Pitt FB Recruiting
Pat Narduzzi and Pitt Impressing Miami 2022 OLB Leon Hart Jr.
Pitt is always looking to add talented players from Florida and they have their eyes on a junior outside linebacker.
Leon Hart Jr. is a 6-foot-2, 190 pound 3-star recruit from Edison High School in Miami, Florida. 247 Sports rates Hart as one of the Top 40 outside linebackers in the country. At this point, he has an impressive offer list from schools like Alabama, Arizona State, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, USC and West Virginia.
— Leon Hart Jr (@1Hart_jr) December 3, 2020
Following the departure of Rob Harley, linebackers coach Ryan Manalac has picked up the recruitment of Hart but he’s also hearing a lot from the head man at Pitt, Pat Narduzzi.
Pittsburgh Sports Now spoke with Hart on Monday morning to find out what’s impressed him about Pitt and where they currently rank with him.
“My relationship with Pitt began as soon as coaches were permitted to contact players in my recruiting class,” Hart told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “Coach Narduzzi started out communicating with me and also Coach Harley, the linebackers coach at that time. Now, their new linebackers coach, Coach Manalac has been talking to me a lot. The fact that Coach Narduzzi was the first person to contact me from Pitt tells me that I’m a priority for them and they need me more than they want me, which is good.”
“One of the things I’m looking at is the coaching staff and how solid they are. I don’t want to go to a place where the coaches are going to be leaving. One thing I like about Coach Narduzzi is that I can tell he’s a family guy and is big on family with the team. I really like that from a head coach.”
Courtesy of Leon Hart
Over the last couple of months, Hart has had many conversations with the Pitt staff including Zoom meetings. I asked him about his first impressions of Pitt and what’s stood out.
“I saw a lot on my Zoom with Pitt,” said Hart. “I saw their National Championship trophies. I saw all the coaches offices and the meeting rooms, the cafeteria, the pools and what they eat. They showed me the practice fields but they were covered in snow. I also saw Aaron Donald in the locker room, which was really impressive.”
Hart tells PSN that his plan is to make a decision before the start of his senior season and while Pitt has a ton of competition for this talented linebacker, they appear to be in a good position to hang around in his recruitment.
“Pitt has done a great job recruiting me and they have solidified a spot as a top school with me when it’s time for me to do that and cut down my list.”
