In this week's 3-2-1 Column, we're thinking about the final official visit weekend, the 2025 class, the receivers, the safeties and more.
THREE THINGS WE KNOW
Official visits wrapping up
There’s one official visit weekend remaining, and it’s already underway.
The recruits for official visit weekend No. 3 started arriving yesterday and they’ll be here until tomorrow, at which point I expect to see the old Pat Narduzzi Twitter Machine up and running.
Which will be a welcomed sight, I’m sure.
I’ll admit: last weekend ending up being a bit underwhelming. Only one of the seven uncommitted official visitors committed to Pitt during the visit, and while the Panthers added one later in the week with Shawn Lee committing on Wednesday, it’s a little disappointing to only see one commitment come out of a visit weekend.
In fact, if you go back through the last six years of June official visits - dating back to the first one in 2018 - there have only been two other weekends that produced just one commitment: June 3-5, 2021, and June 22-24, 2023. On the 6/3/2021 weekend, Pitt only landed Ryland Gandy; on the 6/22/2023 weekend - the final visit weekend of last June - Sincere Edwards was the only commit (although that weekend comes with a few caveats: 1. Edwards didn’t actually announce until August. 2. Moritz Schmoranzer committed one week after the visit. 3. A bunch of the recruits on that visit weekend were already committed to Pitt.)
Regardless of details, those two weekends stand as exceptions. Leading up to this year, there have been 12 June official visit weekends since 2018, and 10 of the 12 have produced multiple weekend commitments.
Now, it’s not uncommon for visitors to commit at a later date, and in some cases, we’ve seen recruits commit during their visits but not make a public announcement until later. Either of those things happening would help visit weekend No. 2 look a little better. And like I said, it has already kind of happened with Lee joining weekend commitment Akram Elnagmi.
But that leaves five other guys as potential commitments, and the number is dwindling. Quante Gillians committed to Syracuse one day after his Pitt visit, and it remains to be seen if the Panthers will land any of the others.
There’s another issue at play, though: the total number. Visit weekend No. 1 was in line with what we’ve come to expect from June visit weekends, as Pitt hosted 14 recruits to kick off the festivities. Four of those 14 were already committed, but it was a big group overall, which is what we’ve seen in the past.
Last weekend, though, Pitt had just eight guys on campus, and it’s looking like this weekend will be the same size or even smaller. As such, there’s a realistic chance Pitt finishes June with less than 30 official visitors.
By comparison, Pitt had 24 official visitors on the first visit weekend alone last June.
That’s a huge difference, and in today’s world of college football with its prevalence of decommitments and transfers, I think it behooves a coaching staff to cast a wide net.
The wider the better, because it’s in the best interests of a staff to over-recruit for pretty much every class.
Only planning to sign 20 recruits in a class? Better get close to that number by the end of the summer, because a few will decommit and you don’t want to be looking for more than 3-5 recruits in the fall and winter.
Those last few months of the recruiting cycle are for topping off the class - not building it. The building happens in June and the rest of the summer; that’s when you need to add the numbers. And the best way to do that is by bringing a lot of visitors to campus.
For whatever reason, the staff just isn’t dealing with big numbers this month. But they’ve gotten some results: seven of this month’s uncommitted official visitors have committed to Pitt so far, and I think they’ll get a few this weekend.
Perspective on the class
Pitt entered the final official visit weekend of the month with 13 commitments. I’m assuming they’ll get a few this weekend and could come out of June with 15 or even 17 commitments. Then there are a few guys who are planning to commit during the first two weeks of July, so it could end up being a decent list that approaches 20 by the start of training camp in August.
Decent, but probably not star-studded, which is a bit of a letdown. Because while there are mixed opinions about last year’s recruiting class, it at least had some star power.
Like, the second-most star power of the Narduzzi era.
Pitt signed four four-stars in the 2024 class, and at this point last summer, it looked liked the Panthers were well on their way to getting six four-star prospects. Between misses, decommitments and guys like Caleb Holmes who should have gotten a ranking upgrade but didn’t, they fell short of getting six four-star signings (I think I actually predicted six in a 3-2-1 Column last year), but they still ended up with a pretty impressive class, star-wise.
The reality is, last year was probably a bit of an exception. Pitt would always get one or two four-star prospects in any given class; in fact, the Panthers averaged exactly two four-star prospects per class from 2017-22.
But the two classes on the ends of that data set were exceptions. Pitt signed five four-star recruits in 2016 (Pat Narduzzi’s first full class) and four in the 2024 class (when the staff was riding the Recruiting Bump of the combined successes of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. #RecruitingBump).
In between those two classes, though, Pitt usually got one or two four-stars. That’s just the level where the staff has recruited. That level of recruiting has yielded some positive results, but the level is what it is.
So if - and probably when - Pitt only gets a couple of four-stars in this class, well, it’s probably what we should expect. I do think they’ll get a few; three four-stars have visited this month, and I imagine they’ll get at least one of them.
In the end, this class will probably be pretty similar to classes we’ve seen Pitt sign on a consistent basis over the last nine years - the type of classes that have produced ACC championships and five-win seasons. As always, it will come down to the evaluations and coaching; when the staff hits in those areas, it works out well.
They just need to make sure they hit.
A tough run at receiver
If you’ve read many of these columns or listened to any number of podcasts I’ve done over the years, or even if we’ve simply interacted on the message boards, you know I’m a big fan of history.
If you really want to understand your current situation, you have to understand how you got here.
That applies to a lot of things, but we’re all about college sports, so we’ll keep it related to that topic. And it’s really relevant when we talk about college sports.
You probably know where I’m going with this.
It’s recruiting.
Everything comes back to recruiting. Is your team good? We can probably find the reasons why in recruiting. Is your team bad? Well, the root causes are there, too.
So let’s focus for a moment on the receivers. I wrote a lot about them last week for our preview of the position, and anytime I do that, I end up gathering a lot of info, which inevitably leads to some Big Thoughts about the position.
And I’ve got some Big Thoughts about the receiver position.
Primarily, I’ve got some thoughts about how the position got to its current state, and you’ll be shocked to know that the answer is recruiting.
As always.
Consider the three recruiting classes from 2020-22. Those three classes should make up the bulk of the current roster. Those should be the third, fourth and fifth-year players - the main guys who should be contributing and making plays. They should be the foundation.
Instead, Pitt has one (1) receiver from those three recruiting classes on the current roster.
Uno.
Where are the rest of the receiver recruits from those three classes?
Jordan Addison plays for the Vikings. Jaylon Barden is at Samford (after spending 2023 at Georgie Southern). Myles Alston is at Old Dominion. Jaden Bradley’s second transfer took him to UNLV (he was at Charlotte last season). And Addison Copeland will play for a junior college this season after the transfer portal seemingly didn’t produce much in the way of desired results.
Six recruits over three classes and only one - Che Nwabuko - is still on the roster.
Granted, that set of players did produce one of Pitt’s all-time greats in Addison, but the near-complete wash-out of the rest of the group is troubling, to say the least. And it has a whole lot to do with the fact that Pitt will be relying on four transfer receivers this season.
It’s also a big part of the reason that the Panthers signed four receivers in the class of 2023 and seem to be headed for a similarly-big class in 2025.
The receiver position has to be rebuilt, because a three-year run like that - where Pitt didn’t really sign enough guys in the first place and then saw almost all of them bust - can leave a mark.
TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE
Why did Narduzzi name a new assistant head coach?
There was a bit of coaching staff news this week.
No, it wasn’t the woeful tale of another college coach throwing down his whistle in disgust over the state of the game, leaving behind the NCAA and all its sorrows for the world of the NFL where the players really do make more money than the coaches.
No, it wasn’t that. It was something else. It was a member of Pitt’s staff getting a promotion - and a well-deserved one at that.
Cory Sanders, the Panthers’ safeties coach since 2018, was announced as the new assistant head coach.
That role was previously filled by defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, who made his own exit from the college game earlier this year after a particularly stressful offseason.
Partridge held a unique position on the staff; the assistant head coach had the latitude to address any and all topics with Pat Narduzzi. If something needed to be brought to Narduzzi’s attention, Partridge was in position to do it. If Narduzzi needed to consider - or reconsider - a decision, Partridge was in position to bring it up.
And on the flip side, the assistant head coach is there to serve as a sounding board for Narduzzi.
“Assistant head coach” isn’t just an empty title; it’s a show of respect from Narduzzi, and it’s a position that gets filled by an assistant who holds a high status on the staff.
That was Partridge.
Now it’s Sanders.
And I can’t really think of another coach who deserves it more.
For starters, Sanders has done really well at Pitt. He has consistently been one of the staff’s best recruiters, covering territories from the Gulf Coast to Philly and South Jersey and into the WPIAL.
And on the field, Sanders’ players have produced. Erick Hallett and Brandon Hill were selected in the 2023 Draft and Damar Hamlin was a sixth-round pick in 2021. Sanders also coached the only Pitt defensive back to earn All-ACC first-team honors (Paris Ford in 2019), as well as three All-ACC second-team selections (Hamlin in 2020, Hill in 2021 and Hallett in 2022) and the 2021 ACC Championship Game MVP (Hallett).
He has also overseen two major personnel transitions (Hamlin and Ford to Hallett and Hill; Hallett and Hill to Donovan McMillan and Javon McIntyre) that were virtually seamless.
On top of all of that, Sanders is just a really smart guy. He’s level-headed and reasonable with a keen sense for when to turn up the heat on his players. He sees the science in football and understands the passion of the game, and he is good at blending the two for optimal results.
I don’t think it will be long before he’s a defensive coordinator somewhere. But for now, he is well-suited for the assistant head coach role at Pitt. I think the program will be better for it.
Is safety Pitt’s strongest position?
Naturally, one topic leads to another, and as I was writing that section of the column about Sanders, a thought occurred to me:
Has safety been the strongest and most consistent position at Pitt under Pat Narduzzi?
I kind of think it has.
Just think about those six names I mentioned over the course of the last five seasons:
Damar Hamlin. Paris Ford. Erick Hallett. Brandon Hill. Donovan McMillon. Javon McIntyre.
I mean, damn. Three Draft picks (which should have been four if not for Ford’s missteps) plus two guys who will have a chance to get drafted as soon as next year.
Four all-conference selections (and that number should grow this year).
And just generally some of the best players on the roster over the years.
It didn’t just start in 2019 either. Jordan Whitehead was a top-five player on the roster from the minute he stepped on campus and had three really productive seasons, with 100+ tackles in 2015, a 100-tackle pace in 2016 before he suffered an injury and 60 tackles in 2017, after which he declared for the Draft, was a fourth-round pick and has been a quality player for the last six seasons.
Sure, guys like Dennis Briggs, Terrish Webb and Bricen Garner also played a lot of snaps from 2015-18. But when those players are Nos. 8, 9 and 10 among the safeties of the last nine seasons, that’s pretty good.
Really, I don’t think any other position group has been as consistently good as the safeties have been.
If you look at draft picks, Pitt has had 28 in the nine years of the Narduzzi era; by position, the offensive line has had the most selections with six, but that’s got the obvious caveat of being the most plentiful position on the field.
After that, there have been five cornerbacks and four safeties drafted. So there have been more corners selected, but I would still contend that the safeties have simply been better over the last nine seasons.
I don’t think any other position can really compare. There have been highs at other spots, of course. But I don’t know if another position group can go toe-to-toe with the safeties. Cornerback would probably be the one; there’s been a lot of consistency at that spot, and they have the advantage in draft picks, like we mentioned before (although I think that will even out soon).
But I would contend that, while both positions have been good, I think the highs of the safety positions climbed higher than those of the corners.
That’s just me. Maybe others disagree. But if you’re looking for the Best Position of the Narduzzi Era, I think it has to be safety.
ONE PREDICTION
McMillon will be a first-team selection
Might as well continue the discussion and take one more step: Donovan McMillon is going to be on the All-ACC first team this season.
I’ve been thinking of that as a possibility for awhile after his strong debut with Pitt last year. But Phil Steele released his preseason All-ACC picks last week, and McMillon made the cut as a first-team safety.
Last year, McMillon was an honorable mention in the conference after recording 105 tackles - the fourth-most tackles in the ACC. McMillon was one of seven players in the league to top the century mark in tackles; the three guys ahead of him in tackles were all first-team picks (including N.C. State’s Payton Wilson, who led the ACC in tackles and was drafted by the Steelers). The two guys behind McMillon in tackles were second-team picks, and the seventh player to record 100 tackles last season was a third-team pick.
Of those seven guys with 100 tackles, only McMillon and Virginia’s Jonas Sanker played safety; the rest were linebackers. Sanker, who had 107 tackles to McMillon’s 105, was a first-team selection at safety.
Tackles aren’t everything, but a bunch of safeties who were not nearly as productive as McMillon ended up on the ACC’s all-conference first, second and third teams last season.
Like Miami’s Kamren Kinchens, who was a first-team selection with 59 tackles (although he did lead the ACC with five interceptions, which helps offset the lack of tackles).
The interceptions will always get the headlines, and if an ACC safety has four or five interceptions in 2024, then he’s probably going to find himself on the all-conference first team. No amount of tackles from McMillon will supersede the picks (for reference, Kinchens received the fifth-most All-ACC votes of any defensive player in the league). But there are a few things that I think will help McMillon.
For starters, he’s coming into 2024 as a known entity. A lot of media members in the conference are aware of him, and those who don’t know him already will become acquainted with him at the ACC’s preseason kickoff (I assume he’ll be one of Pitt’s player representatives at that event).
I also think it will help when Pitt wins more than three games in 2023. I mean, it didn’t hurt Sanker that Virginia went 3-9, but apparently his 107 tackles were tougher to ignore than McMillon’s 105.
Either way, I think the Panthers will have a better record this season, which will help them stay in the collective consciousness of the league. And that, in turn, should help the individual players receive some accolades (assuming they play well).
And finally, I think McMillon will get some all-conference love because he’s going to earn it. He was the second player in the Narduzzi era to record more than 100 tackles, and he did it a) in his first season playing in the defense, and b) despite not moving into the starting lineup until Week Three (and working off the bench in two subsequent games later in the season).
Entering this season, he’s got a whole year of experience in the defense and he’ll be a full-time starter, and I think he’s going to have a really good campaign.
The one thing that could hold him back would be if teams throw more against Pitt than they did last season (more rushing attempts tend to lead to more tackle opportunities for a boundary safety like McMillon). But if that happens, McMillon could find himself in position for more interceptions and, you know, everybody loves the picks.
So whether it’s by tackles or interceptions - and I think it will be both - the Peters Township native should find himself among the top safeties in the ACC this season.
