Linebacker Riley Pettijohn is one of the country’s top prospects in the 2025 class, checking in at No. 71 on the Rivals100. The McKinney product has the offer sheet to back up that ranking, with more than 30 programs having extended scholarship offers to the talented defender.

Prior to the ongoing dead period, which ends tonight, Pettijohn made spring/summer visits to places like USC, Florida and Texas, with his Texas visit coming in mid-June.

“I love their defense,” Pettijohn said of the Longhorns. “Coach (Jeff) Choate is a really cool guy. We got to sit down and talk some football. I liked their facilities too.”

At 6-3 and 200 pounds, Pettijohn is a rare linebacker who can make plays from sideline to sideline, can disrupt the offensive backfield and is also solid in coverage. That versatility has college coaches in hot pursuit of the four-star prospect. The Texas coaches told him he’d get to showcase all of his skill set should he eventually choose the Longhorns.

“(Choate) sees me fitting in as a middle linebacker, but being able to blitz and cover too,” Pettijohn said.

While sitting down with Choate, Pettijohn drew comparisons to former UT linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, a converted safety who made the switch to linebacker in college and was a third-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys back in April.

Ranked as the No. 2 linebacker in the entire country, Pettijohn lists schools like USC, Florida and Texas among the ones that have his early attention. He’s keeping an open mind at this stage of his recruitment but said he’d like to commit somewhere next summer, before his senior season begins. A late-summer trip to Florida, Oklahoma or LSU is a possibility.

Texas will continue to chip away at one of the program’s top targets in the 2025 cycle and should be able to get Pettijohn in for another visit or two after making a strong impression in June. Choate and Pettijohn stay in regular contact.

“He just checks up on me, building a relationship,” Pettijohn said.