Family feeling: Florida linebacker excited about the chance to play with his brother

Drew Woodaz is ready to make it a linebacker brother duo at Clemson with his older sibling Wade.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Apr 23 07:00:18 GMT-04:00 2023

Drew Woodaz knows that Clemson means family. In more ways than one.

Woodaz, the 3-star 2024 linebacker out of Tampa (FL) Jesuit, committed to Clemson Thursday evening via social media. Woodaz (6'3 210) was the seventh commitment for the Tigers and is the first linebacker to commit to Dabo Swinney in this class. He was also the fourth defender in the class joining cornerback Tavoy Feagin, safety Noah Dixon and defensive lineman Champ Thompson. A fifth, defensive end Hevin Brown-Shuler, became the Tigers’ eighth commitment for this class Saturday afternoon.

Wade Woodaz, Drew's older brother, is a linebacker currently at Clemson and was a 3-star recruit from the 2022 class. Wade made his mark during his freshman season. He enters 2023 credited with 20 tackles (5.5 for loss), 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a blocked punt in 180 snaps from scrimmage over 14 games (one start) as a freshman in 2022.

247Sports has Drew Woodaz ranked as the 69th-best linebacker in the country and the 101st ranked player from the state of Florida.

Woodaz told TigerNet he knew as far back as the Elite Retreat in late January that he wanted to be a Tiger and felt like now was the perfect time to make his decision public.

“I knew it was where I wanted to be when I really had time to sit down and think about my decision,” Woodaz said. “I was at the retreat and just sat down and talked to God and he led me to Clemson and I felt that it was best for my family.”

Woodaz made sure that his dad was the first to know, then he told the Clemson coaches last weekend.

“I told them before the spring game and they were excited,” Woodaz said. “They were kind of shocked that I took so long.”

Woodaz says that family is what sets Clemson apart.

“The environment of the staff and fans,” he said. “I’ve been around the whole staff, and they always make me feel like I’m with family. With family there in with my brother it helps a lot as well.”

Defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin is also the linebackers coach and he sees the younger Woodaz much like he does Wade.

“He said he sees me everywhere,” Woodaz said of Goodwin. “He can see me playing safety and then transitioning to linebacker later in my career.”

The best part for Woodaz, however, is the chance to once again play with his brother.

“I feel like it’ll be really special because you see a lot of brothers that play at the same school, but never played together on the same team,” Woodaz said. “We’ll be able to play together for one and possibly two years. And I absolutely feel like I can come in and prove what type of player I am and make an impact on the team.”