Moro Ojomo

Early life

Ojomo was born on 15 August 2001, in Lagos, Nigeria. He began primary school at age three, and his family moved to California in 2009. His father is a pastor and his mother worked for an information technology company. While in seventh grade, his family moved again, this time to Houston, Texas. Ojomo attended Katy High School, being two years younger than most of his classmates due to having started his education at 3 in his home country. He did not play varsity football as a freshman or as a sophomore, and additionally said that he had not figured out how to workout by that time. However, following his sophomore year, he began getting serious with weight training and running, and made the varsity team as a junior, eventually earning All-District honors as a defensive lineman at the end of the year.

Ojomo became a highly-regarded recruit following his senior year, during which he led a defense that allowed under eight points-per-game, while recording eight sacks, 15 tackles-for-loss, three forced fumbles and two recoveries. He was a unanimous first-team All-District selection, was named the defensive most valuable player of the district, and was named second-team all-state. 247Sports ranked him one of the top-300 recruits nationally, as well as the 36th-best in Texas, and the 25th-best defensive tackle overall. Ojomo was a three-star recruit and received numerous Division I offers, including from Notre Dame, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama and Miami, among others. He eventually accepted an offer from Texas.

College career

Ojomo was only 16 when he enrolled at Texas, and as a true freshman redshirted while appearing in three late-season games, including the conference championship game. He saw his first time as a starter in the 2019 season, appearing in all 13 games with two starts, and posted 13 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, and one fumble recovery. The following year, in a season shortened by COVID-19, Ojomo became a full-time starter and made 21 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, three quarterback hurries, and one pass breakup.

Ojomo remained a starter during the 2021 season and, despite being under a new coaching staff, earned honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference after recording 29 tackles, three of which were for a loss, in addition to three quarterback hits and one pass breakup. As a fifth-year senior in 2022, he recorded career-highs with 32 tackles, 5.5 for a loss, and three sacks. Although given one remaining year of eligibility, Ojomo opted to declare for the 2023 NFL draft and thus finished his five-season stint at Texas with 50 total games played, 95 tackles and five sacks.