Pitt FB Recruiting
Virginia Tight End Kyle Bilodeau Recaps His Visit to Pitt
Virginia tight end Kyle Bilodeau is a player that’s been on Pitt’s radar since receiving an offer from them back in April.
Since then, Bilodeau’s only contact with them was through the phone but that all changed yesterday as the rising prospect made his first ever visit to Pitt and the city of Pittsburgh.
Bilodeau (6-5, 240) was one of the many prospects that participated in the Panthers’ prospect camp.
This morning as he was leaving the city, Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with Bilodeau to get his reaction to what he saw and heard from the Panthers staff.
“It was really nice and was my first time ever in Pittsburgh at all. I got a tour of Pittsburgh, the campus, the athletic facilities and it was really impressive. It actually surprised me how nice the facilities are,” said Bilodeau. “They share them with the Steelers which is really cool because they get the nicest practice fields. We were out there on the fields yesterday and they were like carpets. The campus was cool. It was a city campus but I think when you’re on campus it feels like the city but you also get the feel that it’s in its own little area on school. Everything was really impressive.”
With it being Bilodeau’s first visit to Pitt, I asked him what impressed or stood out to him the most?
“It would be probably how much mutual respect the Panthers and the Steelers have for each other. Most people would think the pro teams gets all the fancy stuff, the better facilities and equipment but it’s really even. They have the same chefs, it’s pretty much the same model of both sides of the facility that they share. It was nice and really surprising to me how much effort they put into making sure both teams are equal in that way,” said Bilodeau.
Another first for Bilodeau was getting coached by and having personal interaction with the Panthers coaches instead of communicating by the phone.
“It was fun. You can get a little bit of an understanding of how people are from texting them but you really can’t get anywhere close to understanding and getting to know them as well as when you’re in person and on the field and really know who they are and how they coach. Coach Salem was really cool in that way,” said Bilodeau. “You can tell that he’s an energetic guy on the phone but when you get on the field, he’s boom, boom, boom and he’s everywhere. He’s got a bunch of energy and really knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s doing and loves what he’s doing and that’s kind of the same vibe I got from every coach that I talked to whether it was the strength coach or the head coach. You can tell that Pitt has a good thing going and was good to see. I really enjoyed it.”
The other major feeling that Bilodeau left Pitt with was how much the staff would like to get a commitment from him and how much they want him.
“Pretty much every coach that I saw while I was talking with Coach Salem after my tour of campus told me that we need you, you would be a big spot in our offense. I could see that from watching film with the coaches and see how much they use the tight end in their offense. Talking to Coach Watson and Coach Salem, they were constantly telling me how much they need me and how if I went to Pitt I would probably get to play really early,” said Bilodeau.
Bilodeau is on his way now to Columbus to check out Ohio State before spending two days tomorrow at Purdue. He currently holds 16 offers including ones from NC State, Purdue and Virginia Tech.
While he doesn’t know yet where he’ll be committing to, he does know that his eventual decision won’t be easy.
“Yeah, anytime you make a big decision like this it comes with a lot of thought and hard thinking. You have to look at everything from academics, to athletics, to campus location and how it feels. This will be a difficult decision but I just have to talk to my parents and everybody around me and figure out where the best place is. It’s going to be tough decision but I think I know I’ll find the best place for me.”
