He got one of the assistant coaches to bring me off the sidelines, take me to the middle of the field 50-yard line in the middle of the T and was like, Youre going to remember this day, because Im going to give you a scholarship offer, Woods said.
It felt shocking and surprising, but good. I was excited. I couldnt stop smiling. I was cheesing.
I lived in Knoxville for half my life, and Ive (also) been in Lenoir City, he said. And I used to live, like, to where, literally, (Tennessees) field was behind my apartment. Ive always been a Tennessee fan, but Ive also been an Oregon and Florida fan and an Ohio State fan.
It did (cross my mind to commit). But then I thought about it, and I have two more years, and I want to see what can come through those two years. But Ive been thinking about it, and I might just (verbally) commit next year or something.
They were just talking about my highlight film and how they liked how elusive I was and how I could break tackles, Woods said. Then, they were talking about my size, that its a good, all right size, but I need to get bigger.
I had the offensive coordinator (Mike Bajakian) and the defensive coordinator (John Jancek) sitting beside me, having an open argument about which side Id be on.
We talked about it Saturday, and thats another big reason why I would go to Tennessee just so I can play with him because, when we did play together (at Lenoir City), I enjoyed it. And it felt like we didnt get that much playing time together, Woods said, referring to Patrick spending his junior season at Lenoir City.
(Patrick) was like, Congratulations. I hope you end up taking it, but dont get too big-headed, telling me to just calm down about it.
Woods said he also was excited about getting his first offer Friday from Clemson.
I was like, oh, my. No way, Woods said. It was kind of unbelievable, because I havent met (defensive tackles) coach (Dan) Brooks, and for him to say, Were going to go ahead and offer you, oh, my. He wanted me to come up (last) weekend, but I told him I couldnt because I was going to UT, and he said he wanted me to come up sometime.
Ive been in touch with (Bajakian) for a while, Woods said. Hes pretty cool. He makes me feel like I could run the offense already. I like that offense.