Coach Speak: Get to know Grant Carrigan

Pitt picked up a commitment from big-bodied tight end Grant Carrigan of Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine Richland at the end of the summer of 2016, one of two local tight end prospects and three at the position in total to pick the Panthers. Carrigan’s a Pitt legacy, as his father played basketball for the Panthers, but most of his high school career was spent outside of the Pittsburgh area.

Weir (W.V.) was home to Carrigan before Pine Richland and Nevada before that. Pine Richland head coach Eric Kasperowicz spoke with Panther-Lair.com about his star tight end (although his team doesn’t use that position) and said that despite the difficult process of adapting to a new program, Carrigan didn’t seem to struggle at all.

“I think Grant’s transition went really well. He came in really late and actually didn’t join us until mid-July when we were along the way. But he came in and he’s obviously a big physical presence. He’s every bit of 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds. We had to find where he fit in our offense and what we do. We had him at tackle there for a bit since we don’t use an attached tight end for our offense and we also played him at H-back,” Kasperowicz explained. “On defense for us, he really excelled at defensive end. It was something new for him and he got better each week. I’m sure as he continues to grow and mature physically, he’ll get even better.”

Part of Carrigan’s easy fit with the highly successful Pine Richland program came from how fell he fit into the existing culture that the Rams have had. Although injuries derailed them this season, Pine Richland has shown the ability to consistently contend for WPIAL and state championships in Pennsylvania and Carrigan adapted to that winning mentality quickly.

“It can be tough for kids to come in to an established program with kids who have been around, but Grant stepped right in and got along with all of the kids. Kids embraced him and there were no hiccups there at all,” Kasperowicz said. “There were kids who came in and stepped into new situations, but we had no issues at all with Grant. Kids really embraced him and were happy to have him.”

Of course, it helps just a little bit to be 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds when you want to be a successful football player. Genetics are a strong suit for Carrigan, although they’re hardly the only thing he brings to the table.

“One thing with Grant is that although he’s a big, physical presence out there, he’s very, very athletic for how big he is. He surprised people with his athleticism. He can get into the second level on blocks. He’s got a huge catch-radius with that big wingspan. He runs pretty well. Maybe he needs to improve his blocking a little at the point of attack if he’s going to stick at tight end, but that comes with time and maturity and all that good stuff,” said Kasperowicz. “I’m really happy with how he played for us and I’m looking forward to seeing him grow and develop and excel at Pitt.”

Kasperowicz has seen many talented players pass through his doors, including quarterbacks like current Pitt back-up Ben DiNucci and 2018 Rivals100 Notre Dame commit Phil Jurkovec. The Pine Richland head coach sees the potential for Carrigan to become a college standout in his own right as he grows into his size and athleticism and prepares for the future.

“It can be hard to predict or see what kids are going to be, but [Carrigan] has something a lot of kids don’t have and that’s size. He’s a huge, huge, physical kid. He has areas to improve on and he’ll have to get bigger and stronger and learn some more areas of the game. The tough thing for Grant is that he moved around a little bit and he’s been injured. He missed four or five games with us and he was hurt a bit last season,” Kasperowicz informed Panther-Lair. “That means his ceiling is extremely high because he hasn’t played a ton of snaps. The sky is the limit and it depends how hard he works at it and studies the game, he can do some special things down the road.”

Carrigan will enroll at Pitt in June after signing with the Panthers on February 1st of this year. Keep an eye out for the big tight end from Pine Richland.