PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Expecting a number of current seniors to take advantage of an extra COVID-19 year granted by the NCAA, Pitt only signed a dozen players on National Letter of Intent Day Wednesday.
Compare that to the top three ranked classes nationally with Texas A&M ranked first with 26 commits and Georgia third also with 26. The only schools with fewer players ranked ahead of the Panthers, 64th nationally by 247 sports, are Florida and TCU with 10 commitments and Miami with eight-two spots ahead of the Panthers.
"Super quality class, obviously not a gigantic class which means we have a lot of guys coming back," Narduzzi said.
Narduzzi said numerous times over the last few months that he lobbied and ultimately was disappointed the NCAA reduced the scholarship limit back to 85. A year after allowing basically unlimited numbers due to the pandemic. Pitt had 98 on scholarship in 2021, but graduation doesn't do enough to allow for a big recruiting class for 2022.
Losing offensive coordinator Mark Whipple last week to the same job at Nebraska did create some uncertainty. Players wondering what is going to happen and who will replace Whipple.
"They have questions like you guys do," Narduzzi said. "I can't answer them, it's tough. I just told them the truth about what is going on and how we do business."
Half of the class will enroll in January and 10 of them were captains of their high school teams. The highest rated recruit is Eastlake, Ohio offensive lineman Ryan Baer, a four-star recruit with offers from many of the Midwest schools including Notre Dame.
Their first recruit is Central Valley star defensive lineman Sean FitzSimmons who won a second state championship on Saturday. He was a four-year starter with over 100 tackles for loss in his career and the winner of the Bill Fralic Memorial Award presented to the WPIAL's top interior lineman.
"He's a Pittsburgh tough kid," Narduzzi said. "He's a leader, he's physical and he's tough. We got a guy from our backyard that embodies all of our principles. We got a young man that loves Pitt football."
There are nine states represented and the Panthers found their punter to replace Australian Kirk Christodoulou, signing Australian Sam Vander Haar. The 24-year-old went through the same program as Christodoulou, Jordan Berry and others. He's about to be married to a Duquesne grad which Narduzzi said helped with the commitment.
Narduzzi said Name Image Likeness rules instituted by the NCAA last year really didn't affect his recruiting. He said most of that money comes in after you prove it in college games.
"We have a smart group of a dozen guys that are worried about playing football and getting their degree," Narduzzi said. "They all realize it depends what you do on the field. The guys getting deals are starters. It's like dangling a carrot out there. There could be a lot more for you if you are a productive player. If you make plays on game day that's when those things come. Kenny (Pickett) is a great example of what happens when you have a lot of success."
There are expectations of signing 'a couple more' during the February signing period and Pitt expects to add a couple of priority walk-ons as well.
Now it's on to bowl practice as Narduzzi was mum on who will call the plays for that game, other than it will be an interim offensive coordinator. He also said he expects Kenny Pickett at practice at the end of the week but doesn't know if he will play.
Pickett told the PM Team on 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday he had yet decide if he will participate in the Peach Bowl December 30.
