Welcome to another edition of In the Pitt, Panther-Lair.com's rundown of everything going on in Pitt recruiting. This week we're looking at official visits, offensive line and more.
Due to the length of this rundown, it will appear in multiple posts in this thread.
Official visits - finally
This week's In the Pitt won't be as long as the rundowns we rolled out over the last three weeks, but there are a few things we need to cover, and that list starts with official visits.
Simply put, Pitt will (finally) host some official visits this weekend. The coaches aren't keen on having official visits during the season, and truthfully, most coaching staffs would probably prefer to hold off until after the season because there are a lot of time constraints on in-season official visits.
If a recruit arrives Friday evening during an off-season visit, he spends part of the night with the coaches and the rest of the night with the current players, which is an important part of the visit experience. Then the recruit spends all day Saturday with coaches, players, academic support people and anyone else the staff wants to line up to help show the recruit what the school can offer. The visit concludes Sunday morning with some more time with the coaches.
That's an off-season visit. For an in-season visit, the recruit spends Friday night in his hotel room or, if he came with family, maybe he'll go out and look around Oakland or downtown. Most of the day on Saturday is spent with the team as it prepares for a game, and while that can be a valuable experience, the recruit isn't really getting to see a lot of the things the staff would like him to see during those hours.
The recruit can still spend time with the players Saturday night and the coaches Sunday morning, but there's a lot less time for building relationships and bonds, which can be very valuable in the recruiting process. So you can see why coaches would prefer to have the visits after the season.
Preferences aside, most staffs still have at least some official visits during the season, and the Pitt coaches will finally dive in this weekend. Leading the list of visitors is Zack Gilbert, a three-star defensive end prospect from Charlotte (N.C.) South Mecklenburg who is the son of former Pitt great Sean Gilbert.
Zack Gilbert took an official visit to Virginia Tech last month and plans to commit at some point after the Pitt visit; his decision will come down to the Panthers and the Hokies, and the smart money right now is on Pitt. The legacy factor is working for the Panthers on this one, but that's not all that's drawing Gilbert to Pitt. He has a lot of ties to the area and a lot of family in Western Pennsylvania; plus, he feels pretty strongly about Pat Narduzzi and the coaching staff.
Gilbert won't be the only defensive end visiting this weekend, as he'll be joined by Chesapeake (Va.) Grassfield's Patrick Jones. One interesting angle here is that both Jones and Gilbert visited Virginia Tech on the same weekend as well. But Jones' decision isn't coming down to Pitt and Virginia Tech; he also plans to visit N.C. State next weekend and will choose the Panthers, the Hokies or the Wolfpack the week after that.
I don't have a feel for where Jones is leaning - whereas I'm pretty confident about Gilbert picking Pitt - but I do think the Pitt coaches would take both if they got the opportunity.
Defensive ends
By the Three Year Rule - which we've discussed before and gives a basic outline for what a class should look like based on players replacing current sophomore-eligible players (under the assumption that each player finishes his eligibility and each player develops into a contributor by year three) - Pitt could reasonably take as many as four defensive ends in this class.
They likely won't take that many, but it's not hard to imagine the coaches being a little antsy about the position since they're basically rotating three players at defensive end this season.
Now, any discussion of 2016 defensive end recruits has to include at least a reference to Dewayne Hendrix and Allen Edwards; both are redshirting this season, and Hendrix will be a redshirt sophomore in 2016 while Edwards will be a redshirt junior. That makes them upperclassmen, but they'll essentially enter the active roster at the same time as the incoming recruits.
And the expectation right now is that both players will be very active next season.
So if you're Pitt, even though the numbers are very slim right now at defensive end, the additions of Hendrix and Edwards to the on-field roster helps alleviate some of the need for immediate help (and you never want to have to turn to a recruiting class for immediate help at defensive end). But while Edwards and Hendrix will help fill the numbers for 2016 and 2017, the recruiting class of 2016 will set the foundation for what comes after those two leave.
That's why I think the staff would be willing to take Gilbert and Jones, as well as the JUCO prospect we've discussed, Tavon Lofties, who doesn't have an offer but is receiving considerable interest.
Continued in next post...
Due to the length of this rundown, it will appear in multiple posts in this thread.
Official visits - finally
This week's In the Pitt won't be as long as the rundowns we rolled out over the last three weeks, but there are a few things we need to cover, and that list starts with official visits.
Simply put, Pitt will (finally) host some official visits this weekend. The coaches aren't keen on having official visits during the season, and truthfully, most coaching staffs would probably prefer to hold off until after the season because there are a lot of time constraints on in-season official visits.
If a recruit arrives Friday evening during an off-season visit, he spends part of the night with the coaches and the rest of the night with the current players, which is an important part of the visit experience. Then the recruit spends all day Saturday with coaches, players, academic support people and anyone else the staff wants to line up to help show the recruit what the school can offer. The visit concludes Sunday morning with some more time with the coaches.
That's an off-season visit. For an in-season visit, the recruit spends Friday night in his hotel room or, if he came with family, maybe he'll go out and look around Oakland or downtown. Most of the day on Saturday is spent with the team as it prepares for a game, and while that can be a valuable experience, the recruit isn't really getting to see a lot of the things the staff would like him to see during those hours.
The recruit can still spend time with the players Saturday night and the coaches Sunday morning, but there's a lot less time for building relationships and bonds, which can be very valuable in the recruiting process. So you can see why coaches would prefer to have the visits after the season.
Preferences aside, most staffs still have at least some official visits during the season, and the Pitt coaches will finally dive in this weekend. Leading the list of visitors is Zack Gilbert, a three-star defensive end prospect from Charlotte (N.C.) South Mecklenburg who is the son of former Pitt great Sean Gilbert.
Zack Gilbert took an official visit to Virginia Tech last month and plans to commit at some point after the Pitt visit; his decision will come down to the Panthers and the Hokies, and the smart money right now is on Pitt. The legacy factor is working for the Panthers on this one, but that's not all that's drawing Gilbert to Pitt. He has a lot of ties to the area and a lot of family in Western Pennsylvania; plus, he feels pretty strongly about Pat Narduzzi and the coaching staff.
Gilbert won't be the only defensive end visiting this weekend, as he'll be joined by Chesapeake (Va.) Grassfield's Patrick Jones. One interesting angle here is that both Jones and Gilbert visited Virginia Tech on the same weekend as well. But Jones' decision isn't coming down to Pitt and Virginia Tech; he also plans to visit N.C. State next weekend and will choose the Panthers, the Hokies or the Wolfpack the week after that.
I don't have a feel for where Jones is leaning - whereas I'm pretty confident about Gilbert picking Pitt - but I do think the Pitt coaches would take both if they got the opportunity.
Defensive ends
By the Three Year Rule - which we've discussed before and gives a basic outline for what a class should look like based on players replacing current sophomore-eligible players (under the assumption that each player finishes his eligibility and each player develops into a contributor by year three) - Pitt could reasonably take as many as four defensive ends in this class.
They likely won't take that many, but it's not hard to imagine the coaches being a little antsy about the position since they're basically rotating three players at defensive end this season.
Now, any discussion of 2016 defensive end recruits has to include at least a reference to Dewayne Hendrix and Allen Edwards; both are redshirting this season, and Hendrix will be a redshirt sophomore in 2016 while Edwards will be a redshirt junior. That makes them upperclassmen, but they'll essentially enter the active roster at the same time as the incoming recruits.
And the expectation right now is that both players will be very active next season.
So if you're Pitt, even though the numbers are very slim right now at defensive end, the additions of Hendrix and Edwards to the on-field roster helps alleviate some of the need for immediate help (and you never want to have to turn to a recruiting class for immediate help at defensive end). But while Edwards and Hendrix will help fill the numbers for 2016 and 2017, the recruiting class of 2016 will set the foundation for what comes after those two leave.
That's why I think the staff would be willing to take Gilbert and Jones, as well as the JUCO prospect we've discussed, Tavon Lofties, who doesn't have an offer but is receiving considerable interest.
Continued in next post...
