Brewton: 'I was just so eager to become a Panther'
On Wednesday night, Davin Brewton was having a conversation with his parents, and when the topic turned to Pitt, his mother and father got straight to the point.
“We were talking about Pitt and how they have everything for me and how great the coaches are and how I fit the defensive scheme,” Brewton told Panther-Lair.com. “We were looking at each other and they were like, ‘This is your number-one school, so why wait? You’re stupid if you don’t take this right here.’ So I said, ‘Let’s do this and be a part of the Panther nation.’
“I knew it was a wrap.”
So, on Thursday morning, Brewton made an early call to Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and told him that he was ending his recruitment. The Red Bank Catholic (NJ) linebacker wanted to be a Panther.
“Over the past couple months, Pitt was always number one,” Brewton said. “I knew that Coach Narduzzi was a great defensive coordinator at Michigan State and I knew Pitt always had that defensive tradition, so seeing how Pitt’s defense and linebackers and everyone played this year plus the facilities and the city - it was just everything. From the first time going down to Pitt, the coaches made me feel welcome and at home, but I wanted to wait and make sure it was right.”
Brewton’s commitment came roughly seven weeks before his scheduled official visit to Pitt, but after the discussion with his parents, he didn’t see a need to wait.
“I was just eager to become a Panther, man. The Pitt program is just such a great program, I wanted everyone to know where I’m going to be playing my next three or four years. That’s why I did it right now.”
In the past two seasons, Red Bank Catholic has been one of the best non-public teams in New Jersey, posting a combined record of 21-3, making two appearances in the state championship game and winning the title in 2021.
Brewton has been a big part of that success. When he was a sophomore, he led the Caseys with 119 tackles and 10 tackles for loss and posted an impressive 18 tackles in the state championship game win. Last year, he topped 100 tackles again with 108 stops and 15 tackles for loss in addition to four sacks, an interception and a fumble return for a touchdown.
At 6’1” and 225 pounds, Brewton lines up as the middle linebacker at Red Bank Catholic, and he sees a future at that same position in Pitt’s defense.
“The defense fits me because a lot of colleges don’t have a true middle linebacker,” he said. “But Pitt has that true middle linebacker that really sets the tone, a hard-nosed middle linebacker that can get into coverage or smack somebody in the mouth, and I think I fit it perfectly because I can do that. I’ve been doing that.”
When Brewton visited Pitt in January, linebackers coach Ryan Manalac showed him film of former Panther SirVocea Dennis, a two-year starter at middle linebacker who recorded 181 tackles over the last two seasons and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the NFL Draft last weekend.
Brewton said that Pitt’s overall success in the 2023 Draft made a big impression on him.
“That was huge. Six draft picks and four free agent signings, that was huge for me. And having SirVocea Dennis get drafted from the middle linebacker position really opened my eyes. They’re just producing so much talent on that side of the ball and at my position.”
Brewton is the 11th commitment for Pitt in the class of 2024 and the first linebacker to pick the Panthers in the class.