Kelby Bates is the big man on campus – or at least within the Altus football locker room.

The junior linebacker is expected to have a big year for the Bulldogs on the field, but that’s not all he does for the team. Under the direction of head coach Jeremy Reed, who once coached Altus to a state championship, Bates is expected to be a leader for the team. His job is to “just keep everyone’s heads up and keep them in check.”

“And when times get hard, [I] gotta build my boys back up,” Bates said. Bates expected the team to “bond together as one on and off the field no matter what is going on,” especially with Reed’s return to Altus. “I think our new coaching staff has made a tremendous impact on the team so far,” Bates said. “We have a heck of a lot more discipline in ourselves and better team-bonding.”

Bates first started playing football in kindergarten.

“My mom took a big part in getting all of the staff for me and my brother play,” Bates said. “I play football because it just clicks for me. No other sport makes me feel the way football does. I have loved the sport ever since the first day my mom put me in it.”

His brother, Koby, was once an Altus football player himself.

“Oh, he definitely was my idol,” Bates said. “I went to all his high school games growing up and it just always lit a fire in me, and I knew one day I was going to be just like him, and nobody pushes me to be the best more than he does.”

Bates said he’s never “worked this hard to be creeping at the top.”

“All thanks to my family and my closest buddies,” Bates said.