Football
Bobby Godinez has never been to Pittsburgh. That will change after the Steelers drafted OT Max Iheanachor in the first round.
Godinez didn’t just convince Iheanachor to take up football after not playing the sport in high school. He was convinced Iheanachor would one day play offensive tackle in the NFL after watching how smoothly he moved in an AAU basketball game.
Iheanachor spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons at East Los Angeles College, eventually blossoming. That led him to Arizona State, where he started 31 games before becoming one of the best stories of the 2026 NFL Draft.
“I told [Iheanachor] from Day 1, and he laughs about it, ‘When you make it, and you are going to make it, all I want are some helmets for our team and tickets,’ ” Godinez told Steelers Depot earlier this week.
Godinez, East Los Angeles College’s head football coach from 2016-2025, and Iheanachor still regularly talk and text. After the Steelers picked Iheanachor 21st overall last Thursday, Godinez reminded the 6-7, 321-pounder of his modest ask of tickets — and helmets for the junior college where it all started.
“He smiled and said, ‘You got it, Coach,’” said Godinez, who attended Iheanachor’s draft party. “So I will definitely be making a trip to Pittsburgh.”
Godinez is a significant part of a story of another Nigerian-born football player who may already be on NFL teams’ radar.
Iheanachor even more so.
David Chukwuemeka played basketball for two seasons at Division II Cal (Merced) before his good friend convinced him to give football a try. As with Iheanachor, he started at East Los Angeles College under Godinez’s guidance.
After one year of playing football, Chukwuemeka is sifting through Division I offers for the 2026 season. Godinez said the defensive end is taller than Iheanachor. Chukwuemeka also weighs almost 300 pounds but carries it like it’s 225 because of his length, Godinez said.
Chukwuemeka could end up at West Virginia University, which is an hour away from Pittsburgh. Godinez said he is a future first-round NFL draft pick.
Who can doubt him after the way Iheanachor’s football career is playing out?
“There’s so many athletes out there,” Godinez said. “They just get into certain sports, and they think that’s the sport they need to thrive in. I’m always searching for those diamonds, and Max was definitely that. As far as he came from Day 1 with me to Year 2 with me is astronomical. And then from Year 2 to Year 4 with Arizona State, it’s a whole other human being.
“His talent is All-Pro level. He just needs to keep playing football.”
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