PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pine-Richland grad Phil Jurkovec started to say something that would endear himself to his current residence, but the Yinz in him came out during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday.
“Boston is a very cool city because of how many good sports teams there are,” Jurkovec said in a good start for Boston fans.
“They try to say it’s the City of Champions, but it’s not really the City of Champions. Pittsburgh always will be.”
So if you’re a Pitt fan, maybe now you’ll at least root for Jurkovec every other Saturday than this one.
“I was a Pitt fan, I really enjoyed growing up watching them,” Jurkovec said. “I like their team. I have a lot of respect for them. I hope that a lot of the Western Pennsylvania kids that are at Pitt, I wish them success.”
He also feels your pain, sorry colleague Dorin Dickerson for this.
“I was just talking to Coach Cignetti the other day about one of the most heart-breaking losses as a kid growing up was the 45-44 loss to Cincinnati. Coach Hafley and Coach Cignetti were coaches at Pitt then.”
So how did this Pitt fan first choose Notre Dame over Pitt and then Boston College over Pitt.
“I went to Notre Dame off of the brand name,” Jurkovec said of his first decision. “Off of everything I thought it would be. The second time around, I was only focusing on the coaches.”
Jurkovec said his relationship with Pat Narduzzi started when Pitt offered him a scholarship as a sophomore in high school. He said he likes Narduzzi, but it became clear where he should go after leaving Notre Dame.
“BC was really on me hard,” Jurkovec said. “They were on me first. They were recruiting me the hardest. I did talk to Coach Narduzzi. BC was just a better situation for me.”
And instead of potentially competing with a third year starting quarterback in Kenny Pickett, Jurkovec is a starter in his own right completing 68% of his passes for 823 yards with five touchdowns and a pair of interceptions as the Eagles are 2-1 on the season.
His former high school teammate is Panthers tight end Grant Carrigan and says he knows a number of Pitt players including the number of Central Catholic alums.
“I have a little bit of payback, because they beat us,” Jurkovec said. “When I played Damar (Hamlin) and the Central guys when I was at Pine-Richland, they beat us. So it will be fun to try and get the win on them.”
Fun is something Jurkovec said Curt Cignetti has brought back to football for him. We’ll see how much fun he has on Saturday.