Goff is 'more locked in with Pitt' after visit
In late January, Juelz Goff visited Pitt for a Junior Day and left as an early commitment in the Panthers’ 2024 recruiting class.
A little less than six months later, the Central York running back prospect was back on campus for his official visit this weekend, and spending two days in town only served to strengthen his connection to Pitt.
“I thought it was a great experience,” Goff told Panther-Lair.com. “My host was Derrick Davis, the transfer from LSU; I spent a lot of time with him. We had fun for consecutive days and seeing where I fit in the system, making sure I made the right decision in January.
“That’s what I was thinking about coming in and that’s what I got out of it: I made the right decision and that’s where I want to be. I’m just more locked in with Pitt. I want to be here even more. I’m excited to get here in January. It was just great.”
Davis transferred to Pitt from LSU this offseason and participated in spring camp after enrolling in January. While he has only been on campus for five months, Davis was able to give Goff an overview of what life is like as a Pitt football player.
“He said it’s been good,” Goff said. “They just took him in with open arms from the coaching staff all the way down the roster. He said they were transparent with him, just as he was with them, so he fit right in and they were all brothers. It was the same thing he did with me this past weekend when he took me under his wring like a little brother, showing me the ropes and how everything it goes.
Goff, 5’10” 195, was a big part of Central York’s 10-2 season last fall, rushing for 1,611 yards and 31 touchdowns and adding another 335 receiving yards to give him nearly 2,000 yards of total offense. The versatility to make plays in a variety of ways is one of the reasons Pitt running backs coach Andre Powell prioritized Goff in the class.
“Coach Powell likes my vision and explosiveness, and he sees my ability to make a cut at full speed and my side-to-side movement - those little things, the little qualities that a back is supposed to have. He said I have all of those things. He just loves my game.
“Being a back in their system, you have to be an all-around back. You have to run and catch the ball, and basically I have those abilities to run and catch the ball. That’s how I fit. Everything is conceptual. You have to put the time in and be willing to learn everything.”
While Goff came into the weekend as Pitt’s lone running back commit in the 2024 recruiting class, he wasn’t the only prospect at the position who visited. Yasin Willis, a four-star back at St. Joseph’s in Montvale, NJ, also visited this weekend. Goff said the Pitt coaches told him “two months ago” that they might look to sign a second back in the class, and he thinks he could make for an effective combo with Willis.
“He’s cool. We’ve crossed paths a lot and it would be a good thing with me and him, I think our games complement each other, just with having a one-two punch.”
While Goff enjoyed spending time with Pitt’s current players and the other recruits who visited this weekend - “We spent some time together bonding, talking about our plans, our senior seasons and that kind of thing” - a primary focus of his visit was being around the Pitt staff.
“Just spending more time with the coaches was the biggest part,” he said. “At a Junior Day, you see somebody for a day, but when you are with them for consecutive days, you can see their true colors. But everything I saw before on those one-day visits, I saw it again on the official visit.
“Coach (Pat) Narduzzi stays 100% honest. I had a good talk with him and I was with him a lot. He’s a good guy. They have a really good staff. I think that was a key portion of it: just the staff showing their commitment - not selling recruits to come here, because I’m already committed, but just being really transparent. They were giving you what you’ll see every day. That was a good thing.”