Narduzzi collecting best class of tenure
‘Great future ahead of us,’ says three-star TE
Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class has a group chat. The prospects text after Panther games with thoughts on what happened. They discuss what it’ll be like for them to one day face Clemson, maybe Notre Dame. And as Pitt gets more commits, the group grows.
Three new faces, if they haven’t already, will get the invite. Three-star offensive tackle Kyle Fugedi verbally committed to the Panthers on Sunday evening. Three-star tight end Gavin Bartholomew picked Pitt on Tuesday morning. And on Friday afternoon, four-star defensive lineman Naquan Brown committed to Pitt after decommitting from LSU a day earlier.
Fugedi, Bartholomew and Brown were Pitt’s 21st, 22nd and 23rd additions this cycle, bolstering what could end up being the highest-rated class in Pat Narduzzi’s tenure.
As it stands, the Panthers’ 2021 class ranks 19th and 21st nationally, according to Rivals and 247 Sports, respectively. Previously, Narduzzi’s highest-rated class came in 2016, a group that ranked 29th and 30th in the country and included Damar Hamlin, Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver.
Fittingly, as those fifth-year seniors move on, these new prospects will make their commitments official. Early signing day is still happening as scheduled on Dec. 16 despite the pandemic. Most, if not all, of Pitt’s 23 commits will send over their letters of intent, with at least nine players planning to enroll early.
West Mifflin defensive end Nahki Johnson, quarterback Nate Yarnell, running back Malik Newton, wide receiver Myles Alston, tight ends Jake Renda and
Bartholomew, and offensive linemen Terrence Rankl, Terrence Enos and Trey Andersen will start their Pitt careers in January, eager to make an impact.
“If everyone does their part, there’s a great future ahead of us,” Bartholomew said.
“We’re all just ready to roll,” Yarnell added. “We’re all really excited about the Pitt program and what our guys can do for it.”
They’re not alone, either.
Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals, and Adam Gorney, a longtime national recruiting analyst at Rivals, are encouraged by the class Narduzzi and his staff put together, especially given the circumstances.
The sports world changed in March when the threat of COVID-19 was magnified, and the recruiting landscape was no exception. The NCAA has implemented
an ongoing dead period since March 13, dictating that programs can’t host prospects on campus and coaches can’t travel to visit recruits and their families. Everything from facility tours to player meetand-greets has to be done virtually.
Some of Pitt’s commits have visited campus on their own dime. Yarnell, for example, flew in from Texas to check out the city in early October. He wasn’t allowed to meet up with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple or attend Pitt’s game against N.C. State. But he wanted to get a feel for where he’d spend four or five years of his life.
Successfully convincing recruits like Yarnell — one of 16 out-of-state commits — to make that leap is a reason for optimism, Gorney said Wednesday.
“Being ranked 20th is very good,” Gorney added. “In a situation where these kids can’t take visits anywhere and can only see Pitt on TV and do virtual visits, if
you’re in the top 20 or 25 in a year like this, I would be very, very happy with where I stand.”
Where the Panthers are in Rivals’ rankings — currently fourth in the ACC behind only Clemson, Miami and North Carolina — says a lot about Narduzzi’s assistants and the ties they have to their recruiting areas.
Farrell called Pitt wide receivers coach Chris Beatty the “key to this class,” locking down commitments from four Virginia natives: Brown, Newton, Alston and running back Rodney Hammond. All of them picked up offers from Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Maryland, familiar foes for Pitt on the recruiting trail. Hammond was sought after by Penn State and Michigan, while Newton earned an offer from Clemson.
Pitt’s coaches continued to hit Florida, too, a point of emphasis with South Florida native and assistant head coach Charlie Partridge leading the charge. Four players from the Sunshine State are slated to sign with Pitt, making it 18 Florida prospects in four cycles for the Panthers.
Gorney said when he speaks with recruits in Florida, many mention wanting to visit Pitt before making a decision.
“That was not the case five or eight years ago,” he added. “So they’re making a dent, continuing to recruit those pipelines while still staying regional and winning some of those battles.”
The biggest, in Gorney’s mind, was Elliot Donald, Central Catholic’s four-star defensive tackle and the nephew of NFL superstar Aaron Donald. Gorney said pairing Donald — who had interest from LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State and the rest of college football’s big hitters — with Nahki Johnson should be important longterm for the Panthers both on the field and in the city of Pittsburgh.
Donald, Johnson and Brown are Pitt’s lone four-star commits. Everything is relative, though, and nabbing 23 commitments in this cycle of all cycles was both noteworthy and necessary.
Last class, Pitt signed 18 prospects and only two of them were offensive linemen. This go-around, the Panthers will sign six blockers.
The only team in Rivals’ top-20 recruiting rankings that can match that volume is Florida.
“They saw 2021 as a year that was better in their recruiting areas for offensive linemen. So they held off on reaching for a few guys last year and targeted these guys with no certainty that they would get them,” Farrell said of Pitt’s coaches. “It’s a risk, but a good one. ... Some will be left behind. Some will transfer. Some will redshirt. But they’ll all push each other.”
The Gators are also one of only three teams, along with Notre Dame and Tennessee, in the top 20 that have more total commits than Narduzzi’s Panthers.
While Pitt didn’t nab 11 four-star prospects like the Tar Heels, or even four like West Virginia and Michigan State, it secured its commitments early and held on through a 2020 season that hasn’t met expectations.
Nineteen of Pitt’s 23 recruits picked the Panthers before the season started, and none decommitted after the opening kickoff.
Trevion Stevenson, a two-star linebacker from Virginia, is the only decommit of this class, and he switched to North Carolina back in July.
“A lot of people thought everyone would be decommitting now and flipping,” Gorney said of the pandemic-altered recruiting landscape. “But more than anything, kids just want that certainty of locking in their spot in a class and moving on from high school and getting back to somewhat a sense of normalcy.”
Gorney added that he fears the transfer portal will be kicked into an even higher gear a year or two from now, after recruits who haven’t visited their respective campuses get the full picture of what they signed up for. Farrell expressed that concern back in June.
But for now, all 23 commits appear poised to sign with Pitt either on Dec. 16 or in February. And they’ll do so with the hope of one day living up to the billing.
“This group could definitely bring in a new future for Pitt,” Fugedi said. “I can already tell it’s going to be a great four years coming.”