Richard Anderson often recalls a moment early in his development in which Edna Karr coach Brice Brown challenged and motivated him as freshman with elite promise, but much work to be done to achieve it.
Three years later, “Big Rich” finishes his high school career as not only one of the best defensive tackles to come through the Cougars’ program with an impressive track record of talent, but one of the best to come out of Louisiana.
The 6-foot-3, 360-pound athlete heads to LSU this month as a two-time Division-I Select champion and LSWA Class 5A all-state selection, this year’s Class 5A Defensive Outstanding Player and now also Louisiana vs. All Y’all’s first Derek Stingley Jr. Defensive Player of the Year.
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“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Anderson said following his final high school game. “In practices and stuff, they always compared me to Gerald Willis (III): ‘Gerald Willis used to be like this, Gerald Willis that.’ Now, Richard Anderson. Remember the name. But I’ve watched some of Gerald Willis’ highlight tape. Some of my game’s based off him and Jalen Carter from the (Philadelphia) Eagles. Coming into my second win as a state champ, it’s crazy. God.”
Anderson wrapped up 53 tackles, including 10 sacks, as a senior and recorded 22 hurries, a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception return for a touchdown.
But his statistics are just the tip of the iceberg of his on-field impact consistently commanding double- and triple-teams, setting up teammates with favorable opportunities to make plays and still managing to generate push up the middle and get his hands in passing lanes for deflections.
Several opposing coaches called Anderson one of the best, if not the best, high school player they’ve seen during their careers, including St. Augustine coach Robert Valdez, whose Purple Knights were tasked with facing the Cougars three times during the past two seasons.
“He demands a lot of attention and planning,” Valdez explained. “And it made other guys on their team a lot better because he commands so much attention that you have to try to figure out a way to try to contain him, which is the mark of a good player… He’s not just a big plugger. He’s very mobile and agile. You look at him, and, OK, he’s a big guy, but they run twists with him and do so many different things with him. He’s very athletic. I think he even picked off a couple of passes and had touchdowns and whatnot. So, yeah, when you get a guy that has so much size like that and athletic ability and plays with a motor, that definitely puts him at the top. You don’t get those guys every year.”
Anderson totaled 44 tackles, including 15 for loss and 10 sacks, as a junior, along with 18 quarterback hurries, all punctuated by a dominant state-championship performance with seven tackles, including six behind the line and a safety, in a 53-8 rout of Alexandria.
He dictated several games this season to similar degrees, including a semifinal against Catholic (Baton Rouge) in which he clogged the middle and deflected a pair of pivotal passes for a fourth-down stop and an interception and a title game against St. Augustine in which he anchored a unit that did not allow an offensive score to a Purple Knights group that averaged nearly 41 points against other opponents.
“That’s how we push ’em at Karr: The better you are, the harder we’re gonna coach you,” Brown said after the title game. “And I think LSU is a steal. A steal. And hopefully they don’t just see his talent, that they see the character in the man.”
Other finalists for Louisiana vs. All Y’all’s inaugural Derek Stingley Jr. Defensive Player of the Year included Sterlington linebacker Tomarion “Tre” Burch, Calvary Baptist safety Luke Miller, St. Charles Catholic linebacker Brooks Monica and Haynesville defensive back Isaiah Washington.
The award is named for former Dunham and LSU star Derek Stingley Jr., one of the top players in Louisiana high school football history.
Stingley intercepted 14 passes over the final 20 games of his high school career in 2017 and 2018, helping lead Dunham to back-to-back district titles for the first time in school history and earned back-to-back LSWA all-state selections, including 2018 Class 2A Defensive Most Valuable Player.
The Baton Rouge native earned rare distinctions as a cornerback as the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year and Gatorade National Football Player of the Year finalist in 2018 and Rivals’ No. 1 overall prospect nationally in the 2019 class.
He enjoyed a decorated and national championship-winning three-year career at hometown LSU, including All-America honors as a freshman and sophomore before having injuries cut short his junior season.
Stingley was taken No. 3 overall by the Houston Texans in the 2022 NFL Draft and was this week announced as Pro-Bowl and All-Pro selections for the second straight year.
