Huge get for us. 4 star DE (transferred from Tennessee) out of the 2014 class that will have 3 years of eligibility after sitting out this upcoming 2015 season. Hendrix had offers from Ohio State, Florida, Mich St, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Miss St, Cal, Penn St, Nebraska and many others a year and a half ago. A position of need filled for the future.
Hendrix to Pitt
- Thread starter ASmathers_H2P
- Start date
Really great pick up at a position with a lot of needs. Nicely done by the staff.
We absolutely need DE talent, so great to get someone who was once highly thought of. Hopefully it works out.
Hope it works out.
Butch Jones is absolutely killing it recruiting defensive lineman. The kid that beat Hendrix out last year was also a true freshman. I think he has 2 5-stars coming in this year, one at DE.
When he was at Cincinnati, did anyone have any clue Jones would be this great as a recruiter at a better football school?
Butch Jones is absolutely killing it recruiting defensive lineman. The kid that beat Hendrix out last year was also a true freshman. I think he has 2 5-stars coming in this year, one at DE.
When he was at Cincinnati, did anyone have any clue Jones would be this great as a recruiter at a better football school?
Hendrix will likely be our most important recruit of the 2016 class. Even though he graduated in 2014, he will be eligible to play in '16 for the first time with the '16 freshman, so we should think of him as being in the '16 class.
But while most of the '16 class will be redshirting or slowly working their way onto the field, he should be a starter from day one at DE, and a huge upgrade of talent over everyone else.
People get really excited when a high school senior commits who is ranked this highly (ranked #6 DE in the nation in 2014), but not so much when that same guy transfers in. There is an assumption that he has baggage, or that he was overrated, since he transferred. But this guy got onto the field at UT as a true freshman, but just didn't fit their system. They played him inside the TEs, so he was being used more like a DT than a rush DE. He is the latter and will be used as such at Pitt.
His HS coach called him a humble kid who is a real hard worker. No baggage, he just wasn't happy there and knew he was in the wrong system.
And in 2016, he won't be getting adjusted to college, the speed of the game, Narduzzi's system, etc. He'll be a mature 20 year old, who will already have spent a year practicing with the team, and be ready to go on the first snap of 2016.
But there has to be a reason they moved him inside at UT. Its because they had better talent at end. Also, for whatever reason, he didn't have near as much interest after he left. Hopefully he comes in and makes a big impact, but that's a lot of pressure to put on the guy at this point.
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As I understand it, they didn't move him inside, as in moving him to DT. He was playing DE, its just that UT positions their DEs in tight, inside the TEs to try to split seams in the line, rather than coming off the edge. Narduzzi spaces his defensive line more, so that the DE come "off the edge" around the TEs, which plays to his skill set.
UT didn't move him "inside". He played DE, but in their scheme he
You are correct. He played DE at UT, but in UT's scheme he played inside the TE, and he felt that hampered his style. Regardless, he will be utilized as a DE at Pitt, and I'm very glad we got him.
He's a pretty big kid to play on the outside if he was coming in at 275 as a true fresh. His reason for leaving might be depth chart related too if he was going to play end.
Even if it was depth chart related I'm still all for it.
1. Look at our ends
2. I trust Narduzzi and staff to evaluate film on defense
3. He played as a Fr at a program that while down, is still ahead of us.
Lastly, interesting to note that former 4 star DE Joe Henderson from ohio also left Tennessee though his issue was clearinghouse related. He is at a Juco now for 1 year likely. Our old staff recruited him. Just an FYI.
Good addition!
I think our team will have a strong defense in years to come. I personally would rather build on defense... in college the offense strength is so contingent on your QB... as we have seen painfully in the past decade or 2... and that will always be the case, even with a strong running game, but if you always have a solid D at least you will negate the need for 40-50 points a game
I think our team will have a strong defense in years to come. I personally would rather build on defense... in college the offense strength is so contingent on your QB... as we have seen painfully in the past decade or 2... and that will always be the case, even with a strong running game, but if you always have a solid D at least you will negate the need for 40-50 points a game
