Kentucky football extends offer to Covington Catholic TE Willie Rodriguez

This one was in the works for a while.

On Tuesday night, Covington Catholic three-star tight end Willie Rodriguez officially picked up a scholarship from Kentucky. The in-state prospect has been hearing from the Wildcats for several months now, taking a gameday trip in the fall and then visiting again in March during the program’s Pro Day.

Rodriguez tells KSR that multiple members of the coaching staff came to visit him in school on Tuesday — including associate head coach Vince Marrow and offensive coordinator Liam Coen — and then watched him go through practice with Covington Catholic before ultimately extending the offer. Although no return visit to Lexington has been locked into place just yet, Rodriguez says he is “definitely visiting sometime soon” with a potential official visit on the table.

After a great conversation with @UKCoachStoops I am extremely blessed to have received an offer from Kentucky!!#BBN @vincemarrow @LiamCoen @UKFootball @CoachPerry_UK pic.twitter.com/oEh1c4cDuN

— Willie Rodriguez (@w_rodriguez10) April 18, 2023

Shortly after his visit to Kentucky in March, Rodriguez raved about his experience.

“The second (visit) went really really well,” Rodriguez told KSR. “I talked to Coach Stoops, Coach (Liam) Coen, and a lot to Coach (Vince) Marrow. Me and Coach Marrow spent a lot of time together, really got to know him. He really got to know me and my family a lot more so it was really cool being able to talk to him. I think we’re definitely going on the right path with recruiting right now. He liked me a lot, he talked to me a lot, showed me a lot of interest, so hopefully something good comes soon.”

It took a few more weeks, but that “something good” finally came for the Rodriguez family, which already holds an interesting connection to the program. His older cousin, Patrick Henschen, is a former walk-on tight end for the Wildcats out of Newport Central Catholic.

Kentucky can be selective with which tight end prospects the staff wants to target from this class, but it’s clear that Rodriguez has always been on the radar and his offer confirms that the interest is growing. Does it have something to do with fellow three-star tight end Gavin Grover committing to Cincinnati on Sunday? Possibly, but UK also has its eyes on other talented tight ends from the ’24 class such as four-star recruits Dylan Mesman and Damarion Witten, which have both spoken highly of the ‘Cats.

There’s also the possibility that Kentucky is getting in on Rodriguez’s recruitment a tad late. Prior to the UK offer, Rodriguez had already earned scholarships from the likes of Arkansas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, Vanderbilt, and plenty of other Power 5 schools. He holds roughly 30 Divison I offers at this point.

Rodriguez, who clocks in at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, played in just five games this past season for Covington Catholic before a broken elbow shut him down, but he still managed to haul in five touchdowns and roughly 300 receiving yards for the Colonels.