How a strong bond with his mom built Courtland Guillory into a freshman All-American

Copy of Copy of On3-Matt-Zenitz-don-meyer-leadership - 2025-12-11T194642.308 — Oklahoma defensive back Courtland Guillory (4) gestures in celebration after Tennessee place kicker Max Gilbert (90) misses the field goal during a NCAA football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Oklahoma Sooners at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on November 1, 2025.

When Courtland Guillory was 6 years old, his mom would give him a message before all of his Pop Warner football games. “Can’t nobody on that field mess with you,” she told him. “Nobody.” That’s the clean version, according to Lisa Marshall, Guillory’s mom. Marshall has no background in football or sports, for that matter. But having raised Guillory by herself for the first seven years of his life, she is a fearless competitor in everyday life, fighting for everything she has earned in her real estate career and personal life as a mother. So when it came to her son playing football, something he’s excelled at since he began playing at age 6, she wanted him to know he could do anything.