Evan Goodwin reflects on getting an official offer from Ohio State

Evan Goodwin received an offer from Ohio State on Monday. The class of 2026 four-star offensive lineman, who currently plays at Bauxite (Arizona), has been following the Buckeyes over the years and now he gets the chance to have his college career at the program.

Goodwin was among the first players to receive an offer from new Ohio State offensive line coach Tyler Bowen. The former Virginia Tech offensive coordinator reached out to the offensive tackle via text on Monday to arrange a brief call, during which he extended the scholarship offer.

“I was shocked, really,” Goodwin told Eleven Warriors of the offer. “Going from a kid who thought he was going to play Division II when I was in ninth grade to getting offered by the defending national champions is pretty crazy.”

Evan Goodwin is ranked as the No. 341 prospect in the class of 2026 according to 247Sports. He is also the No. 21 offensive tackle in his class and No. 3 prospect from the state of Arkansas.

The hiring of Tyler Bowen gave Evan Goodwin the chance at Ohio State

The hiring of Tyler Bowen as new offensive line coach made Evan Goodwin a prospect to consider for Ohio State. Bowen has prioritized recruiting in his early days on the job, and Goodwin is one of the top prospects he's looking to bring to Columbus next year.

Bowen had no prior connection with Goodwin during his tenure at Virginia Tech, as the Hokies were not among the offensive tackle's long list of offers. However, it didn’t take long for Goodwin to establish a strong rapport with Ohio State’s new offensive line coach.

“I had never really talked to Ohio State before he got there,” Goodwin said. “We had a conversation for about 30 minutes and we just talked. Turned out we were pretty similar. We both grew up as farm kids, which sounds pretty stereotypical, but we had a similar situation. It was really easy to get a conversation flowing.”.

Evan Goodwin models his game after Paris Johnson

Evan Goodwin has followed Ohio State over the years and he models his game after a former Buckeyes. He disclosed that to Eleven Warriors in the interview after receiving the offers.

“The person I really tried to model my game after was Paris Johnson,” Goodwin said. “I loved watching his pro day and his film from Ohio State. I’ve probably watched like 10 hours of it. Going to a place where he went and modeling my game after him and a couple of other tackles, that would be cool.”

Paris Johnson Jr. played at Ohio State from 2020 to 2022. He played as a guard in his first two seasons in Columbus before moving to tackle in his junior season. He was drafted as the sixth pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2023 NFL draft.