Locked in as a formidable 1-2 punch, Aquinas safeties to take their act to Penn State
It’s only appropriate that when they step on the field as the team’s two starting safeties, St. Thomas Aquinas safeties King Mack and Conrad Hussey wear jersey numbers one and two.
They teamed up a season ago as uncommitted juniors to help lead the Raiders to a third consecutive state title and a state record 13th overall.
As they embark on the 2022 season, they hope to make Broward County history. As much history as St. Thomas has made over the years, one thing no Broward program has ever done is win four consecutive state titles, something within the Raiders’ reach as the team is ranked No. 5 nationally in the preseason by Max Preps and No. 1 in the state.
But no matter what happens this season, it won’t be the last one that Mack and Hussey will be playing together as teammates.
Neither four-star player, enjoying a combined 52 FBS offers between them, wanted to go into this season uncommitted. Almost as if in lock-step with their 1-2 jersey numbers, they both took their official visits to Penn State University on the same weekend last June – and committed to the Nittany Lions one week later.
After transferring over from Dillard before the 2020 season, Mack was a teammate of Hussey’s but it wasn’t until last season that the two became the team’s starting safeties, interchanging between strong and free safety.
“Conrad had gone on an unofficial (visit) to Penn State earlier so we scheduled the same official visit together and everything he told me was exactly the same way,” said Mack who at 5-11, 180 pounds, is the No. 31 overall prospect in Florida according to 247 Sports. “I just fell in love with everything as soon as I got there. I guess it just kind of wound up being a coincidence that we wound up committing to the same school because we didn’t do it just for that reason. But it’s great that we are going to be staying together beyond this season.
“I didn’t really recruit him to Penn State like that,” said the 6-0, 190-pound Hussey, who is No. 56 overall in the state according to 247. “I just told him, hey, it’s your choice. Don’t go there just because I’m going there because Michigan State was pushing him hard as well. But he wanted Penn State which is great.”
Penn State head coach James Franklin along with new defensive coordinator and former University of Miami head coach Manny Diaz weren’t necessarily looking to recruit two players from the same team playing the same position. But now they will be getting two players who are not only close off the field but know what each other is doing on the field at all times as well.
“We’re both very versatile, fast, physical, can both play in the box and play the post,” said Mack, who garnered 30 of those 52 offers. “Not to sound cocky or anything but it’s hard to find two safeties who can play all over the field the way we can and us at St. Thomas, that’s what we have. Last year was our first time each of us played as starters together and look at all the damage we did. This year, we want to really show what we’ve built.”
Hussey was not about to downplay the importance of communication between two safeties who more or less play the role of making the defensive calls for the secondary.
“It’s important because we always need to know what we’re both doing on the field,” Hussey said. “If one of us messes up on a play, we’re going to get back right because we’re always on that same page. It’s hard to find two safeties like us because usually the dynamics of safeties is that there is one strong and one free but we both can play either one which makes us interchangeable.”
But both are humble enough to understand that they also benefit from playing for a program that provides superior coaching under head coach Roger Harriott and his staff along with one that provides them with some of the best facilities available. Mack knew all too well coming over from another program.
“Coming over from Dillard, St. Thomas was a new change for me,” said Mack who was also a state track champion last spring winning the 400 meters. “Don’t get me wrong, Dillard was a great program but when I got to St. Thomas, you saw the difference between a highly developed program and a program that’s slowly starting to come up. You come to this place and you have standards. Fully shaved, hair not past your ears, dressed to code a certain way, things even off the field that prepare you to be a successful person. You come here and you wonder why they have all these state championships. They have a standard and it’s a standard you have to follow to get the results which eventually come.”
Hussey arrived at STA as a true freshman and found out very quickly what world of expectation he was entering.
“It’s not just about on the field here but off the field as well,” Hussey said. “Everybody kind of rolls their eyes sometimes when we talk to people on the outside about the St. Thomas culture. But our coaches are always on us about our grades, our mental health and all that stuff. Coach Harriott preaches it and gives us those speeches everyday. He’s a family person and wants us to be so much more than football players. It’s not just a bunch of fluff, it’s the actual truth and if you listen, you might actually learn something other than football while you’re here.”