Taking pride in the City
Westinghouse’s Hayes improving for Panthers
Dayon Hayes stood outside Pitt’s South Side practice facility on Wednesday afternoon and tapped the Panther logo on his chest with a smile. He was 6 miles from where he developed into one of the nation’s top high school prospects.
“City League forever, man. … I’ve got pride in this city,” the Westinghouse standout said. “I stayed in the city, did what I had to do, now I’m at Pitt.”
And he’s starting to make his mark.
Five practices into training camp, Hayes has emerged as an option at defensive line coach Charlie Partridge’s fingertips. The Panthers, after losing consensus All-American defensive ends Patrick Jones and Rashad Weaver to the NFL, have holes to fill on their front four. John Morgan, Deslin Alexandre and Habakkuk Baldonado are the big three, but Hayes is poised for an important role in his second season.
Last year, the former fourstar prospect — who chose Pitt over offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Texas A&M and
other Power Five programs — played in five games. Hayes had 2½ sacks and forced a fumble, doing most of his damage in Pitt’s blowout over Austin Peay.
But after racking up 49½ sacks in his final two years at Westinghouse, 2020 was less about playing and more of an eye-opening experience off the field for Hayes.
“It woke me up. It ain’t high school. I’m not about to walk in and be the best,” the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder said. “I had to honestly take a step back, evaluate myself and see what I can do out here that’ll lead to sacks in real games. There was a learning curve.”
It helped having Jones there offering support and guidance. Hayes recalls the elder statesman of Partridge’s room picking him up for 9 p.m. film sessions at the facility. The sophomore still texts Jones on a regular basis to ask for advice.
“He would be on me because he said he saw a lot of good stuff in me at a young age,” Hayes said of Jones. “I just took that, and I’ve got to keep on going. You never know. I could be just like him in the league.”
While it’s too soon to think about the NFL, Hayes is catching the eyes of his coaches and teammates. Partridge said Hayes is “climbing the ladder” to more snaps. Head coach Pat Narduzzi added Wednesday that he’s “getting after it” in practice. And Morgan said Hayes has matured a lot from last August to now, growing into his role and understanding more than just “what’s in front of him.”
Hayes is even offering advice to younger linemen like West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson and Baldwin’s Dorien Ford. While Johnson enrolled in January, both are experiencing their first training camps, aiming to be where Hayes is now — on the cusp of real playing time.
As Hayes pushes toward that, he’s keeping in mind where he came from. Hayes is proud to represent the City League, and he’ll continue to recruit prospects from the area to link up with him. Perry’s Tyreese Fearbry — a four-star defensive end in the 2022 class who recently decommitted from
Penn State — could join Pitt’s class. So could Brashear’s Ta’Mere Robinson, a top-100 prospect and 2023 four-star safety with offers already from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, among others.
“We’re going to get Tyreese. We’re going to get him. … We got Ta’Mere; we got him coming,” Hayes said smiling. “The city has a lot of talented players, but we weren’t getting the clout or the fame.”
Hayes can help change that as he locks in his rotational role this fall and looks for more beyond 2021.
“He’s just growing up. He’s so much smarter than what he was,” Narduzzi said. “This is when things start to click, when you start to feel you know what you’re doing mentally. That’s when you can play fast. If he continues to do what he’s doing, he’s going to be really, really good.”
News and notes
• Pitt and Tennessee’s non-conference meetings the next two seasons — Sept. 11 in Knoxville and in 2022 at Heinz Field — are now dubbed the “Johnny Majors Classic.”
The late Majors, a College Football Hall of Fame inductee, starred at Tennessee from 1954-56 and had his No. 45 retired by the Volunteers. He coached at both programs, serving two tenures at Pitt from 1973-76 and 199396 while guiding Tennessee from 1977-92.
Majors won a national championship at Pitt in 1976
and compiled a 161-107-9 overall record at both programs.
• Safeties coach Cory Sanders pulled Taysir Mack to the side mid-practice Wednesday and complimented him on his camp so far. Mack was the Panthers’ second-leading receiver in 2019 with 63 catches for 736 yards. But the super senior’s impact in 2020 (305 yards in eight games) was limited by hernia and ankle surgeries.
• M.J. Devonshire and Rashad Battle are continuing at cornerback and safety, respectively. It was flip-flopped in the spring with Devonshire, an Aliquippa native and Kentucky transfer, at safety and Battle, a sophomore, competing with the corners.
“[Rashad’s] looking good. It’s brand new. It’s brand new to MJ, and it’s brand new to him,” Narduzzi said. “We’d obviously be much better if we just left them where they were in the spring. But to me, it’s good to find out what these other guys can do, and at different positions we might find a better way of doing it.”
• Late 2021 signee Cole Mitchell is showing “promise,” Narduzzi noted. Mitchell signed with the Panthers on June 29, well after his peers did in December. Due to a shortened senior season, the tight end “never had the opportunity to prove who he was,” Narduzzi said earlier this summer. Now, he’s displaying his physicality in camp.