UTPB head football coach Chris Softley speaks about this year’s recruiting class at a press conference Wednesday at the D. Kirk Edwards Human Performance Center. Michael Bauer|Odessa American
In his first recruiting class since taking over as head coach at UTPB, Chris Softley announced the addition of 45 new football players that have signed on to play for the Falcons during National Signing Day Wednesday.
Of the 45 signees, 25 are high school players that signed on Wednesday, joining the 20 transfers will be coming to UTPB.
For Softley, who was named the program’s third head coach just over a month ago, it’s his first recruiting class since taking over at UTPB as well as his first since making the jump to head coach at the collegiate level.
He talked about how it’s been a matter of hitting the ground running during his first month on the job.
“It’s your maiden voyage,” Softley said of his first recruiting class at UTPB. “… To have 20 players in that transfer portal class that are willing to come in and submit right away to the leadership in this room, that are willing to buy into the culture, being about love and about maximizing ourselves in all three dimensions, that has been really fun to grow with them. As for the 25 people in the high school class, we can’t wait until we can get them here in the summer and get to see them acclimate to this locker room.”
The Falcons are coming off a historic 11-3 record that saw the program make its deepest postseason run in history, going three rounds deep in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
“One of the big selling points, though, is why are people choosing us?” Softley said. “What I truly believe is they see an authenticity. They see a truthfulness to our staff, that what we say is what we live. We want to build these men and we want to build these student-athletes … We’re willing to put in the work to grow this class and this team and be as unified as possible come day one there in August and so there is a lot of excitement for these 45 young men.”
All 25 of the Falcons’ 2026 freshman recruiting class are from Texas.
Among the positions of the freshmen, 13 are on offends and 10 on defense with two on special teams.
The class features one quarterback, three running backs, four wide receivers, two tight ends and three offensive linemen.
On defense, there are five defensive linemen, three linebackers and two defensive backs.
Among the freshmen signees are a couple players from the Permian Basin including kicker Christian Bush from Compass Academy and wide receiver Logan McCormick from Seminole.
“What we did is we drew a 200-mile radius around Odessa, around the basin and just said, ‘Who are our priority targets in this area?’” Softley said. “You see some mentions from Lubbock. You see some San Angelo and then you see Christian here in town. The fact of the matter is we want to build from the Basin. You want local talent and you don’t want to let them get out, but you also have to meet a certain level of criteria. You’ve got to be talented enough. You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to be teachable and you want to be a part of this team and what we’re about. Christian Bush is a great example of that. He has really high potential … The sky is the limit in his developmental process but also having that family nearby, that helps with that transition as well.”
Softley talked about how much of an impact both the high school signings and the transfers are going to have on the upcoming season.
“We’ve been very selective,” Softley said. “You don’t have to have much talent as a coaching staff to sign players. There are enough players out there. There are 10,000 kids in the portal. You can sign players. The point is, are you getting the right players? Are you getting people that buy into your culture and that fit your positional needs? And that’s where I think this coaching staff has really hit a home run … But make no mistake about it, the best will play and it’ll happen from the get-go.”
There were four players transferring in from NCAA Division I programs, including defensive back Miles Thompson from Northern Illinois, defensive back Ah’Marion Ashley from Fresno State, linebacker KeBreion Winston from Baylor and running back Randle Parker from North Dakota.
UTPB also brings in a quarterback transfer from the junior college level with Edwin Merriweather arriving from Dodge City Community College.
Having last coached at Lubbock Christian at the high school level, Softley discussed some of the challenges that he’s faced from the recruiting process this past month.
“It’s a race,” Softley said. “It is a total sprint. It was a 12-day portal sprint for us and then a 12-day high school sprint. But the tough win, right? And this staff made up of tough people who find a way to get elite kids and make that work.”
UTPB TRANSFERS
NAME
POS.
HT.
WT.
HOMETOWN PREVIOUS SCHOOL
Jaylin Broadus DB 5-9 190 Dallas, Texas Midwestern State
Dominic Lopez DB 6-0 195 Huntington Beach, Calif. Saddleback College
Fordham Parks DB 5-10 185 Katy, Texas Eastern New Mexico
Miles Thompson DB 6-0 180 Cedar Rapids, Iowa Northern Illinois
Ah’Marion Ashley DB 5-10 165 Jacksonville, Fla. Fresno State
Samuel Olokeogun DB 6-4 200 Calumet City, Ill. Bluefield State
Tylinn Lewis DL 6-4 210 Houston, Texas Cisco College
Godgive Ugochukwu DL 6-4 245 Denton, Texas Washburn
Eli Leiataua LB 6-0 215 Hinesville, Ga. Kennesaw State
Letrasky Pressley Jr. LB 6-2 220 Charlotte, N.C. Louisburg College
KeBreion Winston LB 6-1 205 Dallas, Texas Baylor
Jabari Lewis WR 6-0 180 Miami, Fla. Fort Hays State
Joseph White WR 6-2 180 Kansas City, Missouri Slippery Rock
Trey Spann WR 6-1 176 Frisco, Texas Kentucky State
Edwin Merriweather QB 6-1 202 Tuscaloosa, Ala. Dodge City CC
Randle Parker RB 5-9 200 Phoenix, Ariz. North Dakota
Jaden Edmonson OL 6-1 310 Houston, Texas Houston Christian
Cody Kamfonik OL 6-5 320 San Diego, Calif. Lindenwood
Christian Smith OL 6-6 310 Southlake, Texas Iowa Central CC
Jordan McClaine OL 6-4 300 New Orleans, La. Harding
UTPB HIGH SCHOOL SIGNEES
Timothy Stebbins P 6-1 170 Argyle, Texas Argyle HS
Kristian Nobles WR 6-4 190 Harker Heights, Texas Harker Heights HS
Ryder Ribitzki LS/TE 6-4 205 Glen Rose, Texas Glen Rose HS
Eric Mosley RB 5-11 195 Manvel, Texas Manvel HS
Jordan Loney DB 6-0 161 Harker Heights, Texas Harker Heights HS
Christian Bush K 5-11 155 Odessa, Texas Compass Academy
Colton Hill WR 6-2 185 San Angelo, Texas San Angelo Central HS
Stone Ratliff RB 5-11 205 Early, Texas Early HS
Legend Howell QB 6-1 190 San Diego, Calif. DeSoto HS (Texas)
Major Tucker TE 6-4 245 Lubbock, Texas Lubbock Christian School
Keaton Lee WR 6-2 185 Lubbock, Texas Lubbock Christian School
Willie Crain DB 6-0 175 Lubbock, Texas Coronado HS
Patrick Ramirez OL 6-3 275 Harker Heights, Texas Harker Heights HS
Micai Thompson RB 6-0 185 San Antonio, Texas William J. Brennan HS
Paulo Camacho OL 6-6 265 Alvin, Texas Manvel HS
Leighton Henderson DL 6-3 225 Irving, Texas South Oak Cliff HS
Mason Van Sickle LB 5-11 200 San Angelo, Texas San Angelo Central HS
Samuel Fishman OL 6-3 275 Austin, Texas Lake Travis HS
Jarred Washington DL 6-2 245 Arlington, Texas Mansfield Summit HS
Calvin Wilkins Jr. DL 5-10 315 Fort Worth, Texas North Crowley HS
Prince Holiday DL 6-2 260 Houston, Texas The Woodlands Christian Academy
Logan McCormick WR 5-9 155 Seminole, Texas Seminole HS
JB Bondoni-Guzman LB 6-1 217 El Paso, Texas Franklin HS
Gordon Mohetau LB 6-0 223 Euless, Texas Euless Trinity HS
Isiah Elliott Tolefree DL 6-2 250 San Antonio, Texas William J. Brennan HS
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