2018 LB Edward Warinner has high interest in Pitt
2018 linebacker Edward Warinner of Powell (Ohio) has been on fire this offseason, picking up multiple offers. A camp visit to Pitt and family ties to coaches have him very interested in the Panthers.
Powell (Ohio) Olentangy Liberty linebacker Edward Warinner has picked up significant steam over the course of the offseason. The 6-foot-1, 222-pound prospect in the class of 2018 now holds offers from Rutgers, along with a slew of MAC schools, and has been approached by programs like Pitt, Boston College, and Michigan State.
“[Things started picking up] in my sophomore year. I had a really good year and I knew that if I could get my film out to people, they would see that I’m a decent player and that I’m worth recruiting. I’m not just going to be out there because of my last name. It’s been all good,” Warinner said. “The recruiting process is something that people can forget to take their time and let it develop. Everyone wants things to happen so early, but I’m just going to let it play out.”
That last name makes him Edward Warinner Jr., the son of Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. The family has spent that last five years in Columbus as his father works under Urban Meyer, but he has roots all over the country, spending stints in Lawrence (Kan.), Champaign-Urbana (Ill.), and South Bend (Ind.) before coming to Ohio. His father’s coaching jobs have led to professional and personal relationships with a pair of Pitt coaches.
“Columbus is coach (John) Peterson’s area and he came to my school a couple times and talked with my head coach. Coach (Tom) Sims is a family friend, as good of one as we have, and we talk with them all of them,” Warinner said. “It hasn’t been too much in-depth because I’m a 2018er and they’re not ready to offer yet, so it hasn’t been super in-depth.”
Warinner is working to change that though. He spent the summer hitting the camp circuit heavily, working out at all of Ohio State’s camps, hitting the Rivals Camp Series event in Columbus, and also making the 3-hour drive to Pittsburgh to work out with the Panthers’ coaches.
“Yeah, I went to camp at Pitt on June 12th. Doing camp at the Steelers facility and their facility is really cool and after camp, I got a tour of everything,” Warinner explained. “They had a motivational speaker speak to some of the guys at the camp, which was cool, and the new facilities were awesome.”
Warinner’s familiarity with the program at Pittsburgh and its coaches have left him very intrigued. While Pitt has not yet offered, it’s a virtual certainty that Rutgers will not be the last Power Five school to offer Warinner and the mutual interest between the linebacker and Coach Narduzzi’s budding program could lead to positive results.
“It’s hard to find a program up here in this part of the country and even in general that’s as good as Pitt. Pitt’s obviously a program on the rise and their first few years in ACC, it’s showing that they’re starting to pick up. There’s a lot of buzz around the program and being in a football-crazy city like Pittsburgh would be pretty cool,” Warinner said. “I’d definitely consider Pitt. Also, Pitt is a pretty well-renowned academic school. All things considered, it’s a pretty legit option.”
Warinner is working through the process of scheduling out visits during this fall, but it looks like a difficult task. With his father’s grueling schedule of a college coach running an offense at the highest level and his own slate of high school football games in one of Ohio’s more competitive leagues, it’s not easy to find time for visits. With that having been said, Pitt is one of the leading options to earn a visit from the talented 2018 linebacker.
“It’s hard to take visits. If I were to go to a Boston College or other schools to visit, I’d want my dad to be with me and it’s hard to find time where he’s open or available. I’ve talked with Wake Forest and they want me to come down to campus. I don’t think I have too much planned at this point,” Warinner said. “I think I know for a fact that I’ll probably come out to a home game at Pitt this year and I’ll probably be at all of the home Ohio State games. I think I’ll try to go up to Rutgers and I’ll go to Michigan State, probably for the Ohio State-Michigan State game, and I think I’ll go out to Oklahoma for the Ohio State-Oklahoma game.”
Warinner’s camp schedule and offseason workouts have dominated the summer months for him thus far, and his attention is very quickly turning towards his upcoming junior season at Olentangy Liberty. The Ohio Capital Conference is packed with talent this year and Warinner is working to make sure he and his teammates compete with the best that central Ohio has to offer.
“I’ve been going through my offseason training and getting bigger, faster, stronger. I’m working on taking more of a leadership role and being a vocal leader for the team. That’s all going well,” Warinner said. “Now I’m just focusing on things that I can get better at and the little things. It’s not about getting on varsity or getting to play, it’s about being one of the three best guys out on the field.”
Stay tuned to Panther-Lair.com for more on Warinner’s recruiting plans and future as he emerges into a Power Five recruit this fall.