Sear will have an opportunity for early playing time

Pitt tight end commit Tyler Sear, a 2017 prospect out of New Castle (Pa.) Neshannock, has been about as low-key as you can get if you’re a 6-foot-5, 255-pound human being. Since flipping his commitment from Temple to Pitt in August, Sear has been going to work on the football field and basketball court, hitting the weight room, and spending his weekends visiting his future school. For the weekend of January 13th, Sear saw Pitt yet again, but this time as an official visitor.

“I’ve been through every tour they have and stuff already, but being there with other players and getting to experience more of the college life, that was great. I had a great time,” Sear said. “Brandon Ford was my host and we got along pretty well. He’s an offensive tackle, so he showed me the natural size that linemen have in college football and that was a learning thing for me.”

Sear had the chance to meet with his future coaches and talk about his preparation for the next level of the course of this offseason. The local tight end is part of a three-man class at the position, joined by fellow WPIAL product Grant Carrigan and Steubenville (Ohio)’s Charles Reeves, and should have a chance to compete for early playing time with starter Scott Orndoff gone.

“I met with coach Narduzzi and coach Salem and we talked football a little bit, but not too much though. Coach Salem and I talked more about studying film. We talked about the possibility of me coming in and getting playing time as a true freshman, if not a starting position,” Sear explained. “That’s because of how the depth chart works out. He said I should come in in early June and sit in on practice and workout with the team to get myself an early start.”

There was some concern among the Pitt fan base when Sear received a late offer from the LSU Tigers over the winter. Sear has flatly denied any interest in any school besides Pitt and rebuffed all attempts from communication by college coaches, essentially telling them not to waste their time. Still, for some, Sear’s offer from LSU was confirmation of his impressive abilities despite playing at a smaller classification of football. For him, the external validation was never needed.

“I like to think that Pitt is about as big as any other school. I was obviously a little bit star-struck when LSU offered me, but I’ve always had confidence in my ability and knew that I was that level of player, even if people from outside of our area didn’t think so. I’ve always had that personal confidence,” Sear said.

Sear discussed the opportunity he had over the weekend to recruit some potential future teammates to his side – although he wouldn’t describe it as recruiting – from Pitt’s robust list of his official visitors. The Panthers had five official visitors who were either uncommitted or that they were hoping to flip and Sear was active in speaking with each of them.

“I wouldn’t really say we tried to recruit people so much as tried to build strong relationships with them. We wanted to show them that Pitt is more like a home than anything and that you can have a good four years athletically, but also have a good time. We really just bonded with TyJuan [Garbutt] and Nate [Proctor] and them on a personal level than recruiting-wise. They fit in perfectly,” Sear said. “We had one of the most fun weekends I’ve had in my whole life. Especially Ty and Nate, we all got along perfectly. Kofi [Wardlow] and Victor [Dimukeje] and everybody, we all meshed pretty well.”

On February 1st, Sear will have a signing ceremony with local media and teammates at Neshannock High School in New Castle (Pa.). He is expected to enroll at Pitt in June.