Landon Roldan: The Georgia football signee left a championship legacy at North Oconee High School

This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star signee Landon Roldan. He ranks as the nation’s No. 73 WR and the No. 478 overall prospect for 2025 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 67 WR and at No. 413 overall.

North Oconee High School won the first state football championship in its 21-year football history last night. When the Titans did, they posed for a team photo right after they stood on the podium at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Georgia signee Landon Roldan had the biggest grin. It kept getting bigger after he stood on that podium with a few of his teammates.

The photos of those moments would show a slow time-lapse reaction of it all sinking in.

“It is a great feeling,” Roldan said. “Just knowing that your job if finished and all the work came out great.”

There were the regular pictures. Then more with the cheerleaders. Those images became instant North Oconee history. They will pair nicely with the tribute at their stadium of the first team that played a varsity schedule with just freshmen and sophomores. The Titans took their lumps that fall that planted the seeds for this championship celebration.

Those GHSA state championship mages will be timeless keepsakes of a team that never lost a game, including a gut-check fourth quarter 14-7 result against a disciplined Marist team that fought until the end.

What came next was interesting.

The boys from Bogart watch a lot of movies. Every team does. When it came time for the last team picture, they all gave a “thumbs down” gesture.

The Titans turned into gladiators.

They did it as a nod to the “Gladiator 2″ film they had all seen recently. Marist was the last team they faced in the arena this season. They gave their opponent’s state title hopes that “thumbs down” gesture.

Roldan had an even bigger grin for that thumbs-down. Perhaps it was because he was the one that got to hold the state championship trophy in that timeless photo.

It was fitting. Roldan capped off a magical season in which he finished with 76 catches for 1,369 yards and 20 touchdown catches. He also ran for 13.1 yards per carry for another 184 yards and four scores.

That’s not even counting the plays he made on special teams and the Pick-6s he had this year.

Roldan finished with 34 career TD receptions. He went over the 2,500-yard mark in receiving for his career against Marist. He put 274 points up on the board for the Titans. That’s fourth all-time in program history.

He’s a bona-fide winner. Especially considering the fact he was also a vital cog in a North Oconee team that won back-to-back state baseball championships in 2022 and 2023.

Think about that. The last two seasons he played for North Oconee High resulted in state championships.

“I think this is probably the best way to go out,” Roldan said. “Being able to win a baseball and a football back-to-back so I think it is just a great feeling.”

That’s quite a legacy.

“His time now has come to an end,” North Oconee coach Tyler Aurandt said. “But what a way to go out. So proud of him and everything he has done for our program for that last four years.”

What will be that Roldan legacy be at North Oconee? Aurandt, who’s also his uncle, shared his view of what that should be.

“Here’s a kid that has done everything the right way,” Aurandt said. “If you just show up and go to work and just bust your tail day after day and you’re tough as nails these are the opportunities that you are presented.”

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Landon Roldan shares a few thoughts on joining Georgia football soon

Roland will be enrolling early in Athens this month. He will be going through Sugar Bowl prep and any future college football playoff practices. He’s not sure on the exact dates yet.

As per the norm these days, he’ll likely be able to travel to New Orleans and wear a UGA jersey and street clothes on the sidelines.

“I think the class going into Georgia is going to be an amazing class,” Roldan said. “We have talent everywhere. We’re going to be able to show out.”

The receiver group will be different. Give assistant coach James Coley credit for flipping around the room in one recruiting cycle. This will be Georgia’s best group of WR signees since at least 2020.

Roldan described the group as “really explosive.”

“I see a lot of playmakers,” he said. “Different size. Different abilities. We got speed. We got size. We got people who can go across the middle. We’ve just got a lot of playmakers and talent everywhere. They are going to be able to make plays.”

There are a lot of Dawgs in that offensive class that will be used to playing for championships. The GHSA Class 5A final between Milton vs. Langston Hughes today will feature three more. Ethan Barbour (TE) and CJ Wiley (WR) will line up for Milton. Dontrell Glover (OL) will be playing in his third state title game. Both Glover and Wiley have already won a state title in their careers.

Talyn Taylor, the 5-star WR signee, also played for the state title in Illinois this season.

Roldan sees a benefit there.

“I think knowing all these playmakers being able to play in the last game it is great,” he said. “Because Georgia, they typically like get to the finals and everything. They are a really good team. They are going to make the playoffs and everything so just being able to play in these games and going over there and watching the playoff games is straight.”

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Landon Roldan: What David Pollack said about him this fall stands out

Georgia legend David Pollack was one of those Titans in that team photo on Monday night. He did the “thumbs down” gesture as well.

Pollack has been embedded in the North Oconee program for years now. His son is a promising sophomore prospect on the team. He’s watched Roldan play all his life.

What is Georgia really getting here? Pollack broke it all down with DawgNation earlier this season.

There are those natural Ladd McConkey comparisons here.

“Ladd is a lot quicker,” Pollack said.

But the rest of what the very popular former ESPN commentator will have DawgNation’s full attention.

“Landon has better hands,” Pollack said. “I can say that. Landon has better speed and Landon is very smart. You can move him all over the field. He’s got a lot of gifts, so he’s definitely got some traits that are great. That’s the good things.”

“But Landon is really good with the ball in his hands. Landon was a tailback growing up all in youth ball so he sees things quickly. He runs the ball really really well so he’s got some great gifts. He’s definitely got some things that you can’t instill in people. that is just kind of innate.”

Bring up Roldan to Pollack. Ask him what he sees. What sticks out.

That’s a layered conversation.

“What component?” Pollack will lead off with that. He steers the conversation into a place that might take awhile to really cover all the necessary ground.

How ‘bout off the field?

“Super quiet,” he said. “Super reserved. Not a man of many words. But just kind of cool. Dry as can be. There’s not a lot of flamboyance to him. He’s not a typical wide receiver.”

That’s not just because the 185-pound Roldan clocked off multiple laser 4.3s in the 40 testing for the UGA staff, including a best of 4.37 seconds.

“Most wide receivers are very flashy,” Pollack said. “Very me centered. He’s not like that.”

Bland is another word. Like toast.

How ‘bout on the field?

“I’ve seen very few people,” Pollack starts off again. “His elite superhero trait is tracking the football. So very rarely will you ever see him reach for a football. Like a long lunge or have to contort his body. The way he sees the ball. Ridiculous. It’s an elite. It’s a superhero trait.”

Those skills were honed by years of youth and travel baseball. Roldan was that Andruw Jones type who got to everything. But just the type who didn’t care who noticed.

“So he’s got his speed, but the biggest thing is he tracks the football as well or better than anybody. He’s a center fielder. Like that’s just his superpower.”

SENTELL’S INTEL

(check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)