Texas Tech freshman WR Micah Hudson's maturity already on display

There has never been more hype surrounding a Texas Tech football freshman than there is around Micah Hudson in 2024. The first five-star high school recruit to ever sign with the Red Raiders, he's been the talk of the program for almost a year.

Because Hudson missed the spring as he recovered from offseason knee surgery, Red Raider fans as still clamoring for any glimpse of the young phenom that they can get. Thursday, was the first time that Hudson met with the media since arriving in Lubbock and right away the maturity he brings to the table, a trait the coaching staff has repeatedly touted as one of his best attributes, was easy to see.

Hudson began by talking about his transition to the college game. He said he is learning from his early mistakes.

“Really just the play speed,” he said. “Getting my feet wet ,really.  Taking one day at a time and just realizing and just growing from my mistakes.  Just being mature about it and you know learning from everything that I’m doing wrong, really.”

Next, he discussed why he wanted to be a Red Raider. After all, he had offers from virtually every program of significance in the nation.

“Really just every time I came,” he said, “just the comfortability of being with the coaches being with the players knowing little things just behind the scenes. Just being able to see all that really go down and just being able to be behind them during the season and I just feel like I was a part of that team at that time and that's just really what made me just pull the trigger and come here.”

Hudson is aware of the noise surrounding his arrival. He discussed the steps he's taking to keep all of that in the background.

“Just being mature, like I said before,” he said, “blocking out any like media or anything. I really don't have social media. I mean I have two phones but on the other phone is Instagram and then when I need to post the brand deals or whatever then that's what I'm going to do. But on my regular phone I don't have nothing on there. I just talk to my people, study my playbook when I go home, and just things like that. Just staying mature so that way when I get to practice I know exactly what I need to do, handle my assignment, and then have a good practice really.”

Recently, QB Behren Morton discussed the complexity of the Red Raider offense. Hudson said that his high school coaches helped him prepare to handle being in a college scheme.

“My high school coaches really got me ready with the moving me around,” he said, “because I was always you know either the slot, outside, or at running back, or even at quarterback the younger years. But just being able to really get set, like just get used to little things like that and just going out there and knowing that I can do it. Just have a good confidence and just knowing that my preparation is really what's going help me.”

Hudson then said that he's been playing mostly at the "Z" outside receiver spot but that there are packages that have him moving around. “Anywhere they need me I'm just trying to help the team,” he added.

As for his maturity, which seems to be beyond his years, Hudson attributed that to God and his family.

“Really just God,” he said.  “Just…knowing God and football that's just what's on my mind. God and football that's all I say every day, God and football, God and football.  And that's really just what's kept me in a good structure.  And also just learning from my mom and my pops and just my family back home just knowing how to carry myself and just do everything the right way."

Another instance when Hudson's maturity was on display came when he talked about his relationship with Morton. He said he wants Morton to lead him and challenge him.

“I mean it's been great,” he said.  “I need to hear the, you know, different calls and things like that. I need to know this stuff. So just hearing him and seeing the passion that he is showing me like ‘Hey man we got to know this’ you know things like that.

"That's really helping me because I'm not really like a pity pat like ‘Oh hey Mike you gotta get that right’ you know I’m saying?  I like to hear the bad stuff.  I like to hear the hard stuff because I just feel like that drives me and just knowing that he actually cares about me he's going to get on to me, ‘Hey we need to get this right’.  So just knowing that I got people around me to actually care about me and good teammates.”

Finally, Hudson was asked what his best trait on the field is and instead of talking about anything to do with athleticism, he discussed the mental part of his game.

“I would say my best trait is my mentality,” he said.  “I say my motor.  I'm always excited I mean even when I get frustrated it's just at myself. Like I know what I need to work on and things like that. And I know that I can't show it and things like that. But really just my motor just driving the guys around me picking guys up and just being a leader just because that's what God chose me to be.”

Hudson comes across as an old soul and that is great to see because it would be easy for a player of his young age to get swept up in all of the hype. He seems to have the necessary mindset to excel and Texas Tech fans can't wait to see that translate to success on the field in just a few weeks.