Kansas State Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the Matthew Langlois Commitment

In a surprising but welcomed announcement, Matthew Langlois, a 3*, 6’0, 185 pound safety/athlete out of Catholic-Pointe Coupee High School in New Roads, Louisiana gave a verbal commitment to the coaching staff on Sunday afternoon.

The defensive coaching staff made Langlois one of their top priorities in the 2021 recruiting class. They offered on May 20th, and poured substantial resources into landing the play-making defensive back. This was a hard fought recruiting battle for a sought after player with eleven Power 5 offers (K-State, Miss State, NC State, Colorado, Northwestern, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Arizona, Boston College, and Wake Forest) deep in the heart of SEC country.

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t optimistic about the Wildcats chances of landing him because all the recruiting momentum appeared to be on the side of the Mississippi State Bulldogs over the last few weeks. Despite whispers that Langlois was Starkville bound, the coaching staff doggedly pursued his commitment, and wound up convincing him that Manhattan was the best place for him to continue his athletic career.

What Langlois Brings to the Table

Matthew Langlois is a play maker. He makes plays on offense, he makes plays on defense, and he makes plays on special teams. He boasts 4.4ish speed and is electric the ball in his hands. He’s not a big guy (in terms of football player size) but is a physical tackler who isn’t afraid to go for the big hit when the opportunity arises.

Pay close attention to his defensive highlights, because that’s where he is slated to play for the Wildcats. His versatility is what separates him from other safety recruits. I anticipate seeing him lined up at outside corner, slot corner, and safety during his career.

In an interview with Jace Addis of Louisiana Football Magazine, Matthew mentions he models his game after versatile NFL veteran (and Kansas City Chief) Tyrann Mathieu.

Like most recruits in the Wildcats 2021 class, Langlois doesn’t limit himself to the gridiron. He’s also competes for Catholic Pointe Coupee’s basketball and track team. He ran a verified 10.97 100 meter dash in March. That’s not far off of Jordy Nelson’s 10.63 3A Kansas High School record and he has another year (in theory) to shave a few hundreds of seconds off that time. What I’m trying to say is that Matthew doesn’t just look fast on film, he is fast.

What It Means for Kansas State Recruiting

The goal of the 2021 class was two-fold. The coaching staff wanted to continue to build the overall team speed and athleticism on the roster and they needed to rebuild the secondary.

Getting a commitment from Matthew Langlois does both of these things.

He joins Omar Daniels (CB), Darell Jones (CB), Devrin Weathers (S) and potentially Dorian Stephens (S/LB/WR) and Davonte Pritchard (S/LB) in the secondary and athlete heavy 2021 recruiting class.

What’s Next?

The Wildcats are up to 14 commits for the the 2021 class. I think the secondary is full (although I wouldn’t be shocked by a another big corner), and the coaching staff will now zero in on a few of the big boys left on the recruiting board. Keep an eye on Andrew Leingang. He’s a 3* center out of Bismark, North Dakota, and the top overall prospect from Coach Klieman’s former home state. The Wildcats would love to add him to the fold on the offensive line.