Texas fans unfamiliar with freshman quarterback KJ Lacey should understand he’s arrived on campus with a heavyweight honor bestowed back home.

The Alabama native won the Mr. Football Award presented by the Alabama Sports Writers Association on Tuesday and was honored at the annual Player of the Year Banquet.

It’s the third straight year a player from Saraland (Ala.) High School had won the award. Ryan Williams won it in 2022 and 2023. Prior to Williams and Lacey winning it, no school in Alabama had won the award in back-to-back years in the previous 43 years.

Lacey, who has already enrolled at Texas and is going through offseason workouts, flew back home to attend the banquet.

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“It’s truly a blessing,” Lacey told Al.com. . “All the hard work paid off. For Saraland to win all three 6A (back) awards in three years and three Mr. Footballs is special. I’m definitely glad to keep that streak going. I loved Saraland. I loved Alabama. Now, it’s time to take my talents to Texas and see what I can do.”

Lacy completed 62% of his passes for 3,042 yards with 40 touchdowns while leading Saraland to its third straight Class 6A state championship game.

“He’s been an absolute joy to coach,” Saraland coach Jeff Kelly told Al.com. “The physical ability and the physical talent that he has is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He has the ability to make all the throws. He has the creative ability to make something out of nothing.

“He has the football IQ to really dissect a defense and do a great job of having a plan of how to attack and the ability to be really accurate. All that is unlike anything I’ve ever coached.”

Saraland went 41-3 with Lacey running the offense the last three seasons. The school won the state title in 2022 and reached the title game each of the next two years.

“His leadership, his competitiveness, his ability to make everyone around him better — I think will be what allows him to continue to do great things while playing quarterback,” Kelly told Al.com. “I’ve never seen him in a situation where he’s stressed or where the moment seemed too big.

“He has the ability to be his best in those pressure-packed moments and has the ability to slow down the game and make the big plays at the big time. He always seems calm, cool and collected and that rubs off on everyone around him.”

At Texas, Lacey has the chance to improve and work his way into being Arch Manning’s backup. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has shown an incredible ability to manage multiple high-profile quarterbacks, both during his time as the Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and while running the Longhorns.

Back home, Lacey has been compared to Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.

“KJ is super twitchy, instinctive. He’s like a point guard out there who distributes the ball so well,” David Morris, founder of QB Country, told Al.com. “He’s very athletic, though he doesn’t run around a ton. At Saraland, they didn’t do a lot of QB runs, but he can do that and he may be at his most dangerous when a play breaks down a little and he has to improvise.”