Texas Football: 4-Star DT Ethan Utley sets commitment date

A top out-of-state target for Texas football in the 2025 recruiting class, four-star Nashville (TN) Ensworth defensive lineman Ethan Utley will announce his commitment on March 28 (per On3). March 28 is also Utley's 17th birthday.

Utley will decide between his top five finalist schools that he announced on Christmas Day (Dec. 25), including the Tennessee Volunteers, Oklahoma Sooners, Michigan Wolverines, Syracuse Orange, and Texas.

Texas football in the mix for 4-Star DL Ethan Utley, who will announce on his birthday

Texas has long been considered one of Utley's top schools. But the departure of former Texas defensive line coach Bo Davis to LSU could have an impact on where things stand between Utley and the Longhorns.

Utley told On3 that he has hit it off with new Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker. He insists that his relationships with the schools in his top five that had coaching staff turnover early this offseason "are still strong" and that "the changes made haven't been a big issue for me".

Baker made it a priority to establish good communication with a handful of Texas's top out-of-state targets along the defensive line in the 2025 class. He's made a good impression on Utley in the last few weeks since he was hired to replace Davis as the defensive line coach.

Utley's decision has yet to be made before his late March commitment date

Utley told On3 that he has not yet called the schools in his top five yet to inform them of the decision he'll make on March 28, since he's "not 100% there yet".

He said his decision will boil down to how much he buys into the future of the program he wants to play for and how comfortable he is at each school.

Program culture and ability to contend for a national title are obviously huge driving factors in this recruitment as we're just a few weeks away from Utley's announcement.

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