Isaiah Ragland jogged off the field in Villanova Stadium after a morning practice on Thursday, Sept. 22 ahead of Villanova’s upcoming game against Towson.

It is the same field Ragland scored his first collegiate touchdown on two weeks ago. 

On Aug. 29, Ragland stood in the backfield a yard from the goal line. The play was a designed run. Ragland took the handoff and effortlessly scored his first touchdown as a Villanova Wildcat.

The touchdown was the highlight of Ragland’s 65-yard rushing game. His performance earned him CAA Rookie of the Week honors.

While he makes the game of football look effortless, his path to being a Division One football player was not.

Growing up in North Carolina, Ragland’s mother cared for him while his father was incarcerated. She gave him football as a form of protection.

“I give all credit to my mom,” Ragland said. “My mom put me in all sports to make sure I wasn’t on the streets, and make sure I’m not with bad influences. She made sure I was doing the right thing.”

Ragland has a strong connection with his mother and says she is always there for him.

“It’s so easy being a black young male to fall into the category and a stereotype,” Ragland said. “My mom did not want to be like that. She wanted me to be better, so she put me in sports.”

Around the age of 12, Ragland packed up and relocated to Clifton, Virginia.

There, Ragland continued to play sports. At first, he did not see a future for himself in football.

“I was honestly a basketball person,” Ragland said. “I didn’t take football seriously until I got to high school. When I started playing basketball, I completely loved basketball over football.”

Ragland understood that standing at 5’9’’, basketball would be a challenging sport for him to thrive in. In high school, he pivoted fully to football.

Ragland attended Centerville High School, situated about 40 minutes outside of Washington D.C.

At Centerville, Ragland broke the school rushing record (5,197 yards) and total career touchdowns (68). On top of school records, he was a two-time Region Offensive Player of the Year, the Northern Virginia Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year.

Even in football, many recruiters overlooked him due to his size. Not many offers found Ragland as he continued to tear up the Virginia high school football landscape. That was until running back coach Joshua Fletcher saw something not many did.

“I wasn’t heavily recruited because of my size, and my height, so coaches didn’t believe in me,” Ragland said. “Villanova believed in me. It took a chance on me and the [coaches] said I can be a change in the program.”

Being from a low-income family, Ragland relied heavily on his football talent to get a higher education.

“I knew if I wasn’t getting a [full scholarship], I wasn’t gonna go to school,” Ragland said.

Ragland was hungry to defy the odds of his situation. Striving for a football career was not only for himself, but for his family, as well.

“I’ve always tried to work my hardest to where I can set up my mom and little brother financially for the rest of our lives,” Ragland said. “I know that football can take me there if I do the right thing.”

Before redshirting last season, Ragland earned CAA Rookie of the Week honors for his efforts against Elon. Ragland is the only Villanova athlete to earn the honors in two different seasons.

Over the last two weeks, Ragland demonstrated his talent. Every opportunity he gets, he shows recruiters why they should have taken a chance on him.

On Saturday, Sept. 14, Ragland returned to Villanova Stadium, taking on Towson. He rushed for a career-high 141 yards on 17 carries. For the third time, he earned Rookie of the Week honors for his performance.

Ragland knows that nothing comes easy in life. He works for his dreams in the weight room, the practice field and in games. For every minute of work he puts in, he gets one step closer to making those dreams his reality.

“I had a lot of doubters when I first started playing football, even now,” Ragland said. “There are going to be lonely days and dark nights, but it’s always sunny outside of those days.”