Trey Goodman is a team captain, a two-time conference champion and a fourth-year wide receiver who’s followed Scotty Walden from Austin Peay State to UTEP. 

To this day, he has no idea how Walden found him.

Goodman played quarterback from when he picked up a football until the middle of his junior season at Norcross High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Before switching to receiver, he had a couple of talks with DII and DIII colleges but zero offers. Then COVID threatened to cancel his senior season and end his football career. He played in front of socially distanced crowds that year, compiling wide receiver film for coaches who couldn’t travel to see him in person, hoping his play did enough to overcome the gap.

Walden and Austin Peay State entered the picture a week and a half before National Signing Day. So, how did Walden find him? He didn’t. Co-offensive coordinator Austin Silvoy did.

But Walden saw himself in Goodman once Silvoy sent him the tape. Walden was a quarterback at Cleburne High School and a defensive back at Hardin-Simmons.

“I love recruiting former quarterbacks that are athletes because they already have a high football IQ,” Walden said. “For their high school coach to trust them behind center, that, to me, says a ton about who they are as a person.”

Austin Peay State hired Walden in October 2020. Due to the pandemic, the Governors’ first game of the season was in February 2021. So Walden hired his coaching staff and signed his inaugural recruiting class while holding preseason camp. The staff would finish practice and then sprint from the field and up the stadium stairs for the official visits held on a Zoom call. They showed the recruits a slideshow of pictures of the facilities.

Goodman’s virtual visit turned his college football dream into a reality. 

However, there was a caveat Goodman needed to know before he committed. Because Walden had found him so late in the process, he only had a partial scholarship available. But if Goodman committed to the process, Walden would put him on full scholarship this time next year.

Goodman wanted his football skills to alleviate his parents’ burden of college tuition. But this was one of his few chances to continue his career. So that Fall 2021, he grinded on special teams. Goodman would sprint down the field on punt coverage, block as an up-back on kickoff return, do anything the coaches asked and more. His buy-in stood out on a team of fifth and sixth-year seniors who weren’t sold on their new, young head coach. Then, he started making big-time catches, like a 21-yard glance route over the middle against Ole Miss in front of 47,000+ people. 

At the end of his first calendar year with Austin Peay State, Goodman was almost through with his spring camp ‘exit meeting’ when Walden said he had one last thing for him. A year ago, he’d promised Goodman that he’d reward him with a full scholarship if he bought into the team.

Goodman held up his end of the bargain. It was time for Walden to do the same. Goodman was on full scholarship.

“From that moment forward, our relationship has just taken off and continued to be something that’s really special for me. Something I cherish close to my heart,” Goodman said. “Not only is he a man of integrity, but just the things that (it) does for my family.”

But Goodman still had work to do on his game – specifically, his touchdown celebration.

Goodman scored one touchdown his freshman year and felt so many emotions that he froze and showed none. By his sophomore year in 2022, he started talking with his Mom, who knew ASL, about what his signature celebration should be. Goodman began signing, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ with his hands that season but did so standing up and subtly. No one understood it.

Then, his junior year, he scored a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers. This was the moment in front of 100,000 fans to get the message of his celebration out to the world. He dropped to his knees for the first time and signed, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’

“It is written: ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God,” (Romans 14:11 NIV).

The video blew up on social media and possibly inspired Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf to sign “Standing on business,” after scoring a touchdown on Thursday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys. 

So when Goodman drops to his knees after scoring a touchdown in the Sun Bowl this season, UTEP fans should know it represents the faith that carried him to play Division I football in El Paso.

“I’m at a peak point and I’m living out my dream,” Goodman said. “It gives me the opportunity - one, to humble myself. And two, to let everyone know I’m a believer and God is real. And I give him all the glory for all my successes.”