Garbutt Big Fan Of Pat Narduzzi

There’s little doubt that the future of Pitt’s defense is in good hands with Pat Narduzzi as new head coach. His reputation alone will attract players as is the case with Virginia TyJuan Garbutt.

The 2017 4-star defensive end got the attention of Pitt fans last night when he tweeted: “Narduzzi is the type of coach I wanna play for.”

DreamBackfield.com asked Garbutt about that tweet. “I saw Shilique Calhoun’s comments about him (Narduzzi) and I know if he can say something like about him after he left that he has to be a great coach”, said Garbutt.

Calhoun is currently a senior All-American defensive end for Michigan State and had high praise of his former coach at Big 10 Media Day.

Garbutt (6-3, 222 lbs) told me that he’s drawn to Pitt and Narduzzi because of “the defensive mindset he’s bringing to Pitt.”

Another reason Garbutt is so high on Pitt is that they were the first school to offer him a scholarship (June 15).  Since then, he’s one of the hottest recruits in the Class of 2017, holding offers from Michigan State, West Virginia, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Virginia and NC State.

Being the first to offer is something that will stick with Garbutt, “It means a lot kinda like your first love, nothing can compare to that moment when Pitt offered me.”

Despite speaking so highly of Pitt, Garbutt wouldn’t name them as his top team but did say that they’d be a finalist for him.

With all the attention he’s receiving, I asked Garbutt if he had a Top 3?

“I don’t have a Top 3 but I like some schools for the education and chance for early playing time like Wake Forest, Virginia and Syracuse. But I also like schools that excel at football like Pitt, Penn State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, etc . I’m trying to find the school that gives me the best of both worlds.”

It’s impressive that Garbutt has Pitt so high despite never really touring the campus or facilities but that will change. He tells that he’ll visit Pittsburgh the weekend of the Pitt/Virginia game.

Garbutt went on to tell me that he “loves Coach Sims, he’s a great guy with a funny personality.”

One other thing that Garbutt loves is the Pitt fans and the attention they’re showing him on Twitter.

“I love it man, they always show me love. Shoutout to Pitt fans, H2P.”