2024 Five-Star S Peyton Woodyard Impressed with Notre Dame, Embracing Recruitment

2024 St. John Bosco (Calif.) safety Peyton Woodyard‍ is no stranger to big games. The composite five-star prospect plays a national schedule and made the trip to Columbus to see the top five clash between Notre Dame and Ohio State over the weekend. 

Woodyard expected a close game and he’ll be paying close attention to Notre Dame’s season as he was impressed with what he saw from the Irish on Saturday night. 

"I wouldn't say it surprised me,” Woodyard said of the game. “I had a feeling it was going to be a close game. It will be exciting to see how they progress throughout the season.

"Coach (Marcus) Freeman being the head coach and a new defensive coordinator, I feel like it could be just the beginning for Notre Dame." 

The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder was impressed with both defenses, but admitted the also just soaked in the environment inside The Shoe. 

"I didn't really get to dissect the game as much as I wanted because I was there,” explained Woodyard. “106,000 people were yelling and it's not every day you get to play in front of that amount of people. It was cool to sit there, enjoy the experience and watch both defenses play." 

Notre Dame contacted Woodyard on Sept. 1st, the first day coaches could initiate contact with 2024 prospects, and on Wednesday evening, Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary made sure to call the California native. 

"He was making a point that our 2024 class is going to be big for Notre Dame,” stated Woodyard. “They have a good team and I like what I saw from the defense against Ohio State. I think if they get a few more players, they could be a really special team." 

Woodyard doesn’t feel one school is recruiting him harder than the others, especially with coaches now being able to call and text him, but he’s hearing from the schools that matter the most. 

"The schools recruiting me the hardest - I feel like a lot of them,” laughed Woodyard. “All my top schools are recruiting me pretty hard." 

When it comes to future visits, St. John Bosco’s schedule will make it tough for Woodyard to get out and about as much as he’d like, but he will take advantage of playing Central Catholic (Oreg.) at Autzen Stadium this weekend. 

"I want to potentially get to Georgia for game day, but that's not set in stone,” Woodyard said. “We play at Oregon's stadium on Friday, so I'm going to stay out there and go to the game on Saturday." 

Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas and USC seem firmly in the mix and Woodyard will likely skip releasing a list of top schools in favor of potentially making a decision sooner than expected. 

"I can see myself making a decision after the season, but things change,” said Woodyard. “Right now, I'm just seeing how the season plays out, but I could see myself making a decision after the season.” 

Ranking
ISD: 93 (four-star)
247: 93 (four-star)
Rivals: 6.0 (four-star)
ESPN: 86 (four-star)
Composite: 98.66 (five-star) 

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