Sanders on the safeties, recruiting and more

Cory Sanders got two new safeties to work with and helped secure Pitt's local commits in the 2021 class. Here's what he had to say about the class, the safeties and more on Signing Day.

When you look at the two safeties - Javon McIntyre and Stephon Hall - who would be the comparisons on Pitt’s current roster for those guys and how they play?
Sanders: I think as you look at both of those guys, starting with Steph, a local kid right at Central Valley - Steph, he’s had a lot of growth from his junior year to his senior year. We looked at Steph when we first started recruiting him and he committed before his senior season - we sort of looked at him as primarily a boundary safety. He’s a very physical fitter. As you see Brandon Hill this year play his last three or four games and him throwing his body around, I think when you watch Steph’s film, you see the same thing.

But at the same time, too, as you see his senior film, you see him making more plays in space, you see him make more plays on the ball, you see him flip his hips and redirect and change direction, which shows you that he has a shot to be able to play to the field as well. So we’re very excited. I think he’s a great competitor, a hardworking kid and you just see great growth out of him the last 12 months and this year in his senior year.

Then as you look at Javon, he played - he’s done a lot. You see him playing corner when there’s injuries on his roster, you see him transition, play the deep ball. He’s got some good comfortability downfield, he’s cool school, relaxed, good timing on hand. Then you’ll see stuff where he’s up closer to the line of scrimmage, where he’s playing as an overhang and he’s coming off the edge. Then you’ll see him as a free safety, middle of the field rangy-type kid. So he shows a multitude of things, being able to open up as well as being in the box.

So both of those guys give us some flexibility between both safety positions and not just putting themselves in a hole of just playing one position.

Pat mentioned that Khalil Anderson could probably play all four positions; do you and Archie have to fight over him?
Sanders: Yeah, this morning I said ‘I got my field safety, I got my safety, Arch.’ But no, we’re just joking around. Khalil’s a good football player, and I think as you look at a lot of those guys in the class - you look at Noah, you look at Tamarion, as well as the safeties - when you look at those guys’ films, they’re playing a lot of positions. You see the ability out of Khalil in the return game and just his big-play ability, but yeah, Khalil - at the end of the day, it’s our jobs to get the best four DB’s on the field, wherever they play at. So whatever that opportunity for him is, we’re going to place him there to be in position to make plays.

Getting six Pennsylvania guys in this class - how important is that for the program a year after getting just one guy from Pa.?
Sanders: I think it’s obviously exciting. You get four kids from western Pa. and then we get two on the other side of the state, so to be able to recruit your home state and especially your backyard right here in Pittsburgh is exciting. I think we had great young kids that really took pride in playing here, you know? Those guys have had a lot of opportunities, but they really took pride in wanting to play for Pittsburgh and for this university and for this city. So I felt like this state had some really good talent this year and we went full force and it was a team effort out of everybody on staff to go out here and recruit the heck out of these guys to keep them home.

What was the challenge like, recruiting without in-person contact and in some cases not having guys on campus?
Sanders: Yeah, it’s different. It’s different, and obviously the recruiting staff did a heck of a job with all the virtual tours. You know, you’re doing the virtual campus visits with Life Skills and you’re showing them - I think, during the summer, our guys were in different spots of who was on campus, who was at the facility and FaceTiming the guys in and showing them around. So you have to be creative and think of different ways to show guys stuff. But it was unique. You have to find ways, too, because this recruiting process was so different. Typically in the spring you get out and you see them work out and they come to your campus during the summer, if it’s for camp or if it’s for official visits. Then you have the season where you get out and you’re able to see them play a game. This year, it’s just not able to connect with them at all besides Zoom and over the phone, so you have to find different, unique ways to continue to connect with them throughout these months.

That was the biggest thing: being creative and things not staying stale and staying up to speed with those guys. So it was different and unique but guys worked hard and I felt like we did a pretty good job of securing these guys and holding onto them throughout these months.

It seems like a lot of coaches with their recruiting areas - like, Charlie Partridge has been recruiting south Florida for years and Archie in Michigan - you have the Philadelphia area; do you have any Philadelphia ties? There aren’t any obvious ones on your resume. How do you go about attacking recruiting this huge city with a ton of football talent obviously but also heavily recruited by a bunch of other schools? And how important can that area be for Pitt in general?
Sanders: Yeah, I know, it’s different. When I first got here three years ago and I’m out on the east coast, I’m out in Philly, I’m out in south Jersey - I never recruited there before. But the big thing is, at the end of the day, people are people and relationships are relationships, and that’s a big part of recruiting, right? Having authentic, good, genuine relationships. Just getting out there, you find the people, you hit the schools and you work hard to connect, if it’s with the area guys that do the seven-on-seven, if it’s the guys that train the kids, if it’s the high school coaches, not only connecting with the high school coaches that one time you see them in January, then you see them in April, but you have to make sure you’re connecting with those guys throughout the year and try to grow and cultivate that relationship.

I think it’s a big deal, too, as you recruit areas, to try to identify guys when they’re young, and I think that stuff goes a long way. So as you’re in there, you’re not just looking at those seniors or juniors; you’re identifying them young and you’re showing your face, you’re at their workouts, you’re at their basketball games, you’re at all of those things so those kids are very familiar with you. They’re not just getting familiar with you later in the process but very early on when they’re ninth grade and sophomores.

That was a big deal when I first got into Philadelphia and just trying to make sure that anywhere anybody turned, they saw Pitt and they saw me at a game or a workout or whatever it was. So it’s been great and hopefully getting Javon - and even last year as you guys look at it, Michael Statham’s a Delaware kid or finished in Delaware, but he actually was a Imhotep kid his first two years, so guys over in Philadelphia know him as well. So just starting to open that up and hopefully continue to get more guys from that area. And at the end of the day, it’s still - this is our state and we want to make sure those guys over in the east part of the state are coming over here as well to play for our university.