Charles Omenihu

BIOGRAPHY

Charles Omenihu was born on August 20th, 1997, in Houston, Texas. He plays defensive end in the National Football League.

In his early years, Omenihu attended Rowlett High School where he was a two-time all-district honoree and was selected to participate in the 2015 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. He also was named first-team All-District 11-6A in 2014. As a junior in 2013, Omenihu was chosen second-team All-District 11-5A. He registered 50 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, four sacks, two pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one safety helped Rowlett to an appearance in the 5A Division 2 bi-district playoffs in 2013. In his senior season in 2014, Omenihu recorded 61 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles and was part of a defense that led the district by allowing 23.1 ppg, while also posting two shutouts during the season. He also helped Rowlett to an 8-4 record, including a 5-2 district mark, and an appearance in the 6A Division 1 area playoffs in 2014 and was named 2014 preseason second-team Super Team by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. 

After he finished high school, Omenihu committed to the University of Texas where as a freshman in 2015, he played in all 12 games as a reserve defensive end and recorded 17 tackles, with one TFL, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. As a sophomore in 2016, Omenihu played in all 12 games and made seven starts against Notre Dame, UTEP, Cal, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Kansas State where he totaled 26 tackles in which 16 were solo, with 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks and also one quarterback hurry. He started in the season-opener against Notre Dame where he had a career-high 5 tackles and he registered his first career sack in a 41-7 win over UTEP. As a junior in 2017, Omenihu played in all 13 games, starting every game except the Longhorns’ victory at Baylor. He totaled 28 tackles with seven for loss, including four sacks, tied for the team lead in sacks, and also quarterback hurries with six and added two forced fumbles. He started at defensive end in the season opener against Maryland where he had four tackles and a sack and finished the season recording four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in the Longhorns’ 33-16 Texas Bowl win over Missouri. In his senior season in 2018, Omenihu was named the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year and first-team All-Big 12 by the AP and coaches. He also garnered votes as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year to earn honorable mention for that award. Omenihu played and started all 14 games, recording 45 tackles where 32 were solo, with 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He also had two pass breakups, five quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He started at defensive end in the season opener against Maryland, totaling six tackles with a pass breakup, had three tackles with a sack in the Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma and had two tackles for loss in the 28-21 win over Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Omenihu finished his college career at Texas with 51 career games with 33 starts, totaling 99 tackles where 68 were solo, 29.5 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, 12 quarterback hurries, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. 

After he graduated from college, Omenihu entered the 2019 NFL Draft where he was selected in the fifth round by the Houston Texans. Charles Omenihu was traded from the Texans to the San Francisco 49ers on November 3, 2021. Omenihu joined the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023.