Anderson on commitment: 'It really just felt like family'
Julian Anderson came to Pittsburgh over the weekend not necessarily expecting to commit. Anderson, a 6-4 and 215-pound defensive end prospect, saw everything he needed to see on his visit and was one of five prospects to commit to the Panthers on Saturday and revealed his decision on Monday morning via social media.
“It really just felt like family,” Anderson told Panther-Lair.com about his commitment. “As soon as I got up there, it really just felt like home. Coach Narduzzi and Coach Tim (Daoust) really just showed love and an ultimate belief in my abilities and myself.”
Anderson’s relationship with Pitt defensive line coach Tim Daoust has been instrumental in this recruitment. Daoust visited Anderson a few weeks back in the spring, but this visit allowed the two to forge a stronger relationship.
“Just a high energy guy that’s going to keep it real with you,” Anderson said of his future position coach. “He’s the type of guy and I can tell, and I haven’t even known him for very long, he’s going to give you the shirt off of his back and that’s a coach that I would want to play for.”
The official visit also showed Anderson all sides of Pittsburgh. There were some aspects that surprised him when he arrived over the weekend.
“Well, the crazy thing to me is that I really didn’t know that they shared facilities with the Steelers, so just that whole experience being able to see the Steelers practice,” Anderson said of what stood out about the visit.”Their facilities are really nice as well and just the city of Pittsburgh after getting a little bit of a feel for it as well.”
Anderson was matched up with true freshman Sincere Edwards for his player host. Edwards is from the Orlando area, where Anderson played the past few seasons, so there was a built in trust already.
“He played a really big part in the recruitment as well, between just him giving me another inside scoop and keeping it 100 and that’s one of the players I would want to play alongside with,” the newest Panther said of his player host. “He’s a dog and I just look forward to working with him.”
Anderson was one of five commitments that Pitt landed over the weekend. He joins previously announced commitments Max Hunt and Ja’Kyrian Turner. The defensive end prospect felt that the whole visit group really bonded well while they were in town together.
“Everyone was welcoming and excited to get together,” Anderson explained. “On Saturday, it was kind of like an avalanche and everyone just started doing it. I knew it was good when I saw Coach Narduzzi posted ‘Pitt is it’ five times.”
Anderson said it was a surreal moment to tell the coaches himself that he committed.
“It was a crazy reaction,” he recounted. "Everyone was going crazy and just welcoming me with open arms and everyone was excited that I was going to be a Panther.”
Anderson played the past few years in the state of Florida where his family moved to in 2020, but he originally hails from New Jersey. He is set to return to his home state this season and play for Blair Academy. As a junior, Anderson racked up 45 tackles, 15.5 TFLs, and five sacks for The First Academy in Orlando.
He held additional offers from Boston College, Duke, Syracuse, and West Virginia, but said any other official visit plans he was working on have since been cancelled.