Pitt FB Recruiting
Mars 2020 TE/DE Michael Carmody Lands First Offer From Pitt
Not many athletes are talented enough to play just one year of high school football and afterwards receive a scholarship offer to a Power Five program.
Sophomore Michael Carmody of Mars High School is one of them and last night he found out that he’d earned a scholarship to play for his hometown school, the Pitt Panthers.
Carmody (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) is a two-sport (football and basketball) athlete for Mars but plans on pursuing football in college. However, it was last night at his basketball practice that he found out that Pat Narduzzi wants him to eventually become a member of his football program.
“I really wasn’t expecting the offer at all. They were at my practice tonight and I was hoping to do well in front of them and after practice I found out and was like ‘wow.’ I was really happy,” said Carmody.
Because he’s only a sophomore, Pitt isn’t permitted to have contact with him yet so Michael found out about the offer a special way.
“My dad was so happy for me. He was the one who told me that I had the offer and then he hugged me, gave me a high-five and said congratulations. When I saw my mom later at dinner, she didn’t know yet, so I was the first one to tell her and she was so happy.”
Mr. and Mrs. Carmody now have two sons that will play sports in college as you’ve no doubt heard of their oldest son, Robby, who’s heading to Notre Dame next season on a basketball scholarship.
On their way home from practice, Robby gave his younger brother some advice on how to handle all the attention he’ll no-doubt be receiving over the next couple of years.
“He told me just to remain humble and not talk about it in front of people,” Michael Carmody said. “Just don’t act like it’s a big deal and be yourself.”
I asked Carmody about what led him to actually give football a try for the first time, a decision that’s obviously paid off for him.
“I don’t really have a preference, I enjoy playing both sports,” he said. “This past summer, I started thinking about playing football and get my toes in the water. My friend kept asking me, let’s just go to 7-on-7 and I said OK and afterwards I thought it was so much fun and decided I had to play.”
He’s so early in his physical and football skills development to project a position, but this year for Mars, Carmody played tight end and defensive end. However, consider that he’s only a sophomore and is already 6-6 and 265 pounds.
“I think I’d rather play defense in college because I like to tackle and hit people,” he said.
Finally, I asked Carmody his thoughts on the Pitt program and the potential meaning of getting his first offer from the hometown school.
“I’ve been to a lot of Pitt games over the last couple of seasons,” he said. “Last year, I was there for the North Carolina and North Carolina State games, before that the Penn State game and others. The atmosphere was a lot of fun especially playing in Heinz Field.
“Getting that first offer from Pitt will definitely play a role in a couple of years. I’ll look back and remember that they were the first ones to take a look at me and that will be a factor. They’re the hometown school, I love going to games there, the Steelers and them play at Heinz Field, all that stuff is awesome.”
Go check out my sophomore season highlight- https://t.co/L9bmhyJqgM
— Michael Carmody (@michaeltcarmody) January 19, 2018
