Maynard on Pitt: 'It's everything I wanted'
Nigel Maynard didn’t need an official visit to know that he wanted to go to Pitt.
Instead, his visit this past weekend simply served as the final confirmation.
“That was my fourth time being there, so I kind of knew going into my visit that was where I wanted to be,” Maynard told Panther-Lair.com after he committed to Pitt on Saturday.
“It was everything, from the players to the coaches, the campus, the facility - it’s everything I wanted. I like how the campus is set up. You can walk where you need to get. And the facility, it’s joined with the Steelers, so you can see guys who made it to where you want to be.”
Maynard gave Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi his commitment on Saturday before leaving campus, but he knew the Panthers were the team for him sooner than that.
“I realized Pitt was the school for me when Coach (Cory) Sanders came to my spring game and I wasn’t even playing in it because I was hurt,” Maynard said. “He knew I wasn’t playing and he still came. It was like, they really want me. I already liked it a lot, but I thought that was a sign that it really was the right place.”
Maynard had a number of options to consider. Power Five programs like Duke, Louisville, Michigan, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia also offered him, and he had an official visit scheduled to Michigan plus plans to schedule a visit to West Virginia.
But with his commitment to Pitt, those plans are off.
“When I committed, Coach Narduzzi said, ‘Are you sure?’ I told him 100% and I got to sign a ball. I’m 100% locked in.”
At 5’11” and 175 pounds, Monteiro lines up at cornerback for Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna (Tenn.), but he said the Pitt staff projects him at multiple defensive back positions.
“Both corner and safety - they said I could play either one,” Maynard said. “They said I have the versatility and they like my physicality, my speed, my football IQ and how I’m twitchy.
“I watched film with both Coach (Archie) Collins and Coach Sanders. I really saw how much pressure they bring, and when they bring pressure, the quarterbacks panic. When they panic, that’s when they start throwing ducks, and that’s what I’m looking for.”
As a potential corner or safety, Maynard spent a lot of time on his official visit with both Collins, who coaches Pitt’s corners, and Sanders, who coaches the Panthers’ safeties.
“Coach Sanders is a great guy. We’ve been in contact for awhile and he’s cool to joke with and talk to. When you need to lock in, you can go to him for everything, just talk to him about anything, even if it’s not football.
“And Coach Collins was the first coach I talked to at Pitt. Ever since then, he’s been really cool with me.”
Maynard was the fifth recruit to commit to Pitt on the official visit weekend but the first to make his commitment public. He has since been joined by Sanford (Fla.) Seminole defensive back Chasen Johnson, and the Panthers now have public commitments from five defensive backs.
In addition to Maynard and Johnson, Pitt has gotten commitments from Youngstown (Oh.) Austintown Fitch three-star Davion Pritchard, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas three-star Allen Bryant and Cincinnati (Oh.) Taft three-star Tayshawn Banks.