chiseled before the 2018 season.
Last week, Legendre got an offer from Kentucky.
He’s also been offered by UL-Monroe, Arkansas State and several other schools around the country, adding that he’s appreciative of all of the support he’s been given from schools interested in his post-prep services.
“All of the offers I’ve received are great,” Legendre said when asked to list some of his recruiting leaders. “They all have their own thing nobody else has, so they are all great opportunities and I’m appreciative for them all.”
Now, Legendre’s focus is simple: to improve so that even more schools can offer him scholarships in the future.
Legendre is a quarterback for E.D. White, but he has options as to what he wants to play at the next level.
He was offered as a quarterback by Army because of his experience in an option-style attack, but other schools are offering him the option to play different positions – primarily running back or slot receiver – because of his ability to make defenders miss in the open field.
“In the open field, it’s hard to get him to the ground because he can really make you miss,” Vandebilt football coach Jeremy Atwell said last year before having to face Legendre. “You think you have him trapped in on some plays and before you know it, he’s made three guys miss and he’s off to the races turning it into a big play.”
Legendre has a recorded 4.43 40-yard dash time and he’s a smooth, polished runner in the
Cardinals’ veer offense. Last season, E.D. White won the District 7-4A Championship in their first season at the Class 4 A level.
Legendre was a big part of that success, leading the Cardinals’ offense – both on and off the field.
In several games, Legendre rushed for 100 or more yards, while also making plays with his arm. More important than that was his ability to continuously make the right reads and the right decisions in the team’s complicated veer offense.
“He’s a terrific football player,” E.D. White coach Chris Bergeron said. “He is a great leader and he really works hard – on and off the field. He’s grown a lot as a player and he runs the offense well, but he’s also a threat to make something special happen on every, single play, which is a great luxury to have.”
So now, Legendre is working to get better. He said he’s spending countless hours on-end to polish his craft this offseason – doing anything he can to try and get better.
“The offseason is going about as well as an offseason could go,” Legendre said. “I’ve been getting in the weight room often and I’ve implemented some new routines which are proving to be ever effective.”
On the field, he’s working hard to keep himself sharp, as well.
Legendre is playing 7-on-7 football with the Bootleggers, which is one of the top teams in the state. Through the Bootleggers, Legendre is getting a chance to play against top talent in front of scouts, which is allowing him to gather his offers.
“With them, I get to compete against some of the best guys in the country on a regular basis,” Legendre said. “There is not much more I could ask for than that.”
He said that with the Bootleggers, he’s working on some of the skills that he thinks he’s going to need at the college level – his shiftiness in the running game, but also route running and his hands as a possible slot receiver.
“I’ve been a running back and quarterback my whole high school career,” Legendre said. “So my main goal right now is to become more of a pure receiver.”
But there’s also a little bit of a chip of Legendre’s shoulder, as well.
Yes, E.D. White had an awesome season in 2017, but the ending wasn’t how Legendre wanted it to be.
The Cardinals rolled through the regular season and made the Division II State Playoffs, but lost an opening-round game. That’s a feeling that Legendre said he and his teammates don’t aim to feel again.
E.D. White lost a huge senior class after the season, which
will make success difficult for the Cardinals in 2018 – especially now that they will have a bulls-eye on their chests in District 7-4A.
But Legendre said he and his returning teammates embrace that role and don’t shy away from the expectations. He said they relish the fact that they’re the team to beat – until someone beats them.
“We had a great year (last year),” Legendre said. “And it begins and ends with the mentality our guys bring. So I take that as my job to set the tone and get our guys where they need to be.”
E.D. White quarterback Brandon Legendre is starting to get scholarship offers from some of the top schools in the country. Legendre is really good. He has top-end speed and is going to be either a receiver or a running back at the next level.
E.D. White quarterback Brandon Legendre moves through the defense during a game last season.
