High school football: Carl Albert's Caleb Holland draws attention after turning focus to football

He was content to keep playing basketball and baseball and limit football to the times when those sports were out of season.

But a discussion with Rose changed that.

“I told him, ‘I think I want to play basketball,'” Holland said. “And he came back and told me that he thought if I put the work in and made it a priority, he thought I had a chance to play football in college somewhere.

“That's really when it kind of hit me that I needed to buckle down and start working hard on football and make it a priority.”

Holland never played basketball again. He played baseball that year before dropping that sport as well to concentrate on getting better at football.

Now, heading into his senior season with the Titans, Holland is No. 28 on The Oklahoman's Super 30 list.

While Holland, an offensive lineman who is likely to play center in college, started working toward the goal of playing college football nearly two years ago, he's still been surprised with the recent attention he's received.

He's attended a flurry of camps and junior days that has included the U.S. Army National Combine in San Antonio in January, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, TCU and Kansas State.