Pritchard on Pitt commitment: 'I knew it was the right place for me'
Davion Pritchard was high on Pitt before his official visit this past weekend.
The Youngstown (Oh.) Austintown Fitch defensive back prospect knew he liked cornerbacks coach Archie Collins. He knew he connected with head coach Pat Narduzzi, himself a Youngstown native. And he knew about the Panthers’ history of putting defensive backs in the NFL.
But before Pritchard was ready to commit, he needed to know just how serious the Pitt staff was about adding him to the roster. So he asked the head coach directly.
“During my meeting with Coach Narduzzi, I asked him how I felt about me,” Pritchard told Panther-Lair.com. “He said, ‘Honestly, you wouldn’t be here on the first week of visits if I didn’t feel great about you. You wouldn’t even be offered.’
“Then he said, ‘But you’re a Youngstown guy like me and we want to recruit you. The film shows what you can do, you’re a good person and we want you.’”
After that response, Narduzzi had a question for Pritchard.
“He asked how I felt about them,” Prichard said. “And I told him I want to commit.”
With that, Pritchard became the second defensive back to commit to Pitt over the weekend, joining Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas three-star Allen Bryant.
For Pritchard, the decision to pick Pitt was born of many factors.
“Academically, it lines up with what I want to do,” he said. “And the coaching staff - I really like Coach Archie (Collins) a lot. That’s my guy. And Coach Narduzzi, that’s my guy, too.
“It felt like home, to be honest. That’s where my heart was and I knew it was the right place for me.”
At 6’0” and 175 pounds, Pritchard lined up at a variety of positions in the secondary for Fitch last season and recorded five interceptions, including three in the end zone.
“Cornerback is my main position,” he said. “I played some deep safety, but a majority of the time, I’m usually in guys’ faces.
“Being physical is mandatory. To me, there’s no such thing to me as a ‘cover corner;’ you have to be an all-around player. Everybody has to make tackles. They have to.”
“The Pitt coaches like that I’m an all-around corner, that I’m physical and I can cover and tackle and make plays. That’s what they told me they like.”
On the flip side, Pritchard said that Collins has been a big part of the appeal in drawing him to Pitt.
“Coach Archie has been recruiting me for two years, so we’ve had a strong bond and a strong relationship, but after we spent a whole weekend with him in person, it felt like we got even more connected. That made our relationship stronger and helped us.
“As a coach, I feel like he’s one of the best, if not the best, in the business. He has helped put a lot of guys in the NFL and helped a lot of people improve in college. Other coaches have said it: he’s one of the best. He has showed me some things and already taught me a couple things, so I know he’s the guy for me to help me get where I want to be.”
Pritchard committed to Pitt over offers from more than 20 schools, including Boston College, Maryland, Kentucky and a host of FBS programs. He was considering taking official visits to Boston College, Maryland and Coastal Carolina this month, but those plans are off the table.
“I’m shutting it down. I’m committed,” he said. “When I use that word ‘committed,’ that’s what I mean. I’m committed to Pitt. I’m not thinking about about anybody else.”