Yesterday was signing day for college football. For the Pitt Panthers, it was a productive Wednesday morning. Pat Narduzzi and his staff started the day with 19 verbal commitments from high school seniors and all of them signed their letters of intent.
Here are my biggest takeaways from an action-packed Wednesday.
A no drama kind of day
Recruiting tends to bring surprises and last minute decisions, but for Pitt, there was none of that on Wednesday. Despite some restless feelings around a few of its prospects, Pitt signed all 19 commitments it had. The Panthers managed to get through signing day without any kind of mishaps or late decommitments and that is usually the most important thing you want to have happen on signing day.
Pitt’s 2024 class did lose some parts along the way. Pitt secured commitments from Tayshawn Banks, Ric’Darious Farmer, Eric Ingwerson, Chasen Johnson, and Yasin Willis throughout the past year, but for one reason or another, lost them along the way. Most of those decisions came before the final push, of course, and Pitt was glad that list did not go any further.
Having said that, there were two prospects everyone was holding their breathe on heading into signing day, and Pitt fought off some pushes from a pair of Big Ten teams to keep them in the fold. Francis Brewu had been committed since March, but Michigan State made pushes along the way and even got him on campus this past weekend, but I think Pitt made a strong stand here late and got him signed. Brewu’s reasoning for picking Pitt initially was to play in a defensive tackle friendly system under Charlie Partridge and that is what the four-star will be able to do.
Jeremiah Marcelin’s recruitment was interesting, but also quiet. It felt like there was some drama there this whole time, but it’s not like he was out projecting it on social media either. It was mainly because there was always an underlying feeling that Maryland and even Louisville will lurking even while he maintained his commitment to Pitt. Even back in the summer, he never really wanted it out there he visited those places and really kept his recruitment private for the most part. The talented three-star linebacker definitely considered making that flip to Maryland, but again, I think what led him to Pitt in the first place helped solidify his decision to sign yesterday.
It is hard to ever really feel good anymore and it’s obviously a product of the Name, Image, and Likeness stuff. You can recruit a prospect and he can choose your school for all the right reasons, but until he actually signs, you just don’t know. I think that was kind of the case here for both Brewu and Marcelin.
A win for Partridge
Pitt signed four 4-star recruits on Wednesday and three of those prospects were defensive linemen. I think Charlie Partridge has long been widely regarded as Pitt’s best assistant and one of the better defensive line coaches in all of college football and he was able to flex on that reputation on signing day.
The Panthers certainly needed some reinforcements up front after losing some to graduation and others to the transfer portal, and they were able to bring in a very impressive crop of high school defensive linemen.
The headliner is and has been Jahsear Whittington, Pitt’s longest standing commitment in the 2024 class. The Philadelphia-based defensive tackle committed to Pitt early on and never really showed any signs of wavering. He cited Partridge and his style as a reason for committing and that’s a pretty strong endorsement.
For Brewu, it was a lot of the same. Pitt has had success with smaller defensive tackles like Calijah Kancey and Jaylen Twyman, and Brewu certainly took note of that in the recruiting process and even though there was a little anxiety at the end of his recruitment, Partridge delivered.
Pitt also snagged Sincere Edwards, another four-star, from Florida. Edwards was originally committed to UCF, but Pitt got him to back away from that and land him in August and did enough to hold onto him through yesterday.
While not rated as highly, Pitt also secured a signature from Zachary Crothers, who was one of the best defensive players on one of the best high school teams in the country this past season. Crothers led Chaminade-Madonna High School in both tackles for loss (22.5) and sacks (13) while helping the team to a 14-0 record and a top five national ranking.
The five-man defensive line group is rounded out by Ty Yuhas from nearby Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Yuhas committed more less on the spot after Pitt offered and the WPIAL product viewed playing for Pitt and Partridge as a dream scenario when he committed.
Partridge has also done some impressive work in the transfer portal already as well. Pitt needed a big influx of talent on the defensive line and they got it done.
Restocked the offensive line
Pitt lost three senior linemen from this past season and also one so far to the transfer portal, but I think that was expected and because of that you could tell from the very jump that this was going to be a bigger offensive line class. It turned out to be just that, as Pitt announced five offensive line commits yesterday.
The Panthers have not signed five offensive linemen since the class of 2018, so this was a noteworthy spot where they loaded up this year, but I think a necessary one as well. You always want to keep your offensive line numbers up in general, but the past two seasons kind of forced the coaches hands a bit.
Pitt had a number of linemen stay an extra fifth or sixth year because of the COVID rule, so fewer linemen were being signed out of high school, mainly because there wasn’t room for them. The roster is starting to flip and those guys are being cycled out, so I think moving forward Pitt will try to sign more than three linemen in a class each year.
The ones that signed, however, are pretty good ones. The biggest and most notable of the group is Caleb Holmes, a three-star from Georgia. Holmes had some SEC offers and it was a little bit of a surprise he picked Pitt back in the summer. It may have been more of a surprise that there was not much drama in his recruitment either. He is good friends and was a high school teammate of current Pitt offensive linemen BJ Williams, and I think that was a connection that paid off for the Panthers.
Pitt also snagged Moritz Schmoranzer, who played high school ball in Virginia, but is a native of Germany. Schmoranzer was a good win because he picked Pitt directly over rivals Miami, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia. He’s a good athlete and the idea of him playing defense has been floated, but I think Pitt may have enough bodies now to keep him on offense.
Mason Lindsay from DeMatha Catholic and in-state prospects Adham Abouraya and Jiavani Cooley round out the five-man group.
Some missing pieces
Pitt signed 19 players yesterday and it was a good haul, but it did feel like there could have been a few spots addressed further in this class. The Panthers did a great job of stocking both sides of the line, grabbed a nice group of linebackers and defensive backs as well.
On the offensive side, however, a few spots look a little lean. Pitt did not sign a high school tight end yesterday, and perhaps that is an area the team could address before the February signing period. The Panthers had a commitment from Eric Ingwerson for a few months, but once he flipped to Nebraska, he was never replaced in the class.
Pitt has not always had luck with recruiting tight ends out of high school, but usually tries to make up for it numbers wise in the transfer portal. As it stands now, Pitt has three tight ends who have started games at the power-five level set to be on the roster next year. Not signing a high school tight end is not going to hurt them much in the immediate future, but that is an older group, so there will need to some influx of talent here soon.
The other spot where I thought Pitt could have pushed for another prospect was at wide receiver. Cameron Monteiro of Massachusetts was the only wide receiver to sign with Pitt yesterday. Pitt held a commitment from Ric’Darious Farmer for a while but once he flipped to UCF (and flipped again to WVU yesterday) there was not a second receiver added to the class to replace him.
Pitt did sign four wide receivers last year and three of them will still have freshman eligibility in 2024, so it was not an overly pressing spot to get a replacement numbers wise, but it couldn’t have hurt to add another one.
I think with new offensive coordinator Kade Bell, the possibility exists that the door is not closed here. He already landed one player out of the transfer portal and it would not shock me if a new high school recruit pops up before the second signing day.
Early impact guys
The 2023 season saw a number of true freshman make impacts, some surprises and others not so much. Pitt also had to use some of those players out of necessity, while in other cases, like Kenny Johnson, they were too good to keep off the field. Can the class of 2024 make a similar impact? I think it is possible.
For starters, Pitt’s defensive tackle situation is pretty murky right now and if guys like Brewu and Whittington are ready to do, there will be available snaps for them to take. The upperclassmen ahead of them are mostly unproven guys, so it has a chance to be an equal playing field once they get to campus.
I think Pitt’s linebacker trio of Davin Brewton, Cameron Lindsey, and Jeremiah Marcelin could all potentially have a chance to play. Pitt used three freshmen linebackers this past season, so for assistant Ryan Manalac, he will play young guys if they are ready.
Right now cornerback is a virtual unknown after losing three seniors and not really returning any locks to start. Bryant Allen, Nigel Maynard, and Davion Pritchard will all get long looks, if nothing else.
Offensively, I’ve always been a big fan of Juelz Goff as a prospect and admittedly I am higher on him than most. Pitt had two running backs committed for a long time, and Yasin Willis was rated the higher of the two, but I was never really sold on that ranking and felt like Goff was the prize of the bunch. Goff has a lot of ability, and could be the real dark horse in this whole class, not just in 2024, but beyond. He could be a really good player for this program.
