Pitt Building Relationship with 2023 Michigan Athlete Darius Taylor

The Pitt football staff will be busy multi-tasking over the next couple of months. Not only will they be looking to complete their Class of 2022 but they’ll also be working on developing relationships and extending offers to high school juniors.

Archie Collins continued doing that as he was in Michigan visiting various high schools and extended an offer to 2023 three-star athlete Darius Taylor from Walled Lake, Michigan. This offer comes on the heels of Taylor making an unofficial visit to Pitt for their regular season finale against Virginia. This becomes Taylor’s second Power Five offer with the other coming from Syracuse.

Pittsburgh Sports Now had the chance to talk with Taylor after he received the news from Collins and he was obviously excited to get an offer from the 2021 ACC Champions.

Courtesy Darius Taylor

“Today in school, Coach Collins met with my head coach to discuss some players at my school,” said Taylor. “My head coach then called me a little bit later after his meeting and told me to give Coach Collins a call. I did that and he then told me that I received an offer from Pitt. He told me that, he and Coach Powell really liked how dynamic of a player I am and how I would fit into their offense very well.

“This is a really exciting offer because I feel Pitt would be a really good school to attend. I loved the atmosphere when I was there and I’m really looking forward to knowing the coaching staff better.”

At Walled Lake High School, Taylor had a tremendous junior season as he rushed 136 times for 1,379 rushing yards, 621 receiving yards, 24 touchdowns and four interceptions. Because of this versatility, Taylor is getting recruited as an athlete and is unsure of his future college position.

“I consider myself a very dynamic player. I can play receiver if needed, I can play running back if needed and I also can contribute on special teams,” said Taylor. “I believe I have great hands, so I can be productive and explosive coming out of the backfield. Honestly, I would identify myself as an athlete, so going into college, I’m not really set on a specific position to play.”

Junior Season Highlights🔥🔥
➖136 Carries
➖1,379 Rushing Yds
➖621 Receiving Yds
➖24 TDs
➖Kick Return TD
➖Fumble Recovery TD
➖4 Ints
➖11 Yds Per Carry
➖18 Yds Per Catch@WLWestern_FB @coachcioroch @AllenTrieu @SMSBFootball https://t.co/vaw51Xpbdp

— Darius Taylor💫 (@dariustaylor_14) November 10, 2021

Taylor tells me that when visiting Pitt for the first-time last month, he was impressed with the Pitt crowd and how into the game they were. He also commented on how the Pitt coaches made him feel very welcome, which he appreciated.

“During my visit, I could tell that they really liked me. Coach Powell, the running backs coach, came over to the sidelines to see me specifically to have a conversation so I felt that they obviously had their eyes on me.”

Pitt and Syracuse are his first two Power Five offers but Taylor told PSN that he’s hearing regularly from Michigan State, Louisville, Nebraska and Yale.

During their conversation, Taylor tells me that he and Coach Collins talked about him making another visit to Pittsburgh in the near future and he is working on doing so after the holidays.