In the wild world of college football recruiting, it takes special talent to rank among the top of the boards. From the college visits, the countless appearances at football camps, and the unpredictable opinions of recruiters, the status of being a blue-chip prospect is tough to achieve and even harder to maintain.
But Kingwood’s Kennedy Brown is doing just that.
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Listed at 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds by 247Sports, the offensive tackle is entering his junior season in 2025. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 player in the nation, the No. 1 player in Texas, and the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2027 recruiting class.
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Accolades and high rankings are great, but Brown’s coach believes his best is yet to come.
Kingwood head football coach and offensive coordinator Cale Melton has watched Brown’s growth firsthand since middle school.
“The first time I really saw Kennedy Brown was, I want to say, seventh grade football,” Melton said. “We saw him on the field. You know, he played with my son—they’re in the same grade, so I always went to all the games. I saw him and thought, ‘Man, that’s a big kid.’"
Melton saw the physical gifts right away, but he recognized that Brown still needed to learn coordination to capitalize on his elite traits.
“He was playing on the B-team basketball team,” Melton recalled. “We were like, ‘Man, if he ever figures it out…'”
Years later, it’s safe to say Melton’s seen the answer to that hypothetical.
With an 89-inch wingspan and massive 11.5-inch hands, he already carries nearly 300 pounds without sacrificing his athleticism.
“He passes the eye test—and that’s what coaches are looking for,“ he added. ”Oh, my mercy. I mean, he can reach down and touch past his knees standing up."
His rare combination of size, strength, and agility has attracted offers and attention from some of college football’s biggest programs, including Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, and Oregon.
Melton said Brown is still weighing his options, planning visits this fall before narrowing his choices next year.
Recruiting in today’s college football landscape also means navigating Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities. Texas high school athletes, however, cannot profit until they step onto a college campus. Melton said his staff’s advice to Brown has been simple: stay grounded and keep working.
“We talk to him all the time,” Melton said. “We’ve got meetings, all of our offensive line coaches and coaches in general — we’re just talking to him, loving on him. But also, in that same sense, we tell him, ‘Hey man, you need to make a decision that’s best for you.’”
The colleges will have their time, but Brown’s focus in 2025 remains on anchoring the Mustangs’ offensive line at left tackle: a position Melton believes could ultimately define his future.
“He understands how far the team goes is how far he’ll go, and he knows that,” Melton said. “He’s a big team guy—that’s what it’s about. But the expectation for him is just to keep getting better every day.”
Comparisons are difficult, because Melton has spent a majority of his career coaching on the defensive side of the ball. He likens Brown’s work ethic to that of Prince Dorbah, a defensive end Melton coached at Highland Park High School who is now a senior at Arizona State.
“Prince has a lot of God-given talent. Kennedy has that same kind of potential, maybe even more,” he said. “They remind me of each other in the way of just the potential they have.”
For all the attention on Brown’s on-field dominance, Melton said it’s his off-field demeanor that truly sets him apart.
“Don’t come over and shake his hand, because he’ll hug you, and when he hugs you, he’s going to pop everything in your body,” he said. “He’s just such a great kid. And I say kid, because like I said, he’s still only 16.”