Tennessee Making Moves in 4-Star Ayden Woodruff's Recruitment

Tennessee is pushing for multiple top targets in the 2028 class. Over the past few weeks, the Vols have made big strides with some of those players, including multiple top in-state players.

They are continuing to apply the pressure to these top prospects over the next few weeks as well. Especially this weekend, as the Vols play host to Alabama.

Ayden Woodruff is ranked as high as the 5th-best player in the state and is a four-star recruit on all services. 247 Sports ranks him as a top-100 player in the country.

The defensive lineman from Brentwood recently spoke with me about where Tennessee stands in his recruitment, and Vols fans should be excited.

Ayden Woodruff Details Recruiting Update

Ravenwood's Ayden Woodruff (0) is photographed during the first half of their game against Madison Ridgeland at Ravenwood High School Friday, August 21, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Ayden Woodruff visited Tennessee back for the Auburn game, and it made quite an impression on him.

“The atmosphere was electric; the loudest stadium I've ever been to!”

He was also very impressed by the team’s performance in the game.

“The team performed extremely well, especially defensively.”

He is also planning on releasing a top schools list soon, and he informed me that Tennessee will be included.

In fact, he is already in talks with Coach Gardner to return to Knoxville soon.

Woodruff has already taken visits to Alabama, Ole Miss, and others this season. Several schools are making a push for him, including UGA, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Florida, Vanderbilt, and more.

Woodruff started his career at the Battle Ground Academy, a Tennessee powerhouse. He transferred to Ravenwood ahead of this season, where he has helped the Raptors to a 5-2 record so far this season. This includes two contests that resulted in shutouts, and in five out of the seven games, Ravenwood’s defense, led by Woodruff, has held opponents to 16 points or less.

Woodruff is also known as "lumberjack," a nickname which he explained the origin of in a recent interview with Rivals.

“We were out one day cutting down trees, and he (his grandfather) was getting upset at me for being distracted, so he told me, when I’m in the classroom, be a student; when I’m on the field, be an athlete; and when I’m cutting down trees, be a lumberjack. So that sticks with me to remind me that anything worth having takes hard work and determination.”

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