When Marcus Minor decided to transfer after four years at Maryland, the former four-star offensive line prospect started with people he knew.
Fortunately for Pitt, the Panthers had three familiar faces on the coaching staff: head coach Pat Narduzzi, who recruited Minor out of DeMatha in the class of 2017; receivers coach Chris Beatty, who was on the staff at Maryland for the first two years of Minor’s career as a Terrapin; and offensive line coach Dave Borbely, who recruited Minor to Maryland.
That familiarity paid off on Thursday when Minor made a Christmas Eve announcement that he will be transferring to Pitt.
“I know Coach Borbs from Maryland and Coach Beatty from Maryland and I was recruited by Coach Narduzzi from the start of my recruitment in high school,” Minor told Panther-Lair.com. “So they were one of the first to reach out, and after talking to Coach Narduzzi and Coach Borbs and my parents and going through everything, talking about what I’m looking for and what they can give me and how they can help me reach my goals, it sounded like home again. It bought back an opportunity that I was looking for since I went into the portal.”
Minor, a top-30 offensive tackle prospect in the class of 2017, committed to Maryland over offers from Auburn, Duke, Florida, North Carolina, Rutgers, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia and more. Pitt was also on Minor’s list and he took an unofficial visit to see the Panthers in person, but they didn’t make the cut as he narrowed in on a commitment.
Now, four years later, Minor has a different perspective.
“I visited in high school and went around the facility and me and Coach Narduzzi talked back then, but as young as I was, I don’t think I was looking at the right things,” Minor said. “My goal is to go to the league, so getting coached by Coach Borbs and seeing the opportunities they have for a lot of their kids, having the resources around them that goes into their culture, I know it’s a good opportunity for my game, my stock and my knowledge.”
Pitt wasn’t the only school to reach out to Minor after he entered the transfer portal on Monday. He said that Texas, Oklahoma, Syracuse, Duke, Florida State, Baylor, Texas Tech, Arizona State and Cal all made contact. That’s to be expected when a fifth-year senior offensive lineman becomes available, and Minor opened each of the last three seasons as a starter at Maryland.
His 2020 season was cut short by injury after three games, and he missed the bulk of the 2018 season under similar circumstances. In 2019, he appeared in 10 games and started them all, and 25 games played and 18 career starts made him attractive to quite a few programs.
But Pitt was one of the first programs to reach out, and he said that he felt like he picked up where he left off in his relationships with Borbely and Beatty.
“When I knew I wanted to transfer, I looked at different programs with my own research to see what was open for me,” Minor said. “I knew where Coach Borbs was and I knew Coach Beatty was there.
“Coach Borbs was the offensive line coach when I committed to Maryland but I couldn’t get coached by him when I got there because they had some staff changes. So getting the opportunity to go to him now is good for me because he was a big part of why I picked Maryland. We know each other; he knows what I’m good at and what I struggle at.”
Minor said he felt the same kind of connection with Narduzzi during their conversations this week.
“He seems like a big family guy, big on transparency, big on letting me know what’s going on,” he said. “That’s what I felt like I needed in a new program: transparency, what’s going on, what I need to do to be my best self. That was big for me and I think it will be a big factor for the program.”
At 6’4” and 315 pounds, Minor lined up at right tackle for Maryland, but he will likely end up playing on the interior of Pitt’s offensive line. The Panthers will enter 2021 needing to replace Jimmy Morrissey at center and Bryce Hargrove at left guard.
“I’m looking at guard right now,” he said. “They didn’t say which guard but the fact that I played guard and tackle and I can play center, it gives me range. I’ll be a guard at Pitt to start and then we’ll see from there, but they said they’re looking for guard and center, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
Minor will be a redshirt senior in 2021 with an option to play in 2022 due to the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility to players for the 2020 season.
“I have a scholarship for two years, but whatever fits best for me and reaching my goals is what I’ll do,” he said. “If it takes two, it takes two; that doesn’t bother me.”
