Blaine Spires knew he wanted to get closer to home for his final season of college football. The 6’3” and 230-pound defensive end did not necessarily expect he would land at a school an hour from his hometown playing in the ACC.

“I didn't know it was going to be as close to home,” Spires admitted on Wednesday.

The sixth-year senior transferred to Pitt from Utah State in December, and enrolled at the school earlier this month. It has been a long road to this point, as he is now on his third school after spending three seasons at Bowling Green prior to Utah State.

Sometimes an earlier part of the journey can lead you to the destination.

Spires enrolled at Bowling Green in 2019, and there he and Anthony Johnson crossed paths. Johnson, a fellow defensive linemen, transferred to Pitt ahead of this most recent season, but sustained a career-ending injury. The two kept in touch as they went in different directions with their careers. Johnson now finds himself working on the staff at Pitt now that his playing days are done. When the Panthers started to show interest in Spires, he knew exactly who to call to get some inside scoop about the program.

“Ant (Johnson) was big in this thing for me, as far as like, getting me familiar with everything, getting me familiar with how everything was ran on the program, and then basically the overall culture and stuff like that,” Spires said of having a prior connection to Pitt. “So it was big, and still to this day, he’s helping me, and he’s here on the staff now. So he helped me get my feet set and everything like that.”

Having that inside pulse of the program made for a nice introduction, but the football side of it made sense, too. Pitt needed pass rushing help. The Pitt coaches made sure to address that, as Spires, along with Jaeden Moore and Joey Zelinsky were all brought in as reinforcements from the transfer portal.

Spires brings some production and experience in the pass rushing department. He has 101 tackles, 22 TFLs, and 8.5 sacks in his five-year career. His best season was in 2023 at Utah State, when he recorded 27 tackles, nine TFLs, five sacks, and three fumble recoveries in 12 games for the Aggies. As a player who likes to get after the quarterback, Spires saw an immediate scheme fit for how Pitt likes to play and what they want him to do in this defense.

“I like the attacking style,” Spires said of the Pitt defense. “I like the fact that when we was watching film, not even just D-line, linebackers, but everybody was flying to the ball. I like that chaotic look that this defense has. I feel like it creates a lot of problems for offenses, and I feel like that's something that tends to my skillset very much as to what I've done in the past.”

Spires entered this past season with fairly high expectations at Utah State, but injuries limited him to only four games. Although, that injury allowed him to redshirt and get one more season, thus giving him the chance to play at Pitt he never had.

Spires said he attended some 7-on-7 camps and made a visit to Pitt with his high school team, but never really was recruited by the Panthers back then. Still, maybe those connections paid off, at least for someone from his particular hometown.

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi also hails from Youngstown, and it surprised the newest Panther that Narduzzi himself reached out to his old high school coaches during the transfer recruiting process.

It was also a touch that did not go unnoticed.

“The fact that he's got that tie there and he understands what it's like to come from the city that I come from, it gave me a sense of comfort,” Spires said.

So what does it mean to come from Youngstown?

“It's just the overall grit factor,” he explained.

In this case, it also means he will have a lot more family and friends from Youngstown traveling to see him play than he had at his Utah State games.

“I love that I can do that for them, and I love that they get to experience it,” Spires said of his return home. “I love that they'd be able to get the chance to see me play on this level, because at the end of the day, football is a big thing for people there. If they don't make it in football, they're gonna try something else, but that's what we really love down in Youngstown, that area, it's a big football city.”