Baylor cornerback Raleigh Texada doesn’t talk much. He’s a perfectionist. He picks his words carefully and is much more comfortable watching film and working out than singing his own praises. 

When he drops into coverage, he envisions the call, thinks through every step to make sure his footwork is impeccable and walks through every responsibility. It doesn’t matter that Baylor’s No. 1 cornerback is rarely targeted – teams know better.  And Raleigh knows better. One mistake, one slip, one missed read could cost his team the game. 

Even during a rough rebuilding season for Baylor, Texada is dominating games. Pro Football Focus rated his game against West Virginia the best cornerback performance in America that week. Lindy’s named him the top cover corner in the Big 12. The Bears rank top-five nationally in pass defense among Power Five teams and have yet to allow a 100-yard receiver this season. 

Iowa State was one of the first teams that dared to throw to Texada Island. Future NFL quarterback Brock Purdy threw a pick to Texada, had another pass broken up and only completed multiple passes to one wide receiver. 

“He’s a very humble person, and there is a competitor – a fighter – hidden inside of all the nicety,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “Inside of the kid that does everything right, there’s a scrappy dude in there – a guy that will punch you in the face.” 

However, Texada’s success at Baylor is no coincidence. It’s carefully crafted, more than a decade in the works and comes down to shared dedication of a whole family. 

This is the story of the Texada Brothers. 

* * *

Ranthony Texada Sr. made a promise to himself after his college football career finished at Louisiana Tech in 1989. If his sons had any football aptitude, he wanted to give them the guidance and support he never had and point them in the right direction. 

It became clear early in life that all three of his sons – Ranthony II, Raleigh and Ridge – had the potential to be top-end athletes. Without elite height, though, Ranthony Sr. knew they’d have to find a lane. 

Texas football is dominated by offense. The air raid was mastered in Texas high school football and in Big 12 colleges. The best offensive skill talent in the country comes from right here. Naturally, when Ranthony Sr. brought his eldest son to college camps, the lines for wide receivers and running backs to work out stretched across the field. 

Cornerback? That’s a different story. Top athletes don’t want to play cornerback. They want the ball in their hands, to score touchdowns, to get their picture taken, brag about stats. Cornerbacks only get attention when they get beat. It takes 60 minutes of precision and focus for little fanfare. But the lines were shorter. 

“I knew the fastest place for me to get on the field was playing defensive back,” Ranthony II said. “When I was going through the process, the game was changing, spread offenses were starting to be implemented. I knew that the defensive back position was going to be a real valued spot and there weren’t a lot of people playing it.”

Said Raleigh: “Once we figured out we wanted to be corners, we just locked in and learned everything we could about the position.” 

That meant watching film, working with trainers, watching videos, anything that would help the Texadas become experts on cornerbacks. They also signed up for track to work on their best physical attribute: their speed. Afternoons were spent perfecting technique at Centennial or lifting weights. The brothers pushed each other to be great.

“There was no Ranthony and Raleigh and we’re leaving Ridge behind,” Ranthony Sr. said. “Ridge was a little kid working out there with them.”

When then-Frisco Centennial secondary coach Terry Grayson saw a diminutive Ranthony II playing on the freshman team, he saw the vision. 

“He was so smooth in his transition of his hips, so fluid,” said Grayson, who now coaches at Celina. “He understood how to play the corner position. You could tell he was really ahead of the game in terms of knowing what to expect.” 

Even though he hadn’t fully hit his growth spurt and was behind upperclassmen, Grayson stuck Texada into the starting lineup on a talented Centennial squad and decided to ride with the growing pains. By his senior year, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football named Texada the top cornerback in Texas, and Ranthony went on to earn a scholarship to TCU. The plan was working. 

The year after Ranthony II moved on to college football, Raleigh moved up to varsity. Grayson thought he was ready to start, but knew his colleagues would think he was just rewarding Raleigh for Ranthony’s success. So he buried him on the depth chart. It didn’t take long for him to rise to the top. 

“He would be so upset if he missed a tackle that he would come to me afterwards and get extra reps,” Grayson said. “If it was technique, he’d come to me and immediately ask about what he could do better. [All three] were just so hungry and thirsty for knowledge of the position in general.” 

Even after Ranthony went to college, he would still give the younger brothers pointers. When he came home, they’d work out together, Ranthony would evaluate his tape, give him pointers and dispense newfound knowledge from Gary Patterson and his staff. Every piece of info was to be shared, every drop of knowledge to be soaked up. 

There was no Ranthony or Raleigh or Ridge when it comes to success. There are only the Texada Brothers. 

“I’ve gotten to learn from my older brother and been able to model my game after him,” Raleigh said. “Everything I do has basically been taken after him. My younger brother watched both of us coming up. I’m sure he has a bright future at McNeese State too.” 

* * *

Raleigh entered Baylor at the worst time imaginable, right in the midst of the scandal. Before long, the coaching staff that recruited him was whisked out the door. At every turn, Raleigh has stuck it out. 

Ranthony II played early in his career, but Raleigh redshirted his first year on campus. Then, he suffered a bad back injury and missed much of his second season, though he thankfully fought his way back to play against Ranthony II in the latter’s final career game, a real blessing. The work just kept coming. 

Instead of contemplating the transfer wire, Raleigh would call his brothers after seemingly every practice to fret over a missed read or blown coverage. It didn’t matter that he had to cover future NFL players like Jalen Hurd and Denzel Mims, mistakes were unacceptable. 

“I had to tell him, bro, you’re not going to be able to play a perfect game every single time,” Ranthony II said. “But I liked that about him because he’s very detailed and it shows on film.” 

But as Raleigh grew more comfortable in his skin, he started to improve. By his sophomore season, Texada started nudging his way into the starting lineup and eventually earned All-Big 12 honorable mention after just six starts. 

In 2019, Texada played a major role on a defense that suddenly became one of the nation’s best. He didn’t give up a single touchdown, according to the Pro Football Network. Others like Chris Miller and Grayland Arnold earned major acclaim with bigger numbers, but Raleigh didn’t mind. Not getting targeted is a big compliment. 

“Raleigh likes being a technician,” Ridge said. “He likes being perfect. If he messes up once, he’ll be like, oh no, I had a bad game...during the offseason if he had one bad mess-up in practice, his day would be messed up.” 

Now, the senior is forcing his way onto everyone’s radar. The numbers are not overwhelming: 18 tackles, one interception, one pass breakup. But turn on the film and it’s obvious, Texada’s perfectionism is paying off. 

“I think that just comes from my personality,” Texada said. “I want to get everything right. I want my homework to be perfect. I want everything I rep to be perfect. I’ve had coaches at Baylor that have pushed me to be perfect.” 

* * *

When the Texada Brothers were younger, Ranthony Sr. told them that the cornerback position could take them places. More than a decade after the first Texada walked through the doors at Frisco Centennial, his prophecy has paid off. 

After three coaching staffs and overcoming injuries, Raleigh ranks among the best cornerbacks in college football. Whether he enters the NFL Draft after this season or returns for another year of eligibility, Raleigh will get his shot at the next level. 

“I see a lot of growth in him and I see confidence building in him and I see his play improving,” Aranda said. “He’s heading in the right direction. I think the more he trusts himself and has confidence in himself, the better he’s going to be.” 

Ranthony is still chasing his professional football dreams too. When he came home to train for the NFL Draft, Raleigh and Ridge challenged him. After earning All-American honors as a senior at TCU, he earned a camp invite with the Washington Football Team and played well in preseason. 

After Washington cut him from the final 53, he played in the Canadian Football League and starred as a cornerback for the New York Guardians of the XFL. Now, he’s training for another shot at football in America. 

After two Texada success stories, it seemed like a no-brainer that the third would work out too. Grayson called Ridge the best of the three at his age. But as Ridge Texada graduated from Frisco Centennial, he found himself overlooked. 

Granted, Ridge is a little smaller than the other two brothers, but not by much. He’s battle-tested against some of the toughest receivers in the state, including Texas Tech’s Myles Price, Houston’s Khiyon Wafer and Mr. Texas Football Marvin Mims. Still, Ridge didn’t get a single FBS offer. 

“It didn’t matter how many offers I had, I knew I could compete with them,” Ridge said. “I knew I was on that level. I know I still am. I know some of those schools like bigger corners, but facing 4- and 5-star receivers, it didn’t faze me.” 

The trademark work ethic didn’t go anywhere though. When Raleigh and Ranthony II were back home in Frisco because of quarantine, they took Ridge to the field to run drills and lifted weights in the garage. They watched his film, gave him pointers, tried to pass their knowledge to him. 

Now, Ridge Texada is enrolled at FCS McNeese State in Louisiana, paired up with former UTSA coach Frank Wilson. Big things are coming. When the Texada Brothers are involved, expect nothing less. 

“The main difference between the Texada boys and all others that I coach is they have championship DNA running through their body,” Grayson said. “They play with a chip on their shoulders. They have to be champions at everything.

“There’s something special about the Texada family.”