Republic offensive lineman Landon Harper signed Wednesday to play football at Central Michigan University, a Division I program in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Harper will join a Chippewas program that achieved bowl eligibility for the first time since 2021 with a 7-5 overall record this season, finishing fifth in the Mid-American Conference. Central Michigan plays at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, the largest on-campus stadium in the MAC with a capacity of over 30,000.
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Q. Why Central Michigan?
A. I picked Central Michigan because on my visit something was definitely different (from) all the other colleges. I mean, obviously it’s a big school and very nice facilities, but on the visit, the hospitality that they showed was just unreal. When I got there, I got my own room, and I got a goodie bag with all my favorite stuff in it that they asked for… They won the game, which is a plus, and at halftime they gave me food throughout the game. They’d come by, give my family food. That night we went and had some more food at a nice restaurant with the coaches and some teammates, and then the teammates took me to an axe-throwing place. So we went and had fun there and…it already felt like family the first day that I met them. So it was a super strong connection there.
And then getting to know the coaches… and seeing how they treated me in person — it wasn’t just fake over the phone, because I’ve had that a lot with other coaches. I mean, they act so excited to get you there, but when they do, it’s like you’re just another recruit. But I felt really special there. And so it made it feel like home.
Q. What are you looking forward to the most about playing college football?
A. My most important thing is to get bigger and get better and get on the field. And so whenever I do that, that’s really what I’m looking forward to — just getting there and proving that I can do it, and then going up from there.
I’m really excited to play in that atmosphere, because I think we have a really good atmosphere here at home with the whole town supporting. And I think it’s still like that up there. It’s kind of a small town for a big college. The community up there is a lot similar to ours. So I’m excited to transfer to that and play at a higher level.
Q. What do you think you’ll take from your time playing football here that will carry over?
A. There’ll be a lot of things, really, because Coach Cornelsen, Coach Uhl, I mean, they taught me how to be a good player and a good human and a good man… I think they had a big impact on that as well. And then obviously the football, because everything I’ve ever known from football came from them, really—and middle school coaches and Joe Whitworth. He was my first coach, so I’ll always remember that. But I’m super excited to just take the next step, and I’ll always remember everything from Republic.
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