His Word, His Humility

Levi Bell gave his word.

Three years ago, Bell’s father, Chase, passed away after a fight with cancer.

Bell, an undersized, underrecruited player out of Cedar Park High School – which is 50 miles north of the Texas State campus – had put his football career on hold to be with his dad as he faced Stage IV colon cancer. 

Chase Bell was diagnosed in the fall of 2018 when Levi was in his freshman season at The College of Idaho, an NAIA program in Caldwell located about 30 minutes outside of Boise. When the Bell family found out about the diagnosis, Levi made the hard choice of leaving the game he loved and the only school that offered him an opportunity to play football at the college level coming out of high school.

He took a semester off in the spring of 2019 to spend the remaining days of his dad’s life by his side and with the rest of his family in the Austin area.

In his last conversation with his father, Levi received words he thinks about often.

“He said, ‘You got to get back into football. Don’t give up on your dream. I’m going to see you in the NFL one day,’” said Levi.

Play in the NFL one day? Levi had already stepped away from college football. He was barely noticed while in high school. He played all across the defensive line for the Yotes, but he weighed 220 pounds. Plus, he was coming off a knee injury which he suffered the same week he found out about his dad’s diagnosis.

The NFL could not have felt any farther away. 

But flash forward to this season, and after so many wrote him off – or never wrote him in the first place – he has shown he did not write back.

He is starting to write a new story. One based on his word he gave his late father.

This year, Bell has excelled in his new – but familiar – environment. The Cedar Park native is top 25 in the Sun Belt in total tackles but first in tackles for loss (6.5) and tied for fifth in sacks (2.5).

Bell is arguably the best defensive player in the country this year. And literally the best, according to one publication and its rankings.

He is the top-graded player in the nation in defense rating (minimum 40 snaps) by Pro Football Focus – the gold standard for football metrics. He’s also the top defensive lineman by PFF in pass rush rating and seventh in run defense. 

“Every time I hear an accolade like that, I just give the glory to God because I know once I let that glory get to my head, that’s the moment I’m going to fall,” said Bell. “That’s the moment I’m going to start doing bad or stop working as hard. And stop getting as much reps in practice. The next thing, that’s going to add up and I’m not going to be as good. If I keep reminding myself of my goal. If I’m doing this every single day for God, then that’s just going to continue to get me better and better and better. That’s how I stay humble through that.”

The early-season success and humility all comes from a player who is coming off a season in which he played in four games. He suffered a knee injury early in the year at Louisiana Tech in 2021, attempted to come back, but reinjured himself in the pursuit to get back on the field.

It is also from someone who only started playing interior defensive line at the Division I level 18 months ago.

The former high school state champion in wrestling was playing defensive end while at The College of Idaho in 2018 before suffering a knee injury. Plus, as the season was winding down, he was dealing with the news of his father’s diagnosis. 

“That was a really hard time for me, but that is when my faith in the Lord really grew,” said Bell. “That was the only way I was able to stay on top of everything. Just to be able to stay sane.”

He moved back to Austin to be with his dad. He took the spring semester off before he passed away. It was also the time that his brother, Ben, was a junior in high school and deciding which college he would attend. Ben was receiving interest from several Division I FBS schools.

“After (our father passed away), my goal was to be with my brother,” said Bell. “I saw how bad it hurt him. I’m going to be there for my brother, no matter what.”

But first Levi had to get back into football. So, he tried out for different junior colleges in the state of Texas. He went to Cisco, Trinity Valley, Blinn – all resulted in no offers. 

Finally, Tyler Junior College offered him, with one caveat. They wanted him to play middle linebacker, a position he had never played.

“I was like, ‘I don’t have any experience at this position,’” said Bell. “But I’ll figure it out.’”

Bell ended up going to Tyler for a semester, but he did not play much until the final game. His role was to be in pass rush defensive packages, with pretty much one goal: get sacks. 

After his sophomore season with Tyler, he had eight offers from Division II programs and one from a Division I, Jacksonville State. 

Meanwhile, his brother, Ben, was getting attention and offers. Ben eventually chose Louisiana Tech because he liked the coaches and the strength and conditioning staff. Levi, meanwhile, was still wrestling with his goal of playing alongside his brother and being with him at the same school.

“I was really trying to get a scholarship from (LA Tech),” said Levi, “and I had a conversation with (the coaching staff) over the phone, and I said, ‘What do you think?’”

What he heard from the LA Tech coaching staff was not what he expected.

“They (told me): you’re unathletic to play middle linebacker and too short to play defensive line. You’ll never be good enough to play at this level.”

Jacksonville State, meanwhile, still wanted the 6-foot-1 Bell to go there and with the enticement of playing a lot for them.

“I was like, ‘No. I told my dad I was going to play with my brother,’” said Bell. “I don’t care if they say I’ll never play here (at LA Tech).”

Levi walked on at LA Tech, taking out loans to pay for his education. 

“I had to push through,” said Bell. “When you’re a walk-on, you’re not treated the same. There were a couple coaches there that believed in me, though. They saw my motor.”

In 2020, he learned all the linebacker positions. Plus, he was re-learning all of the defensive line positions. Even as a walk-on, he played in 244 snaps for the Bulldogs that season.

He earned the title of second-string defensive end in 2020. His first career sack was against then-Houston Baptist (now Houston Christian, and the same opponent Texas State had last week on Sept. 24). He finished the year with 19 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, and 1.5 sacks.

All his hard work paid off and he earned a scholarship from LA Tech after the 2020 season.

But he had a goal: play more as a defensive lineman. The team lost a lot at that position after 2020, and he enjoyed that role of a “three-technique” defensive line. The only problem: he weighed 255 pounds. The coaching staff asked him to put on weight if he wanted to slide inside.

“I was going to the cafeteria, eating five times a day,” said Bell. “I had these shakes, they tasted awful. Taste like concrete. Just pounded them in, two or three times a day.”

He was lifting and eating more than usual and got up to 280 pounds. 

“It was hard to move because I put it on so fast.”

His coaches were taken aback at the gain in the weight, but it was enough for him to get nod of approval to move to interior defensive line. However, he was back at the bottom of the depth chart because he had little experience there. 

By the end of the spring, he went from fourth-string to a starting spot at defensive tackle. 

“It just felt so natural to me,” said Bell. “Having speed and understanding where the linebackers fit because I used to play it – and a wrestling background. It felt so natural. (I thought) ‘Why have I never played this?’”

Bell had a great game against Mississippi State in the 2021 season opener, totaling three tackles and a sack in 47 defensive snaps. Two games later against SMU, while making a tackle, the Mustang running back fell on his leg and it resulted in another knee injury. 

Thankfully, no surgery was needed. He rehabbed it and tried everything he could to get back in before the season was completely lost to the injury.

“God showed me in that time: it’s not about your timing, it’s about My timing,” said Bell. “He showed me, I will work all things out for the good. And during that time, I really grew more in my faith.”

Four games after suffering a torn MCL, he made it back to the UTSA game.

“My leg was strapped up, barely hanging on,” said Bell. “I just wanted to help the team win, I didn’t care (about my injury). I was limping everywhere, but I told coach, ‘Nah, I’m good.’

“I had to use everything finesse because I couldn’t hold my weight.”

Unfortunately, he reinjured the knee and was forced to have a conversation with his coaches about using a medical redshirt for the season.

Because it was his senior season he elected to use it.

“(The redshirt) gave me the opportunity to keep playing.”

After the 2021 season, the LA Tech coaching staff went through a change. His brother also suffered a serious injury. They both made the collective decision to leave together.

They entertained interest from other schools, but this was a package deal in a sense. Texas State was the only place that wanted them both.

And now, four games into the season, both Levi and Ben are seeing significant snaps on the Bobcat defense. 

“It’s a dream come true,” said Levi. “It’s a big blessing to be with my brother. Look to the left of me and he’s right there. Red hair just coming out, that curly red hair. We’re best friends. We love each other... It makes my heart so beautiful. It’s not a bad brother intention or anything. It’s all love and we support each other. God gave us the blessing to be with each other.”

Watching either one of the Bells on the field, but especially Levi, you will witness a high motor on every play. But ask anyone of the members of the Texas State program, they see that motor every day.

“Levi kind of sets the tone with how he practices,” said defensive line coach Jacori Greer. “He pushes our guys.”

“What you see on gameday (from Levi) is what you see every day at practice,” said defensive coordinator Zac Spavital. “It’s a credit to him. There’s a lot of production that he’s made that isn’t coaching. It’s just effort and want-to. That is contagious. He’s playing at a high level.”

Bell may be producing, and starting to draw more attention from opponents and others. But his effort is not wasted on looking at what others are saying about him. That lesson came from his uncle, who was a pastor.

“(He told me), ‘Be humble because the pride will fall but the humble will lift you up.’”

And up is where Bell is heading. Staying true to his word.