JUCO tight end 'felt like I needed to be' at Pitt
Daniel Moraga knew there was a good chance he might commit to Pitt during his official visit over the weekend, but he also knew he was taking a flight across the country, and there was a chance the California native might not like what he encountered.
Then the Ventura College tight end prospect landed at Pittsburgh International and spent the weekend seeing what Pitt and Pittsburgh have to offer, and the experience convinced him enough to give Pat Narduzzi a verbal commitment before he left town.
“That was the first time I’ve been on the east coast so I was excited,” Moraga told Panther-Lair.com. “I wanted to see how everything was going to be. The coaches had a big impact on it; they welcomed me and my brothers with open arms and they made it feel like it was home. It’s crazy to say that coming from California - I don’t know how many miles that is but it’s crazy - and I felt like I was at home.
“I loved the city, the people, the fans and it just felt good. I felt like I needed to be there. It checked all my boxes.”
For Pitt, Moraga checks a big box as a tight end who can potentially contribute right away in 2020. A native of Oxnard (Calif.), he will come to Pitt in January after spending the last two seasons at Ventura. This fall he caught 17 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns in seven games; the bulk of his production came in Ventura’s season-ending loss to Cerritos, when Moraga pulled in eight passes for 119 yards and a score.
As a senior in the class of 2017 at Pacifica High School, Moraga signed with Fresno State and redshirted on the Bulldogs’ roster during his freshman season. He left Fresno State just prior to the start of his sophomore season and transferred to Ventura.
Now he will get to Pitt with two years of eligibility, providing ample cover at a position of need for the Panthers.
This offseason, Pitt will lose two redshirt senior tight ends in Will Gragg and Nakia Griffin-Stewart. Meanwhile, the Panthers’ roster is set to return just two players: Grant Carrigan, who will be a redshirt junior but has not caught a pass while playing each of the team’s last 26 games, and Kyi Wright, who will be a redshirt freshman after not seeing the field this year.
The lack of returning production led the Pitt coaches to seek out options for instant help; Moraga (6’3” 230) and Florida grad transfer Lucas Krull are two big pieces of the puzzle.
“I know they’re kind of short on tight ends right now,” Moraga said. “They’re bringing two back, but from watching their practice and seeing how they use their tight ends, it fit the way I play. I’m going in the spring and I think I can have a big impact and contribute to the offense and have a good opportunity to play.
“They like the way I run my routes and how I catch the ball, but I told them, not only can I do that, but I feel like I’m a three-down tight end. Coming from Fresno, I learned a lot from the tight end coach. I was a receiver in high school so getting that experience at Fresno made me a better tight end and I learned a lot about the position, how to play with my hand in the dirt.”
Moraga made the visit to Pitt with his two older brothers, and the Pitt staff had to sell all three on the Panthers’ future.
“I always listen to what they tell me,” Moraga said of his brothers. “I always ask them for advice in anything I do, so their decision was my decision.”
The main recruiter at Pitt for Moraga was tight ends coach Tim Salem.
“He’s a great guy. He’s one of the reasons I committed, too. He’s loyal and he was straight-up with me, told me how it is. He’s a great guy and he’s always on the go.”