Texas football holds ‘pole position’ with 5-Star 2024 S Peyton Woodyard

The turn of the calendar year from 2022 to 2023 means that the bulk of the movement on the trail for Texas football recruiting now lies in the 2024 class. After Texas filled out most of the scholarship spots in the 2023 recruiting class a couple of weeks ago during the Early Signing Period, most of the focus now sits with the 2024 class with Junior Day approaching in the near future.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns look to be making a significant move with one of the top-rated offers in the 2024 class. It looks like the Longhorns made quite the impression recently on the elite five-star St. John Bosco (CA) safety Peyton Woodyard ahead of his Jan. 7 commitment date.

A few weeks ago, Texas wasn’t considered a realistic favorite in the race to land a commitment from Woodyard. When Woodyard first announced that he would be committing at the All-American Bowl on Jan. 7, it looked like the Georgia Bulldogs, USC Trojans, and Ohio State Buckeyes were the top schools in his recruitment.

Texas was actually left out of Woodyard’s top seven schools that he dropped on social media on Dec. 15. Meanwhile, the trio of Ohio State, Georgia, and USC was included in the latest round of finalist cuts last month.

He took visits to all three of those schools during the fall. And most of the buzz surrounding this recruitment ahead of Woodyard’s decision date favored Georgia.

Texas football reportedly making the biggest recent move with 5-Star 2024 S Peyton Woodyard

Georgia has a great relationship with Woodyard and he is one of the top-rated safety offers in the Dawgs 2024 class.

Ohio State was also considered a real challenger to win out with Woodyard. He had a couple of successful unofficial trips to Columbus since last summer.

And you couldn’t rule out USC after the Trojans hosted him on multiple trips to LA during the fall. USC even got the last in-person visit with Woodyard prior to the scheduled decision date.

But it sounds as if Sark and safeties coach Blake Gideon have really plugged away in this recruitment in the last few weeks. According to a report from Mike Roach of Horns247 on Jan. 2 (paid content), Texas is a “new contender in the sweepstakes” for Woodyard.

One source reportedly mentioned that “Texas moved into pole position for Woodyard” in the last week or so. It’s worth noting, though, that Woodyard is still communicating with some of the other top schools ahead of his decision date next weekend.

Texas apparently kept working on this recruitment under the radar while Woodyard was still visiting other schools. And it sounds like there is a real shot at the Longhorns ultimately winning the race to land Woodyard’s commitment.

The last time that Woodyard visited Austin was during an unofficial trip back in June 2022. He’s now made two unofficial visits on record to Austin, with the first coming in January 2022.

Texas currently holds commitments from two recruits in the 2024 class following the de-commitment of the touted four-star Daingerfield (TX) athlete Aeryn Hampton. One of the two recruits committed to the Longhorns 2024 class is a defensive back in four-star Aledo cornerback Jaden Allen.