Julian Dugger heard a lot of positive things from the Pitt coaches after he impressed them at their passing camp at the end of June, but he still needed to hear one more thing.
He needed to hear that the staff was sold on him being their quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class.
When the 6’3” 205-pound Penn Hills quarterback visited Pitt last Thursday, he heard exactly what he was hoping to hear from Pat Narduzzi.
"He wanted to make it clear that I had an offer at quarterback and he would love to have me at their school,” Dugger told Panther-Lair.com Monday night. “He explained everything and he was really emphasizing that he thinks I can help them win.
“It was like a sigh of relief because they actually believe in me, I proved myself and I’m not done yet; starting this year, I’m going to keep proving even more.”
Dugger has big plans for what he wants to prove during his senior season with the Indians, but first, he made plans for the future on Monday by taking Narduzzi up on his offer and committing to the Panthers.
“It’s been on my mind ever since I made that visit. I didn’t want to pull the trigger too fast, but I knew since that day,” he said. “It was how the coaches told me they truly believed in me and they think I can develop and have a shot to really be developed into a great quarterback.
“It’s home. Everything is here: my family, my support, everything. Everything I need is here. It’s the perfect fit. I think I can develop and be a great quarterback here. It’s just perfect.”
After his standout performance at the passing camp in late June, Dugger spent some time with offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti learning about Pitt’s offense. When he visited again last Thursday,
“He’s a great guy - a great coach and a better person,” Dugger said of Cignetti. “He talks to me like a regular person and he believes I can come in and help. He believes I can develop into a great quarterback and I believe him. He explained what they do, why they do it and just went into more details of everything.
“I feel like it’s a great pro-style offense and I can drop back and throw the ball. Also I can get outside the pocket and make plays and make people miss. Their offense can help me get to the next level, too, because that’s the kind of offense it is.”
Last season at Penn Hills, Dugger threw for 1,137 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions, but he attempted just 130 passes. That low volume of throws didn’t give Dugger a chance to fully show what he can do, but he believes he’ll get more opportunities this year.
“We’ve been working all offseason. Everybody knows we want to put the ball in the air this year because we felt like we were one-dimensional last year, but this year we’ve been in the lab working on everything and we want to throw the ball this year. We have multiple playmakers at receiver and we have running backs who can play in the slot, so we’re going to be able to do more.”
