Elite linebacker recruit from Texas announces his top four college football programs amid summer visits
The second highest rated linebacker in the entire 2025 recruiting class has narrowed his list of potential college football programs down to four. Riley Pettijohn has been considered a Top 50 recruit in the entire nation for over a year now, and is still rising. The battle for his services has been fierce, including nearly […]
The second highest rated linebacker in the entire 2025 recruiting class has narrowed his list of potential college football programs down to four. Riley Pettijohn has been considered a Top 50 recruit in the entire nation for over a year now, and is still rising. The battle for his services has been fierce, including nearly 40 FBS schools, but as his summer official visits schedule is heating up Pettijohn decided to offer some clarity for the recruiting community.
Let's dive into his top four schools, where he might actually go, and what makes him so special.
Riley Pettijohn's Top Four
According to Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports Riley Pettijohn has gotten his recruitment down to Texas, Texas A&M, Ohio State, and USC as he heads into the busiest month of his recruitment. He had visited a handful of other top programs recently like Auburn and Florida State, but he'll be focusing on the aforementioned top four moving forward.
Pettijohn was just a part of the massive Ohio State Buckeyes visit weekend where more than a dozen top pedigree recruits came together in Columbus, Ohio. This visit was the first of four that Pettijohn will be taking over the course of the next month. He'll be stopping by Lincoln Riley and USC the weekend of Jun 7-9. After that he'll be headed to Texas, and then wraps things up at Texas A&M after that. Four weekends in a row.
It's hard to tell where he's leaning exactly right now given that he visited all four this spring for his unofficials and has longstanding relationships with all four programs. The majority of industry folks believe Texas is in the lead, and Freshman All-American linebacker Anthony Hill Jr.'s incredible performance last year certainly didn't hurt their chances.
Top edge defender recruit in Georgia may flip his commitment amid visits to premier college football programs
Elite edge defender a likely flip candidate
Ohio State has a proven pro as their linebackers coach in James Laurinaitis and a defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles who loves to use his linebackers in multiple ways. It seems as though his visit went well this past weekend with the Buckeyes, and their proven pro development (regardless of position) continues to be among the best in the game. If it isn't Texas, Ohio State may be in line next.
USC and Texas A&M both feel like longer shots at this point. He has visited USC quite a bit, but their proof of concept in development and defensive success overall has been highly questionable. If Texas A&M pulls off a steal it'll be due to Mike Elko's developmental track record.
What makes Riley Pettijohn so special
Pettijohn brings with him elite speed (his 10.77-second 100 meter dash time as an off-ball linebacker is insane) and a perfect frame to build out into the ideal prototype linebacker that fits today's game. He's a high motor player coming off a season with 120+ tackles who plays well in run pursuit and utilizes every bit of his speed in coverage.
Pettijohn can track the ball over his shoulder like a wide receiver, then on the next play disguise a blitz and get home for a sack. His level of in-game intelligence is off the charts for a linebacker who hasn't even played his senior year of high school yet. That will translate into immediate success wherever he lands.
Be looking for more College Football coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
And if you want to watch some Riley Pettijohn highlights to get a better idea of what he brings on defense you can check out the video below!
