As National Letter of Intent Day approaches……

February 3rd, 2016 will be the culmination of 14 months of the Pitt football staff’s recruiting efforts. Phone calls, texts, direct messages, letters, school visits, in home visits, unofficial visits and official visits.
All those tools in the arsenal used to “sell” what Pat Narduzzi and Pitt have to offer.

This 2016 class will attempt to address depth issues and previous staff recruiting misses across the roster.

The 19 verbal commitments thus far have said “Pitt is it!” from seven different states.
Pennsylvania-5
Ohio-5
New Jersey-3
Florida-2
Virginia-2
North Carolina-1
New York-1

One thing evident is this coaching staff covets position flexibility. Numerous players out of the nineteen commitments to date have the ability to play multiple positions. The impact Jordan Whitehead made as a freshman safety is proof to recruits that if you can make plays on offense or the return game you’ll be given the opportunity to do so.

DEFENSE
Looking at Pitt’s 2015 defensive statistics one can see DC Josh Conklin generated as much pressure on opposing QBs with the linebackers and secondary as he did with the front four defensive linemen. In order for the pass rush to result in sacks the coverage behind it must hold up. The synchronization of the two is where Pitt’s secondary got exposed in games vs mobile QBs. The emphasis on secondary and speed edge rushers in the 2016 class show the staff is addressing these roster shortcomings.

Cornerbacks Therran Coleman, George Hill and Henry Miller safeties Bricen Garner and Phil Campbell will provide depth and compete for playing time. Redshirt freshmen CB Malik Henderson and S Jay Stocker will also provide competition and depth in the secondary.

Outside linebackers Kaezon Pugh and Chase Pine with redshirt freshmen Saleem Brightwell and Anthony McKee will be an instant influx of talent and speed to the position.

Defensive end is another position that lacked talent and depth. Early enrollee commits Patrick Jones and Zack Gilbert along with fall transfers Dewayne Hendrix and Allen Edwards will potentially turn a position of question marks into a position of strength.

The 2015 defensive tackle rotation will lose three key players. HS defensive ends Rashad Wheeler and Bryce Hargrove are big athletic players who will make the transition to college defensive tackles. After a year of strength and conditioning these two could be dependable players in the middle of the Panther defense.

OFFENSE
The recruiting offensively is taking a different approach. The recruiting efforts mainly look toward the future. With four returning starters on the offensive line, returning starter at QB, WR, RB, FB and Scott Orndoff playing significant time at TE in 2015 there aren’t many holes to fill. WR is a position where with Tyler Boyd declaring for the NFL draft a cast of players will compete to replace his production.

Speaking to the future of Pitt’s offense, the staff and mainly coach Pat Narduzzi have done a tremendous job hanging on to QB commit Thomas MacVittie. MacVittie had a close relationship with departed offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Recently, after evaluating senior film 247 re-ranked him a 4*, the #8 pro style QB and the #77 player overall.

The RB position lost transfer Chris James, but added early enrollee commit Chawntez Moss from Bedford, Ohio. Moss will provide depth behind hopefully healthy James Conner, Rachid Ibrahim, Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall. RB should continue to be a position of strength in 2016 with a nice stable of capable backs.

The inconsistency of complimentary WR options has forced the staff to address WR recruiting in this class. The Panthers have three commitments who are potential playmakers. Former Maryland 4* WR Juwann Winfree made a pledge to Pitt after spending the 2015-2016 school year in Junior College. Winfree will have Junior eligibility, with three years to play two. Summer prospect camp 2015 the staff got a close look at New Jersey Ath Maurice Ffrench. Ffrench at the time had little FBS interest. After a monster senior year in which he was district player of the year he’s garnered attention from numerous other FBS programs including his in-state Rutgers. The Pitt staff has held off the late charge thus far and after recently being upgraded to a 3* looks like a major signification of this staffs ability to evaluate talent. The third WR commit is 4* Ruben Flowers III who hails from Lima, Ohio. Flowers will add a new dimension to the Pitt offense possessing great size(6’4″ 190). Flowers is a big bodied playmaker at the position.

After 2015, Pitt loses JP Holtz a four year starter at the position. 2016’s heir apparent is Scott Orndoff. Beyond
Orndoff Pitt has virtually no in-line TE experience. Jaymar Parrish primarily plays out of the H-back role. The depth at TE will get a huge boost from former 4* Chris Clark. Clark the UCLA transfer will most likely have to sit out 2016 due to competing in one contest in 2015. There is a waiver possibility, but they rarely are granted unless a special circumstance arose.

The offensive line has three massive commits thus far. Brandon Ford, Justin Morgan and Zack Williams all will likely not be depended on early in their careers. Each of them has potential to be solid contributors down the road after development.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Up until signing day recruiting will be fluid. Pitt will continue to pursue other targets to finish out the class. Also, continue most importantly to recruit the players they already have committed. As our history tells us other schools will continue to make a push for players committed to Pitt. While the class currently stands at 19 I can potentially see this class reaching 23/24 players nearing the 25 player signing day limit.

The recruiting Dead period ends January 13, 2016. I expect by that date for Pat Narduzzi to announce a hire of a new offensive coordinator to replace Jim Chaney. That will allow three weekends of official visits with recruits to meet the newly completed staff.

UNCOMMITTED JANUARY OFFICIAL VISITORS

JANUARY 15th
Elias Reynolds 3* OLB 6’2″ 227 lbs Poly Prep Brooklyn, NY
Tyrone Hill 3* CB 6′ 183 lbs Don Bosco Prep Ramsey, NJ

JANUARY 22nd
Amir Watts 3* DT/DE 6’3″ 260 lbs Phillips HS Chicago, ILL

JANUARY 29th
Robert Washington 3* RB 5’10” 215 lbs East Gaston Mount Holly,NC
Khaleke Hudson 4* SS 5’11” 204 lbs McKeesport HS McKeesport, PA
Michael Hampton 3* CB 6’1″ 180 lbs Hillsborough HS Tampa, FL
Damar Hamlin 4* CB 6’1″ 179 lbs Central Catholic Pittsburgh, PA