So, as you guys may have seen from my other thread, I was in Pittsburgh briefly today for Evolve's 7v7 tryouts. This is the group that works in Pitt's/the Steelers' training facilities on the South Side and works with just about every notable player in the Pittsburgh area at this point, including Rivals100 Pitt commit Paris Ford.
I caught up with a ton of the coaches and trainers who were down there, including the heads of Evolve's 7v7 team, the leader of the 2/10ths training group, former Pittsburgh Steeler and North Catholic HC Jason Gildon, and a couple lower-level college and high school coaches in the area. All of them have known Paris for years and all of them had nothing but effusive praise to offer. Here are a few selected comments from some of the people down there. I didn't attach names because some of these coaches aren't allowed by the NCAA to comment on these prospects even though they aren't recruiting them:
"The thing about Paris that he has, more so than anybody else I've worked with and including Aaron Donald, is that he elevates the guys around him so much. Having him on your team or in your program makes all of your guys better. Watch Steel Valley from last year to this year - they all played more like Paris and adopted his demeanor. He has that intensity and that dog in him and the guys around him follow that and raise their games."
"I can't wait to see how Pitt uses Paris. No matter where they put him, he's going to start day one. He might be the best athlete on the team day one. The only dudes in the program coming close are [Whitehead, Henderson, and Ffrench]. They're telling me he'll touch the ball year one on [offense], but defense should be interesting. Everyone says safety, but I think he could play corner. If you put him there, he's so long and athletic that he can just completely take away a receiver from the game plan. I think people are really sleeping on the possibility of him playing corner."
One of the other coaches down there has the exact opposite opinion: "Diddy (Paris' nickname, short for Diddy Bop) is such an insane safety I don't think you can take him away. He might be the first dude that you can just play by himself back there and walk everyone else in the box. [Laughter] He takes away everything from hashmark to hashmark. I think they'll let Whitehead do more man coverage and have Ford play center field. I think Narduzzi will use him how Ohio State used Malik Hooker this year, just let him roam and take away something big on every play."
"Don't be surprised if he's a three-and-done for the league after starting for three years at Pitt. Him and Kenny Robinson are the only two dudes who have ever played up as freshmen (with the upperclassmen on Evolve's 7v7). You won't even recognize him in a couple months. The only thing holding him back now is that he's skinny. He'll add muscle and get to 195 like it's nothing, watch. Yinz gotta make him a five-star, I'm telling you."
I caught up with a ton of the coaches and trainers who were down there, including the heads of Evolve's 7v7 team, the leader of the 2/10ths training group, former Pittsburgh Steeler and North Catholic HC Jason Gildon, and a couple lower-level college and high school coaches in the area. All of them have known Paris for years and all of them had nothing but effusive praise to offer. Here are a few selected comments from some of the people down there. I didn't attach names because some of these coaches aren't allowed by the NCAA to comment on these prospects even though they aren't recruiting them:
"The thing about Paris that he has, more so than anybody else I've worked with and including Aaron Donald, is that he elevates the guys around him so much. Having him on your team or in your program makes all of your guys better. Watch Steel Valley from last year to this year - they all played more like Paris and adopted his demeanor. He has that intensity and that dog in him and the guys around him follow that and raise their games."
"I can't wait to see how Pitt uses Paris. No matter where they put him, he's going to start day one. He might be the best athlete on the team day one. The only dudes in the program coming close are [Whitehead, Henderson, and Ffrench]. They're telling me he'll touch the ball year one on [offense], but defense should be interesting. Everyone says safety, but I think he could play corner. If you put him there, he's so long and athletic that he can just completely take away a receiver from the game plan. I think people are really sleeping on the possibility of him playing corner."
One of the other coaches down there has the exact opposite opinion: "Diddy (Paris' nickname, short for Diddy Bop) is such an insane safety I don't think you can take him away. He might be the first dude that you can just play by himself back there and walk everyone else in the box. [Laughter] He takes away everything from hashmark to hashmark. I think they'll let Whitehead do more man coverage and have Ford play center field. I think Narduzzi will use him how Ohio State used Malik Hooker this year, just let him roam and take away something big on every play."
"Don't be surprised if he's a three-and-done for the league after starting for three years at Pitt. Him and Kenny Robinson are the only two dudes who have ever played up as freshmen (with the upperclassmen on Evolve's 7v7). You won't even recognize him in a couple months. The only thing holding him back now is that he's skinny. He'll add muscle and get to 195 like it's nothing, watch. Yinz gotta make him a five-star, I'm telling you."
