Ray: 'I just felt like one of the guys'

Tai Ray did not necessarily expect to commit to Pitt this weekend, but with the dead period looming and having two official visits under his belt, the time felt right.The towering 6’6” and 280-pound linemen from Apopka (Fla) had taken a visit to Indiana the week prior, and after seeing Pitt and all it had to offer over the weekend, he believed it was time to make a decision.

“I took the OV this past weekend and I just really enjoyed everything that I saw: the players, coaches, and facilities. The environment - I just enjoyed all of it,” Ray told Panther-Lair.com after announcing his decision on Monday morning.

Ray did not commit while he was in town, but after getting back to Florida he called head coach Pat Narduzzi and delivered the news on Sunday night. Ray became the third offensive linemen to commit on the same day following Colin Van Rooy and Ryan Carretta.

“He said he was very excited, they said the whole staff was excited for me and they wanted me to be there,” Ray said.

A big part of the visit was spending time with offensive line coach Dave Borbely. Ray visited Pitt for the spring game back in April, and on his return visit he got to interact with his future position coach even more.

“I think he’s a great coach obviously,” Ray said of Borbely. “I talked to the players and they said he’s a great coach, and obviously you look at the people he’s coached and it speaks for itself.”

Ray has also forged a strong relationship with Pat Narduzzi. The two got to have a sit-down at the end of his visit, and he thought the Pitt head coach was easy to relate to compared to other coaches.

“We had a talk there right before I left the school and he’s a cool guy, easy to talk to and he’s not real uptight, you can joke with him,” Ray said of the Pitt head coach.

Ray also got to spend time with some of the players over the weekend. He was hosted by Pitt junior offensive linemen Branson Taylor, who showed the Florida native a good time while he was in Pittsburgh.

“It was cool,” he said spending time with the current players. "It all just felt right, it wasn’t weird…I just felt like one of the guys.”