WR Armani Winfield talks about his UT commitment, players he's talking to
When Armani Winfield committed to Texas, a big factor in his decision was the arrival of new head coach Steve Sarkisian. In fact, when Winfield made the call to UT assistant coach Andre Coleman to give his pledge, Sarkisian hadn’t even made it to Austin yet. Sarkisian was literally in the middle of helping guide Alabama to a national championship game win over Ohio State when Winfield finalized his decision.
It was halftime of the national championship game on January 11 when Winfield put the call into Coleman to let him know he was ready to commit. Winfield’s longstanding relationship with the UT receivers coach combined with what Winfield was seeing from the Alabama offense was enough to seal the deal.
“Really it was just my relationship with coach Coleman. He’d been recruited me since my freshman year,” Winfield said. “Pretty much the whole staff from (Tom) Hermon’s staff left except him so it was comfortable. Coach Sark coming in, it’s just a new beginning, we’re trying to start our own wave.
“The offense that coach Sark runs, it was just unbelievable. It hadn’t been seen before, so. I was like I, I’ve got to be a part of that.”
The 6-2, 185-pound Winfield won’t be able to meet the UT coaches in person until June at the earliest, but he said he has full confidence that Sarkisian and staff are going to do big things on the Forty Acres.
“Basically it’s just their resume when you look at their production and what they’ve done. Coach Coleman put receivers in the league when he was at Kansas State. He played in the league. Coach Sark has a reputation of putting receivers in the league and has a great system that translates to the NFL,” Winfield said. “Their resumes speak to me. The people there are known for doing great things.”
Winfield recently scheduled his Texas official visit for the weekend of June 18. He’ll be joined on that visit by a large number of other recruits who will also be in Austin, including a number of his future teammates.
“I'm looking forward to it big-time, because at first it wasn't guaranteed. But now that it’s open, I’m really pumped about it,” Winfield said. “I’m going down there with the guys. We’re excited to hang out, laugh and crack jokes and stuff.”
A Rivals250 member, Winfield held more than 30 scholarship offers at the time of his commitment. Since his pledge, he’s had a couple schools that have continued to recruit him aggressively, but Winfield said he’s completely locked in with his decision.
“There are still schools trying to recruit me. Baylor and Penn State are the main ones that are on me harder than others. I just try to be polite about it, but I’m loyal to the soil,” he said. “I’m 100 percent locked in. I’m shutting that other stuff down.”
Over the weekend, Winfield was part of the True Buzz 7v7 team that took part in a tournament in the Dallas area. He’s also played on Premium Sports 7v7, where he teamed up with future Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy. Those two have stayed in touch since that event, and Winfield has his eyes on a few other prospects he’d like to bring with him to Texas.
“Bryce Anderson, Kam Dewberry, and we actually have a defensive end from my school, Jordan Renaud. They just offered him, so I’ve been leaning on him,” Winfield said.
A four-star prospect, Winfield is the nation’s No. 107-ranked prospect overall.