Here is an excellent Excel spreadsheet with all of Pitt’s class of 2018 scholarship offers on it. This great bit of work was done by a frequent poster on Rivals.com named Pugs35 and he graciously provides the link as an open source.

Look at the total numbers of offers we had out – 264 and at this point we have signed 16 recruits with one player, QB transfer Ricky Town, not listed an a recruit so that brings us up to 17 total commits which is where we now stand.

On a down note however you’ll see that we offered a total of 105 4* and 5* blue-chip kids and didn’t land any (so far).  Zero for 105 really hurts folks.

However as I commented in the last article keep an eye on WR Mychale Salahuddin who is a 4* recruit out of DC.  He took four official visits and we were the last of them just a week ago so that’s a good sign.  It would be nice to land at least one 4*.

 

Another interesting thing about this spreadsheet is the info column to the right of the “commit Dates” that shows a recruit flipping to another school of just decommitting for his original verbal.  i didn’t realize it’s so prevalent now.

I can’t embed the whole document but the link above takes you to a copy of it… here is a snapshot so you know what it entails:

Offers 2018

Note on the bottom of the spreadsheet there are tabs to take a look at other recruiting classes – 2016, ’17, ’19 & ’20.

Here is that link in its html form in case you need it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MsK4CPR5dSGo20EmY-N_9CB_ObRd2ivGiUqf1Zv1kZw/edit#gid=932498085

Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.

59 thoughts on “Some Cool Pitt Recruiting Info”

  1. 0 for 105 … kind of like my percentage for picking up women back in the day.

    If you look at the recent Pitt classes, this staff has been able to reel in a handful of 4 stars really late in the recruiting cycle. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year. Not sure if the early signing period has any effect here, but the lack of local (WPIAL/City) certainly doesn’t help.

    I do think some of the area linemen are quality .. and I always welcome any 3 star from Florida. We have had a great deal of success there (from Torrie Cox and Bryant, then H Blades and Clint Session, then Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus .. and so on) … last year’s and this year’s classes are sprinkled with FL 3-stars so hopefully the trend continues.

    But no doubt the lack of 4 stars is a concern.

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  2. There are a few 4‘s listed as “undecided” or “committed but not signed”.. Other than Salahuddin, do we have a chance at any of them? There’s a TE, OT and other positions “of need” with 4‘s available.

    Just curious to see if anyone has any info.

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  3. Yes Jay, PITT is in the mix for a highly rated DB, DE and the running back who is a big PITT lean and possibly a TE. Good chance at the two Rutger grad transfers Applefield and the 4* DB, I think Hester.

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    1. to be honest, I don’t care if we get Hester or not. I understand bringing in QB and OL transfers recently because of immediate need, but I want to see what Ford, Gricen, Hamlin, Campbell, Briggs, etc can do .. .. and hopefully progress.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Agree. Hamlin will be a junior, Stocker a RS-Jr and Garner a RS-So this year. All have playing time. Ford has now redshirted. That’s 3 experienced underclassmen and 1 ostensible “superstar”. Briggs is there for senior leadership and is very experienced. That’s a deep group. Time to fully develop and coalesce the defensive backfield for the next few years.

        I think Pitt’s back 7 as constituted will be good to very good this year. I am less optimistic about the front 4. I hope they prove me wrong.

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      2. Agree on the others, but Briggs hasn’t given me much confidence that good things are going to happen…

        Go Pitt.

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  6. Jerry DiPaola‏@JDiPaola_Trib

    Speaking of academicians, Pitt placed 8 football players on All-ACC Academic team. 19 in 3 years under @CoachDuzzPittFB , 2nd-highest in ACC. They are: Rafael Araujo-Lopes, Alex Bookser, Saleem Brightwell, Matt Flanagan, Seun Idowu, Jimmy Morrissey, Brian O’Neill and Ryan Winslow

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  8. From the last thread, I have to again disagree with Reed. While I love going to the Naval Academy, I would not play them until they give up the option offense. Too difficult to prepare for, and dangerous to our D-line.
    Bad enough that we have to play G-Tech every year. Why add a potential loss each year and possible injury to D-linemen? Plus they are not a big draw. I agree with Temple as an in state rival or Cinci, our old River City rival. Both of those teams would probably travel well to Pittsburgh and vice versa.

    In BBall, I would like to see us play an Old Big East rival every year, maybe a home and away with two of them. Villanova, Georgetown, Seton Hall, UConn, St. Johns. Good for the fans at both schools, and good games too.

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    2. Not sure why you brought this here.

      Do you truly see a “rivalry” developing with either Temple or Cincinnati? Remember that Pitt used to play them both in conference. The closest I recall either coming to a rivalry was in Brian Kelly’s last 3 years at Cincy.

      Temple averaged ~22K fans for home games last year.

      Cincinnati averaged ~28.5K fans for home games last year.

      What leads you to believe that either fanbase will “travel well” to Pittsburgh or vice versa? A 4.5-5 hour drive in either direction.

      Perhaps Pitt should just move to the AAC. For some reason I had thought that the Pitt fanbase welcomed the move out of the Big East for football.

      FWIW, Pitt plays Cincinnati in 2023-2024.

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      1. If PSU won’t play us Temple would be the only in-State rival, plus gives us inroads to recruit eastern pa. Also, many Pitt grads live in Philly and surrounding area. Cinci also helps with recruiting Ohio, which Narduzzi has had some success in.

        All this was in response to Reed’s desire for us to play Navy. Just suggesting OOC games that make some sense and would be better than Gardiner Webb etc. Also sell a few tickets in the process and give us games that are more competitive but not overwhelmingly so. They are also drive-able and decent places to visit.

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  9. Panthelair just reported grad transfer Stefano Millin OL from kent State just committed to Pitt. We need all the competition we can get for our OL playing slots.

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  11. I need to get my bearings.

    If Pitt recruits freshman players with only MAC and C-USA offers that is considered bad.

    If Pitt recruits grad transfers from really bad MAC and C-USA football programs that is considered good.

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    3. 2 stars are bad
      proven players are good
      most MAC teams would beat Pitt at this point
      this kid is good
      Pitt’s O-line stinks given depth, experience and talent…lack thereof

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      1. any undersized player in HS or player from a small HS will never get the most stars
        some of these guys do develop into 4 stars…some

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  12. Bravo, do you happen to know where Antonio Brown played his college football prior to being drafted by the Steelers? There are plenty of talented college players that played outside of the power 5 schools.

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  14. Some consider others as PC bashers. Don’t know if that is completely true? 80% of the time, Chryst is mostly brought up in defense of the Narduzzi bashers. imo This is a case in point. I didn’t bring up Lumpy…

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  20. Stefano Millin was a 2-star player out of high school with only a Kent State offer.

    He was a 2017 Athlon MAC All Conference Fourth Team player in the pre-season. Unfortunately the MAC only announced first through third teams for 2017. Stefano Millin didn’t make those.

    Kent State was 2-10 in 2017 and 3-9 in 2016.

    Kent State tied for #127 in sacks allowed in 2017 with 46. Kent State was #127 in total offense in 2017. Kent State was #80 in rushing offense and #123 in passing offense in 2017. The NCAA lists 129 teams on the referenced FBS stats.

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  21. After watching the NFL teams struggle with offensive tackles, no question OT talent is taking on more importance with speed, edge rushers and lack of mobility being a issue. He is a decent get as Pitt simply put has not recruited to the level needed to win. kradel, Zubovic, Brown, Drake and Warren are good to very good recruits. But Pitt needs some suprises like Hargrove, Ford, Pilato to add to the competition.

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  22. 10th coach hired. From DiPaola:
    Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi hired former Central Michigan defensive passing game coordinator Archie Collins to be his 10th assistant coach. But he just isn’t ready to reveal where he will use him this season.

    The only certainty is that Pitt’s defensive staff will have a new look, with Collins and defensive coordinator Randy Bates, who replaced Josh Conklin (now head coach at Wofford).

    Collins is no stranger to his boss, having worked as a defensive graduate assistant at Michigan State with Narduzzi from 2010-2012.

    Most recently, Collins forged a reputation as one of the top coaches in the Mid-American Conference. In 2015, he was named the MAC’s Recruiter of the Year by Scout.com , but he also apparently knew what to do with those players when he got them on the field.

    After four seasons as Central Michigan’s secondary coach, he was promoted to defensive passing game coordinator last year when the Chippewas led the MAC in interceptions (19, seventh in the nation), fewest passing yards allowed (an average of 185.5 yards per game, 20th) and pass efficiency defense (108.8 rating, sixth).

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    1. Hot news out of Erie (Express) –

      Mississippi State: Sources tell FootballScoop that Gannon (D-II – PA) offensive line coach Jack Abercrombie has accepted an offensive graduate assistant job on Joe Moorhead’s staff.

      Cross Jack off of Pitt’s hot OL Coach list…

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  24. “Yes Jay, PITT is in the mix for a highly rated DB, DE and the running back who is a big PITT lean and possibly a TE. Good chance at the two Rutger grad transfers Applefield and the 4* DB, I think Hester.”

    I don’t care about kids from Rice and Rutgers, ike and I’m aware of the RB (it’s Salahuddin I mentioned above.) My question is… out of the number of 4* players LISTED IN THE GOOGLE DOC, are any a possibility for Pitt? And if so, which ones?

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  27. FWIW, I agree the new OL commit is nothing to write home about. Yes, he does have experience and a bit older and probably stronger than what we have now, but I would be more inclined to play some of the younger guys

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  28. The spreadsheet really illustrates the shallow pool of highly-rated talent in Western PA this year (at least in the eyes of the scouting services and the Pitt staff). With an occasional spike every so often, the long-term talent drain in WPa has been an issue for years, so I’m encouraged that Narduzzi seems to place an emphasis on expanding the scope of Pitt’s recruiting efforts.

    Relative to ACC opponents and regional competitors from other conferences and accounting for year-to-year variance, I see Pitt as:

    Far behind these schools:

    Ohio State
    Clemson
    Florida State
    Michigan
    Miami
    Penn State
    Virginia Tech
    North Carolina
    Louisville

    Is in the range of (even/slightly ahead/slightly behind) these schools

    NC State (pulling away)
    Georgia Tech
    WVU (pulling away)
    Virginia
    Syracuse

    Is ahead of

    Duke
    Boston College
    Wake Forest

    That’s a lot of ground to make up if you’re trying to make up if you want to win 9 or 10 games and challenge for the Coastal title. “Coach ’em up” works to a degree, but it’s hard to climb over every team in your division — and that’s before vultures from other conferences pick the meat from the regional recruiting bones.

    On balance, I’m a Narduzzi supporter, but he needs to claw his way into the bottom of that top recruiting tier if he wants to win a Coastal crown in anything other than a lightning-in-a-bottle season like Duke had a few years ago (and that was before the resurgence at Miami and Virginia Tech and the improvement at Syracuse, so even that probably wouldn’t happen again).

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    1. don’t disagree but note NC State had a senior laden team this year. On the other hand, Wake looked improved this year but not sure it will continue.

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  30. “I’m not going to say this because her dad and brother are out here (at the luncheon),” he said. “It’s a fact, and I’ll say it anywhere, anytime — Heather Lyke is incredible.

    “Thank God I was on that committee because it was an opportunity to see firsthand who she was as a person, her care for the student-athlete and her enthusiasm.

    “I couldn’t say anything better about the type of person she is. I’ve never had an AD — as an assistant coach, a GA and now as a head coach — who has been more involved.

    “She works like a coach. She’ll answer the phone at 5 a.m. It’s like, ‘What are you doing up this early?’ Then at 11:30, same thing. Emails, texts, phone calls. Heather is like a sister to me. It feels like that kind of relationship.” ~ Narduzzi

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  31. So I see Zack Glbert is cleared but Pitt told him to “hit the road.” Great thinking.. piss off another alum. I’m sure dad Sean will want to donate lots of money now and come to games and serve as an ambassador.

    Narduzzi is a moron.. Keep the kid on the team even if you don’t play him. But no. King Duzz knows best. Had to get to ‘Bama to sign another 2*.

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      1. so what makes you think this was a Narduzzi decision? It is more likely an admin or medical decision.

        “They said even though I got cleared, they just couldn’t take a chance.”

        Remember, even though he was medically cleared (and by the Mayo Clinic nonetheless), he still ha san enlarged heart

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    1. pretty fascinating. I doubt that the picture shown would be what the stadium would look like (assume that the pictured stadium has a higher capacity than required and that a stadium that would fit in the area designated would need to be smaller).

      Also, DeFiore has no Pitt connection …. but if he can get the movement going, more power to him

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  33. Meanwhile, I have quick fix which may help a little bit. Either ….

    1) have the team and its loyalists and students sit on the opposite side of Heinz, or

    2) try to the have the camera stations changed during broadcast so that the game is televised from the other side than it is now.

    By doing this, at least the more populated side of Heinz will be shown to the public on TV (much less yellow seats)

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  35. The one picture of the Toronto School of Design is truly amazing. I remember someone on the Scout message board once photo shopped a new PITT stadium on top of the Cathedral of Learning. Maybe he was on to something?

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  36. On campus is what builds present and future generations of fans. 2 of my grandsons ,my 2 sons and daughter are living proof of this. The 3 that went to college ,went to Pitt and are Panther football fans, the 2 that did not go to college are Pitt football fans also. They knew the entire campus, including nationality rooms all the buildings as well as the Tuck Shop( Roy Rogers) , Hemingway’s and the watering holes. It is sad when you go to a PSU game and sit beside Pitt alums who sadly tell you their kids are now part of the other side and are students there. That does not happen at at many of large universities unless it is a matter of pursuing a course not available.H2P

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