USC linebackers coach Brian Odom has recruited Many High School in northwest Louisiana going back to his time at Missouri, later Oklahoma and now with the Trojans. He's developed a good relationship over the years with the former head football coach there, Jess Curtis -- enough to take it seriously whenever he recommended Odom check out one of his players.
But Odom admits he had some initial skepticism when he heard from the Many HS coach a few years back about his then-freshman nephew Tackett Curtis.
"He sent me his name and I'm like, 'OK, so it's your son or your nephew ..." Odom recalls. "And then watching it, like, 'OK, he's a legit guy.'"
That's the thing about Tackett Curtis -- he makes a quick impression.
For a freshman who has yet to play his first college game, Curtis may have generated as much buzz in fall camp for USC as anybody on the roster.
So much so that when the Trojans' official depth chart came out Wednesday night listing Curtis as a starting linebacker Saturday vs. San Jose State in his college debut, it came as no surprise.
"Captain America, that's what we call him," senior running back MarShawn Lloyd said. "Tackett is amazing. He's young, but man, Tackett's a good one."
USC running backs coach Kiel McDonald coined the nickname and it stuck within the unit.
"Captain America is just -- I feel like no one can stop him. I mean, Tackett's just one of those guys, he has a motor and he's going to give you his all every time, so when we came up with Captain America, that's who we think of Tackett as," Lloyd continued.
Quarterback Caleb Williams, who embraces his own superhero theme with the "Superman" moniker going back to his high school days, smiled when told about Lloyd's comments on Curtis.
"I haven't called him Captain America, but if I had to call him something he's a destroyer," the reigning Heisman Trophy winner said. "He'll run down people whether they're ahead of him by 20 yards, whether it's sideline to sideline, whether it's running through a gap and destroying a guard pulling, tackle pulling, whether it's a tight end coming around trying to block him or whatever the case may be, running back, he does a good job of running there and just destroying, blowing things up."
Whether it's offensive players or defensive players, young or old, Odom, defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, head coach Lincoln Riley, etc., it seems like everyone has had something effusive to say about Curtis this month.
"Tackett, he's really came out here and impressed a lot of people. He flys around with a high motor every day," redshirt freshman Zion Branch said.
"I've been around a lot of freshmen the past couple years and they don't come quite like him," veteran rush end Jamil Muhammad said. "... He has the swag about him that you don't see in most freshmen -- you don't see in most players."
"He comes in every day and grinds, man. I've never seen a freshman like him," senior linebacker Mason Cobb said.
On Saturday evening in the Coliseum, Curtis will get his first real opportunity to make a similar impression on USC fans and the college football world in general.
The freshman getting the starting nod in the opener is probably partly due to veteran linebackers and returning starters Eric Gentry and Shane Lee being limited physically in fall camp.
Or, he may just be too good to keep on the sideline.
From the moment USC won a major recruiting battle with Ohio State and Wisconsin to land Curtis' commitment, he has been viewed as a future keystone of the defense and the long-awaited next potential star linebacker for the Trojans.
The future may just be coming much sooner than most could have expected.
As his uncle Jess Curtis said, "They brought him in there to be that guy."
'From Day 1 he was just knocking people's socks off'
Long before Jess Curtis reached out to Odom to tip him off about his nephew, he knew Tackett was a special talent on the football field.
"When he was in Pop Warner, it was just like, you get those guys where it's almost like they're older and bigger than everybody else. A lot of times those guys get caught eventually -- he just continued to just build," the elder Curtis recalled. "As he got to high school he came in and started his freshman year. We went to four straight state championships with him. The biggest thing about Tackett, to watch him through the years, he had that God-given talent, but again, he was always pushing the envelope as far as the weight room. He saw that as his edge being as strong as he is. ...
"And then his speed. He worked so hard and became -- I don't think people understand how fast Tackett is. That's one thing that's going to really shock them this year."
Curtis, who is now the head coach at Natchitoches Central HS about 30 miles away from Many, checks in regularly with his nephew and how he's progressing in his development at USC.
"They were [bench pressing] 225 the other day -- I think he did 23 times. That's not bad for an incoming freshman. That's NFL-type stuff," he said.
Jess Curtis was sensitive to what the perception might be if he gave his nephew a starting job as a high school freshman, but ultimately, sort of as has happened again now at USC, he just couldn't keep him off the field.
