Pitt FB Recruiting
2023 QB Hank Brown Breaks Down Pitt Visit, Conversations with OC Frank Cignetti
Back at the start of February, the Pitt Panthers became the first D-1 offer for 2023 three-star quarterback Hank Brown. One month later, the Tennessee native made his first on-campus unofficial visit to Pittsburgh.
The 6-foot-4 Brown was part of a large group of juniors that made unofficial visits on Saturday to check out Pitt. Brown, who attends Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, is currently one of 14 uncommitted junior quarterbacks to hold an offer from Pitt.
Brown told Pittsburgh Sports Now that in the fall, he made gameday visits to Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee State, but yesterday’s experience was a first for him.
“The things that really stuck out the most to me about the visit to Pitt were the culture, I love what they have going on there,” said Brown. “Just the way their program operates was amazing. The coaches were great to me, just seemed like really good people. I had the chance to talk with Coach Cig and Coach DiBiaso just about football and life, which was great. Coach Cig has a lot of connections, knows a lot of people so it was cool to be able to talk with them and hear their perspective. Coach Cig is good friends with my head coach, Coach Trent Dilfer, as he coached him a couple times and knows him pretty well. We talked about his past and also about the rich history of Pitt football, the city of Pittsburgh and the great academics at Pitt.”
Courtesy Hank Brown
“This was the first time getting to see a live Power Five practice and it was awesome. The biggest difference that I saw was just how bigger, stronger and faster they are but that’s what you’re going to get out of a Power Five program. I loved to watch it and they are just so talented. It was very fun to watch. I was watching the quarterbacks a lot and they have a transfer from USC and I think he’s going to be their guy next year. He was so smooth and I got the chance to talk with him a little bit when I was touring the facilities.”
Some of the other subjects Brown and Cignetti got into were how Pitt planned to recruit him as well as how many quarterbacks they planned on bringing in this season.
“He [Cignetti] said that in the class of 2023, they were most likely taking just one scholarship quarterback and maybe one walk-on or quarterback through the transfer portal,” said Brown. “He also told me that they planned on coming down to watch me throw this spring just to get to see my in person and talk with me a little more and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
Check out my Junior Season – https://t.co/BAJKlw43FM
— Hank Brown (@Hankb_15) November 11, 2021
Considering Pitt is only taking one quarterback, I asked Brown if he’s considering making a commitment without knowing how long that open quarterback scholarship will remain open.
“I think that’s a really good question for me,” he said. “Right now, I’m still trying to figure that out. I think that I’m going to wait it out a little bit longer and see what my future holds and see if any more opportunities come up with spring ball and all of that. But, we’ll see how it goes. Obviously, it’s an advantage to, in my opinion, commit before your season starts so you know that you have a scholarship secured. That’s a good question and that’ll be within the next couple of months see how it goes and go from there.”
