Longhorns continue to hit the right buttons with Rivals100 DE Chad Woodfork

Defensive end Chad Woodfork is a Rivals100 member who holds more than 30 scholarship offers, so he has no shortage of suitors. One school that’s been after him for a while is the Texas Longhorns. Woodfork has certainly reciprocated the interest with multiple trips to the UT campus, and he returned in late January for another look at the Texas program.

“Just seeing all the coaches (stood out), hearing their spiel, their philosophies, how they coach, seeing the facilities was great again,” Woodfork said. “I’ve been up here a bunch. I like it.”

Earlier in January, Woodfork released a top nine consisting of USC, Georgia, Baylor, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Houston, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas. All of those schools remain in contention and while there’s no formal pecking order among Woodfork’s finalists, the Longhorns are strong contenders for what is expected to be a summer commitment.

“They’re up there for sure. I’ve been up here a lot,” Woodfork said. “I obviously like it here. I just like hearing the coaches’ spiel and building that connection.”

The plan for the 6-5, 220-pound Woodfork is to take his official visits in the summer and then commit in either June or July. He said Texas Tech, Texas and probably USC will be among the schools that get official visits.

On his most recent stop in Austin, the Texas staff stressed to Woodfork that his quickness and explosion off the ball would be an asset for the UT defense.

“There was a lot of talking about team speed. That was a really big thing for them, the overall team speed and how I could help bring speed to their defense, especially the edge position,” Woodfork said.

Out of Summer Creek in Humble, Woodfork ranks No. 89 on the Rivals100. He’s the No. 17-ranked player in the state of Texas.

As for what has the Longhorns in the mix, Woodfork said there are quite a few factors, including the impressive defensive line that Texas fielded in 2023.

“They have one of the best d-lines in the country this year. That’s why they went to the football playoffs,” Woodfork said. “They want to keep adding pass rushers to get back there.”