Four-star 2025 OT Jaylen Gilchrist talks early interest in Texas A&M

2025 Virginia Beach (Va.) Salem four-star offensive tackle Jaylen Gilchrist saw his recruitment take off this spring, and now holds 15 offers to date, including some of the top programs in the country.

“It’s been like a train,” he said of his recruitment thus far to On3’s EJ Holland. “When I got my first offer I was really excited and then they all started rolling in, you know, it kind of turned into like a more of like a business, like a job. Like yeah, it’s exciting and stuff, but you got to lock in and get where you want to be.”

This fall, Gilchrist doesn’t have a set agenda of schools he wants to visit, but has an eye on a couple schools.

“Hopefully, I’m trying to go where I can,” he said. “They reach out to me then boom, I’m there.”

One school the 6-foot-3, 315-pounder has his eye on is Texas A&M, who offered the sophomore back in May.

“I believe it was coach Elijah [Robinson] that called me, we talked and that one hit me hard,” he said. “You know, it’s an SEC school and SEC, that’s where, when I do go to college, I’m trying to go to an SEC school.”

Gilchrist admitted he was surprised by the offer from the Aggies because he had hardly been in touch with the program prior to getting the call from Robinson. With the offer in hand, the four-star is looking forward to his first opportunity to make the trip down to College Station and see the campus, potentially alongside his teammate, 2025 four-star EDGE Ari Watford, who also holds an offer from the Aggies.

As he’s evaluating schools, the four-star offensive tackle is evaluating both the football program and the academic side of things

“I would just want to see the campus, the team, the school, because like when I go to college, it’s not just football, It’s also school too,” he said. “So I want to see that part of that.”

Gilchrist noted North Carolina as one other program he for sure wants to visit in the coming months as well. Thus far, the four-star has taken visits to Duke and Penn State, two other programs that have early offers to him. Outside of those three programs, Georgia is another program he’s eyeing closely as his family is originally from the Peach State.

Early on, the aforementioned Blue Devils have an early lead in his recruitment with a 31.9% chance to land the four-star per the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. The Tar Heels trail in close second, with a 27.9% chance to land his talents.

Gilchrist debuted as a four-star prospect in On3’s 2025 Top 100 Watch List with a 90 grade.