Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden (2) catches a pass to score the first touchdown of the game for Texas during the first quarter of the Longhorns' game against the Florida Gators, Nov. 9, 2024 at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2025 NFL Draft is set to host double-digit numbers of Texas Longhorns prospects following another historic season, with seniors finally spreading their wings and one-year wonders out of the transfer portal now taking their developed talents to the highest level.

Arguably one of the most fascinating and improved players entering the draft this spring is Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden, who scrapped his final year of eligibility to go pro. Transferring in from Houston in the spring of 2024, Golden managed to take his single season at Texas and turn it into a campaign to be the top wide receiver in his draft class.

Golden opened up about his journey to becoming a Longhorn on the 3rd & Longhorn podcast on Wednesday, hosted by Texas legends Derrick Johnson, Jeremy Hills, and Nick Shuley, and spoke on how his short time with the program allowed him to reach his full potential.

"Originally I was supposed to end up at TCU, [but] I committed to UH, I wanted to stay at home, put on for the city. I stayed there for two years and then the portal opened, and Texas was the first school that reached out to me," Golden said. "I took the visit, and everything felt like home. The energy was good, just the foundation of the coaches and just knowing what it could bring to the table."

Texas' recruiting staff caught a glimpse of Golden's abilities when he recorded 88 receiving yards on seven catches and two touchdowns against the Longhorns back in October of 2023. Although he missed out on Houston's final three games that year, he still landed second in all-purpose offensive yards with 725 and third in both receptions and reception yards with 404 yards from 38 catches.

Coming to Texas, Golden knew that he would be faced with a locker room filled with promise, especially from fellow wide receiver transfers Isaiah Bond and Silas Bolden, but he said that he was never afraid to take on the challenge they presented.

"I like competition, so just knowing that I got an opportunity to push myself to be even better against guys that are good, it's just going to make you come out here and play even better," Golden said. "I never second guess myself, because where I came from, nothing was ever handed to me. You just got to go get it, and you've got to have that type of mindset so you're not going to let anything stop you from where you want to go."

Despite his confident mindset, Golden revealed that he wasn't used to the offensive schemes that head coach Steve Sarkisian was running during the offseason, and decided to take some initiative.

"When I first got here, the offense wasn't clicking for me," Golden said. "I texted Coach Sark and I was just like, if I could come meet with you once or twice during the week just to go over the formations and stuff like that. One day I went in there and he just sat down and he laid everything out for me, just the small details and everything, and after that it clicked for me."

And things seemed to click pretty well for Golden once the regular season began, as the junior went on to start in all 15 games for Texas. He eventually became the most trustworthy target for starting junior quarterback Quinn Ewers heading into the postseason, recording a career-high of 162 receiving yards on eight receptions against Georgia in the SEC Championship and another 149 yards on seven receptions against Arizona State in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals, including a game-tying touchdown.

Golden finished out the year as the lead wide receiver for Texas and said that his growth and hope of making it to the pros would not have been possible without the staff that surrounded him.

"That was my end goal, was to make it to the next level," Golden said. "Just having the foundation that I had and the coaching staff that was here at the University of Texas, they put me in position to go and follow my dreams. They changed my life tremendously."

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