Inside The Panthers

Pitt Football Gets 3-Star 2025 Safety Commitment

The Pitt Panthers landed their third commitment of the day, in a three-star Class of 2025 safety from Virginia.

Dominic Campbell

Pitt Football gets commitment from three-star safety Cole Woodson
Pitt Football gets commitment from three-star safety Cole Woodson / Courtesy of Cole Woodson's Twitter

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have built a strong Class of 2025 after a great month of June with official visits, and added another future star defensive back.

Cole Woodson, who plays for Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Va., 40 miles west of Washington, D.C., announced his commitment to the Panthers on his Twitter.

Woodson plays safety and stands at around 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. He had a good junior season in 2023, making seven pass breakups, four interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, while also making 13 catches for 127 yards and four touchdowns at wide receiver.

He never released an official list of finalists, so any school that offered him still, technically, had a shot. Woodson did make four official visits to in-state schools in Virginia and Virginia Tech, plus Duke and Pitt. He also received offers from UConn, James Madison, Minnesota, Syracuse, Temple, Wake Forest and rival West Virginia.

Woodson is a unanimous three-star, with 247Sports rating him the No. 56 safety and No. 21 in Virginia and Rivals ranking him as the No. 37 recruit in his state.

He is the second Class of 2025 defensive back to commit to the Panthers in the same day, joining three-star athlete Joshua Guerrier from Ocoee High School in Ocoee, Fla., near Orlando. Guerrier will play defensive back when he joins the Panthers.

Three-star linebacker Denim Cook of Bishop Hartley in Columbus, Ohio also joined Woodson and Guerrier in making it three commitments in one day for the Panthers.

Pitt has five Class of 2025 defensive back commitments with Woodson's and Guerrier's recent decisions. Four-stars Mason Alexander and Elijah Dotson, plus three-star athlete Shawn Lee Jr., who will come in as a defensive back as well, fill out the group.

Woodson is the first safety of the bunch, while Guerrier, Alexander, Dotson and Lee will most likely play at cornerback.

Guerrier, Lee, Woodson and three-star offensive tackle Akram Elnagmi from the NFL Academy in Loughbrough, United Kingdom, all made their official visit on the weekend of June 13-15, and committed afterwards.

The Panthers have 21 commitments in the Class of 2025, as they look to land their final recruits before fall training camp begins.

The last weekend of official visits, June 20-22, brought in six commitments, including athletes Synkwan Smith from Roswell, Ga. Emmanuel Taylor from Green Run in Virginia Beach, Va., wide receiver Kha'leal Sterling from Miami, offensive lineman Torian Chester from Albany, Ga., plus Alexander and Cook.

Five of the commitments made their decision following the first weekend of official visits June 6-8, including tight end Max Hunt, athlete Ja'Kyrian "Boosie" Turner, linebacker Justin Thompson, wide receiver DaMarion Fowlkes and defensive end Julian "Juju" Anderson. 

The rest of the Class of 2025 includes offensive lineman Shep Turk, quarterback Mason Heintschel, wide receiver Tony Kinsler, athlete Bryce Yates and defensive lineman Trevor Sommers.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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