After landing on the Miami Hurricanes’ staff last month, one of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee’s first offers actually went out to a 2022 quarterback prospect that he’s had a relationship with going back to his time at SMU. Coming off a huge sophomore season, Rockwall (TX) QB Braedyn Locke was able to parlay that success and his connection with Lashlee into an offer from the Canes late last month.
“Coach Lashlee had come to the school to watch me throw with my receivers,” Locke said of the offer. “I really have a lot of respect for coach Lashlee ever since he offered me when he was at SMU. I just have tons of respect for him and he’s the type of guy I’d love to play for one day.
“It was an awesome experience and just a great feeling. It was pretty incredible. The U is a very prestigious and historic program. Growing up as a kid, everybody knows about the U and what they’re all about. It was really humbling to know I had an opportunity to play there one day.”
As mentioned, the pair have a connection going back to June of last year, when they met at a quarterback summer camp held at the University of Texas, and they’ve kept in touch ever since.
“We just kind of talked a little bit, he critiqued me on a few throws,” Locke said of Lashlee. “He kept up with me after that and he offered me after my 4th or 5th game of my sophomore year. Then I went to one of the SMU games and he talked with me for about 15 minutes or so about their schemes. I just thought that was the coolest thing because before the game, he had about a thousand things going through his mind probably, but he sat there and discussed their gameplan with me. I just thought that was really cool.
“When I saw he got the Miami job, I thought that was going to be awesome and I thought that he was going to turn the offense around.”
So far, Lashlee’s pitch to get Locke to Miami has been based around Locke’s fit in his offensive scheme, along with the South Florida athletes the Rockwall star will have at his disposal.
“Well [Lashlee] told me he thinks that I'm very comparable to Shane Buechele, his quarterback at SMU,” Locke said. “He said we kind of play a similar way and have a similar build. He said he thinks Miami will have so much athleticism – Florida is the type of place where everyone is a really good athlete. He just told me about the type of kids that were over there and he told me he really likes living there and it’s a really nice place.
“He was just telling me he’s going to run exactly what he did at SMU and he thinks I’d be a great fit for the system. It’s pretty similar to what I do at Rockwall, so it won’t be too much of a transition.”
With all that in mind, the 6-0 180 pound gunslinger can’t wait to see Coral Gables, and already has a visit date he’s circling on his calendar.
“I’m eager to get down there and see what it’s all about,” Locke said. “I think I want to go to the Florida State game next year.”
Elsewhere in this recruitment, Locke has received an early offer from Arkansas in addition to SMU and Miami, but has received interest from Power 5 programs such as Texas, Ohio State, TCU, and Texas Tech as well. Each school has sent a coach to watch him throw and they’ve expressed to Locke they want to continue to evaluate him further.
“They’ve just been saying they thought I had an impressive year and they just wanted to see me grow and develop my game these next couple years,” Locke said. “They invited me to come out to a couple camps this summer, so I plan on doing that.”
That interest came during and after a huge sophomore season for Locke where he put up video game numbers for the Yellow Jackets – 4,300 yards passing, 52 TD’s, and 11 INT’s on a 58.9% completion percentage – and was also named the District 11-6A Newcomer of the Year.
“I was honestly very pleased with my performance - it was a good year, but I had a ton of help,” Locke said. “In my opinion, we have the best coaching staff in the country and I had the best player in the country on my team. So I had a lot of people that took me under their wing and showed me the ways of playing varsity football. I feel like it was a great year for not just me, but the whole program.”
Speaking on what he can bring to the table on the field, Locke takes an analytical approach to his style of play when addressing the strengths and weaknesses in his game.
“I think I’m a more of a pro-style guy. I feel like I’m good at scanning the field, there’s not many times I’ll miss something pre-snap,” Locke said. “One thing I think I’m really good at is having my eyes in the right spot, there’s never really a time I get confused. That’s one of my strengths, and accuracy is one of my strengths.
“I think my weaknesses would be my mobility at times - this offseason, a huge point of emphasis is getting more athletic, getting faster so I can have that mobility to run when I need to. Then also just working on having your feet in the right place to throw, sometimes my feet can get out of whack. My two worst games came against Longview and Duncanville, those two teams had the best defenses in the state. So I’ve kind of made a it big deal and a personal goal to perform better when it’s the hardest, toughest teams you can play. Just performing better on the biggest stage.”
Although Locke has plenty of time to zero in on the right college program for him, he does have a general outline of how he expects the process to play out for him.
“I want to be an early enrollee, so I think after my junior spring going into my senior year, that would be an ideal time for me to decide,” Locke said. “That way I can get my high school graduation lined up to be able to enroll early. So it will probably be around then, but it also just depends on what my standpoint is at that time. If I know where I want to go, then I’ll just go ahead and make the decision, but if I don’t, then just keep taking that time and take my senior year to figure it out. Right now, I have no idea – I’m kind of weird because I never had a dream school growing up, I liked a lot of places. So I’m wide open.”
In terms of deciding factors, it’s clear distance from home won’t keep Locke away from Miami or any other school, but that it will be more about finding the right fit both on and off the field for the rising junior.
“I actually want to get away from home, so distance doesn’t really matter,” Locke said. “Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) played with me, he went to Ohio State, so distance to me is never really much of a deal for me.
“Wherever I go, the biggest thing is that I fit in the system and I fit in the culture. I think Miami fits both of those things for me. And then the relationships that you build with the offensive coordinator and the head coach are a really big deal for me, because at my high school, that’s really what I hang my hat on in terms of the camaraderie. And then, does it feel like home? When you go visit, is it somewhere you can envision yourself playing one day? I feel like you have to fall in love with it.”
“Coach Lashlee had come to the school to watch me throw with my receivers,” Locke said of the offer. “I really have a lot of respect for coach Lashlee ever since he offered me when he was at SMU. I just have tons of respect for him and he’s the type of guy I’d love to play for one day.
“It was an awesome experience and just a great feeling. It was pretty incredible. The U is a very prestigious and historic program. Growing up as a kid, everybody knows about the U and what they’re all about. It was really humbling to know I had an opportunity to play there one day.”
As mentioned, the pair have a connection going back to June of last year, when they met at a quarterback summer camp held at the University of Texas, and they’ve kept in touch ever since.
“We just kind of talked a little bit, he critiqued me on a few throws,” Locke said of Lashlee. “He kept up with me after that and he offered me after my 4th or 5th game of my sophomore year. Then I went to one of the SMU games and he talked with me for about 15 minutes or so about their schemes. I just thought that was the coolest thing because before the game, he had about a thousand things going through his mind probably, but he sat there and discussed their gameplan with me. I just thought that was really cool.
“When I saw he got the Miami job, I thought that was going to be awesome and I thought that he was going to turn the offense around.”
So far, Lashlee’s pitch to get Locke to Miami has been based around Locke’s fit in his offensive scheme, along with the South Florida athletes the Rockwall star will have at his disposal.
“Well [Lashlee] told me he thinks that I'm very comparable to Shane Buechele, his quarterback at SMU,” Locke said. “He said we kind of play a similar way and have a similar build. He said he thinks Miami will have so much athleticism – Florida is the type of place where everyone is a really good athlete. He just told me about the type of kids that were over there and he told me he really likes living there and it’s a really nice place.
“He was just telling me he’s going to run exactly what he did at SMU and he thinks I’d be a great fit for the system. It’s pretty similar to what I do at Rockwall, so it won’t be too much of a transition.”
With all that in mind, the 6-0 180 pound gunslinger can’t wait to see Coral Gables, and already has a visit date he’s circling on his calendar.
“I’m eager to get down there and see what it’s all about,” Locke said. “I think I want to go to the Florida State game next year.”
Elsewhere in this recruitment, Locke has received an early offer from Arkansas in addition to SMU and Miami, but has received interest from Power 5 programs such as Texas, Ohio State, TCU, and Texas Tech as well. Each school has sent a coach to watch him throw and they’ve expressed to Locke they want to continue to evaluate him further.
“They’ve just been saying they thought I had an impressive year and they just wanted to see me grow and develop my game these next couple years,” Locke said. “They invited me to come out to a couple camps this summer, so I plan on doing that.”
That interest came during and after a huge sophomore season for Locke where he put up video game numbers for the Yellow Jackets – 4,300 yards passing, 52 TD’s, and 11 INT’s on a 58.9% completion percentage – and was also named the District 11-6A Newcomer of the Year.
“I was honestly very pleased with my performance - it was a good year, but I had a ton of help,” Locke said. “In my opinion, we have the best coaching staff in the country and I had the best player in the country on my team. So I had a lot of people that took me under their wing and showed me the ways of playing varsity football. I feel like it was a great year for not just me, but the whole program.”
Speaking on what he can bring to the table on the field, Locke takes an analytical approach to his style of play when addressing the strengths and weaknesses in his game.
“I think I’m a more of a pro-style guy. I feel like I’m good at scanning the field, there’s not many times I’ll miss something pre-snap,” Locke said. “One thing I think I’m really good at is having my eyes in the right spot, there’s never really a time I get confused. That’s one of my strengths, and accuracy is one of my strengths.
“I think my weaknesses would be my mobility at times - this offseason, a huge point of emphasis is getting more athletic, getting faster so I can have that mobility to run when I need to. Then also just working on having your feet in the right place to throw, sometimes my feet can get out of whack. My two worst games came against Longview and Duncanville, those two teams had the best defenses in the state. So I’ve kind of made a it big deal and a personal goal to perform better when it’s the hardest, toughest teams you can play. Just performing better on the biggest stage.”
Although Locke has plenty of time to zero in on the right college program for him, he does have a general outline of how he expects the process to play out for him.
“I want to be an early enrollee, so I think after my junior spring going into my senior year, that would be an ideal time for me to decide,” Locke said. “That way I can get my high school graduation lined up to be able to enroll early. So it will probably be around then, but it also just depends on what my standpoint is at that time. If I know where I want to go, then I’ll just go ahead and make the decision, but if I don’t, then just keep taking that time and take my senior year to figure it out. Right now, I have no idea – I’m kind of weird because I never had a dream school growing up, I liked a lot of places. So I’m wide open.”
In terms of deciding factors, it’s clear distance from home won’t keep Locke away from Miami or any other school, but that it will be more about finding the right fit both on and off the field for the rising junior.
“I actually want to get away from home, so distance doesn’t really matter,” Locke said. “Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) played with me, he went to Ohio State, so distance to me is never really much of a deal for me.
“Wherever I go, the biggest thing is that I fit in the system and I fit in the culture. I think Miami fits both of those things for me. And then the relationships that you build with the offensive coordinator and the head coach are a really big deal for me, because at my high school, that’s really what I hang my hat on in terms of the camaraderie. And then, does it feel like home? When you go visit, is it somewhere you can envision yourself playing one day? I feel like you have to fall in love with it.”
