Top 2023 DL Peter Woods Discusses Recruitment and Ties to Alabama

For those who like it and to those who don’t, Alabama football has a rather tight grip on in-state recruiting. It’s quite the view at the top of the sport, I’m sure, as the Crimson Tide has a way with its pitch to top-rated prospects throughout its home territory. The same goes for most on-field contests, too, subsequently.

The team with the scripted “A” is likely to be favored when the scoreboard digitizes double zeros and when pen inks paper on its annual signing days.

Coach Nick Saban and Alabama strike well in-state, signing past Mr. Football winners Julio Jones, T.J. Yeldon, Kristian Story, and Kool-Aid McKinstry, and the recruitment of Peter Woods, a 2023 defensive lineman and two-time state champion of 7A at Thompson High in nearby Alabaster, could be no different, particularly with his established ties to the program.

He’s the cousin of Alabama offensive tackle Amari Kight, the friendly, former high school rival of freshman All-American Malachi Moore, graduate of Thompson’s regional foe, Hewitt-Trussville, and teammate of edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander, the consensus top-ranked 2022 recruit among those already pledged to the Crimson Tide.

He’s been impressed and he’s already familiar with the program’s structure in terms of established bonds, player development, injury prevention, and championship success, all things he considers "key" to an eventual college decision.

“Alabama is definitely a place where, if you’re high on the recruiting board and if you’re being recruited by other major colleges, you’re going to take the visit just to see what it’s like,” Woods said, elaborating on the Crimson Tide's ability to check every box, so to speak, of what a prospect should want upon making the transition to a higher level, be it high school to college or college to the NFL.

“A relationship with the players, the current players, commits and coaches, that’s number one for me,” Woods said. “Secondly would be the environment, just the community goals and how they reach them, and Alabama excels at both of those."

But there’s still plenty of time for Woods, a player who recently began his junior season and wants to take in everything there is regardless of where he stands with a decision. He’s already made the rounds but there’s one or two places still to see. Hopeful of a trip to Michigan, to visit its campus and “The Big House,” the famed stadium of the Wolverines, and maybe another school here or there, the defensive lineman admits coaches of big-time programs still assume what everyone else does, that he’ll sign to play at Alabama one day.

“A couple schools have asked me the question, ‘What makes us think the biggest recruit in Alabama, who can go down the road and win a national championship, will come here?’”

It’s a valid question, though, he conceded, while maintaining distance doesn’t dictate the ultimate decision.

At 6-foot-3, 260-ish pounds, he can go anywhere he wants, any top-level program you can think of, though it’s more about the factors within a school and its football program rather than the name itself, like the people there and the environment there. It’s tied to fit and development and the chance to succeed.

It’s just that, well, not a lot of places offer the things Alabama does to this caliber of high school football player. The list is one hand’s worth of counting, and, recent successes considered, the Tide may take two fingers compared to one of Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, the consensus, fellow top-five programs.

Even among heavyweights, though, there are differences of margins, however slim, and Woods spots the differences when he visits the Alabama facility.

“I go to Alabama for a visit and we’re watching film now on NFL players, and I’m learning new packages and techniques and formations I can bring back to my team and make me better,” he said. “Very, very few [schools] have done that. That just goes to show how close we are, how close we are in our relationship, that we’ve gotten that far that we can treat it as if I’m already on campus and a part of the team.”

He visited the Tuscaloosa campus twice this summer, once in June and July, and he also took trips to Clemson, Georgia, UCF, Florida, and LSU. Things are picking up for the player who has a real shot at being the top-ranked national prospect of his class.

The duo of outside linebackers coach Sal Sunseri and defensive line coach Freddie Roach are who Woods is closest to on the Crimson Tide staff, as expected given his position, and they’re who he first referenced when discussing the evolution of recruiting and relationships involved in the process. He pointed to them looking out for "Peter Woods the man" and not just the football player as something he appreciated, and as most recruits will say, strong ties to the people at the school are what’s ultimately an indicator of future plans.

But the other factors of the program are hardly subtle, either.

“Alabama just has their way. Their resume just speaks for itself," Woods said. "Even without them saying anything, everyone knows they’ve already done what other schools are pitching to you, like ‘We’re going to do this, or we’re going to do that,’ they’ve already proven it.”

The back-to-back high school state champion said he looks to have a college decision finalized before the start of his senior season in August 2022, pointing to being able to play for his teammates as reason enough to not delay the public announcement.

"Then, I can jump right into things with my team at the next level."