Amarillo OL Kaden Carr: "I'm really excited to be a Red Raider"

Once he got the offer from Texas Tech, Amarillo offensive tackle Kaden Carr didn't take long to decide where he wanted to go to school.

Carr, whose older brother Tyler Carr was a tight end at Texas Tech from 2017-2019, committed to the Red Raiders just one day after receiving his scholarship offer. A big part of his decision was new Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire and the future Carr sees in Lubbock, TX.

"Coach McGuire and coach Blanchard, those two were probably two of my first ever followers on Twitter. That's something I'll remember. Them and actually coach Cumbie too. When I talked to coach McGuire and coach Blanchard the other day, they really just made a statement about having guys like me, these West Texas guys stay at home. I completely agree with them, that's something that I was wanting to do is stay home.

I love his (McGuire's) attitude, his fiery attitude and I know he's going to make a change and help turn Tech around. I'm looking forward to it. I want to be a part of it."

The 6-foot-5, 303 pound Carr has played all over the offensive line in his career, and is willing to help out wherever the Tech staff needs him to play.

"I can play all over the line, I've done it all through high school. I've switched around from right guard, left guard, left tackle and right tackle this year. My whole high school career I've played all over the line, that's something that I can do and that's something that I work on. I don't just have a designated spot."

After earning his offer from Tech, Carr was up to 12 total scholarship opportunities including Arizona State, Houston, Kansas, Louisville, Oregon, SMU, TCU and UCF among others. So at the end of the day, why Texas Tech and why now?

"I've been thinking about it for a while, staying home. I really appreciate every program that's given me an offer but especially with my brother going to Texas Tech, I'm familiar with the area, I'm familiar with Lubbock, I have plenty of friends in Lubbock, I have family that goes there all the time. My brother really loved it too, the area, the school, the football. It's something that I've had in mind for a while and after speaking with coach McGuire, it's something that me and my family discussed that's best for me and I'm really excited for it."

Carr becomes the second 2023 recruit to commit to Texas Tech, and both are West Texans. Post defensive end Isaiah Crawford announced his decision over the weekend, and the two have already talked about building something special in the 806.

"We actually have (connected). He hit me up on Instagram and we've been talking through there and just trying to build more of a connection between me and him, being the first two commits in our class. We're just trying to build that connection and then see how many more guys we can get to come join us."

Carr's teammate and long time friend Erik Gray is a class of 2022 offensive lineman who also recently picked up an offer from Tech, and the two have talked about playing together at the next level for a while. Could that continue now as Red Raiders?

"We have talked about playing together. Ever since my freshman year we've always dreamed about it. We've always dreamed about it, talked about it, pictured it. After our first ever offer, that was my freshman year going into my sophomore year and his sophomore year going into his junior year. We both picked up an offer from Arizona State and we we're like 'man, we can really do this. We can really go somewhere and play'.

I've always been friends with Erik back through middle school. We went to the same middle school. I've formed a strong bond with Erik and he's a super great leader. Normally your guys on the football team that are leaders are the seniors. You got your senior guys that are your typical leaders, but he's always been a leader since his freshman year, his sophomore year. He's a guy to look up to and I really hope I can convince him to join me at Texas Tech."

Carr would love to visit Tech for this weekend's game vs Oklahoma State, but his Amarillo Sandies have a playoff game on Saturday in Wichita Falls, so he will be unable to attend. Still, he plans on coming back to check out the campus in the near future.

"I definitely for sure plan on getting back on campus. I went to a camp this summer, that's the last time I was on campus. When my brother played there I went to every single game, I know what the atmosphere is like at Tech. The fans are super passionate about football and right now on my Twitter I can see all the Texas Tech fans.

This weekend we play Colleyville Heritage at two o'clock in Wichita Falls so the OSU game would one would be one that I definitely wanna go to but with scheduling, I gotta focus on my high school football game this weekend."

Sitting at 9-2 on the season, Carr believes his team is well-equipped to make a deep playoff run.

"We're playing really well, we have a super good game plan. Now is the time to have our best game and our best performance. It's win or go home and everybody knows that. This senior class knows that this could be their last game and we're not trying to make it that way so we're doing whatever we can to go out there and beat them.

I can tell you right now that we're a very physical football team, so they're gonna have to outman us one-on-one for them to win this game."

Carr describes himself as a leader and a guy that will bring the energy to the locker room day in and day out.

"What Texas Tech is gonna get from me is they're gonna get a leader, they're gonna get a guy that comes in and is gonna bring the energy throughout. I'm gonna do whatever I can do be the best person I can on that team. Tech is getting a leader, hard worker, competitive guy, that's the kind of nature I bring around the guys, I try to have everyone feed off me."

Now committed and done with the process, Carr is looking forward to building something special at Texas Tech under the leadership of Joey McGuire.

"To the fans I'd say get ready because we got special plans moving forward."