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All-Conference Missouri State LB Tylar Wiltz Commits to Pitt

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It’s been a long road for Tylar Wiltz, but he’s finally reached Power Five football after emerging from Breaux Bridge High School in Louisiana in 2017 as an unranked recruit.

Wiltz, a 6-foot-1, 219-pound linebacker from Missouri State, is transferring to Pitt for his final season of eligibility, he confirmed with Pittsburgh Sports Now — adding a much-needed veteran option in the linebacking room, even if it’s not from the FBS level.

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After entering the transfer portal early this month, Wiltz picked up offers from UCF, Akron, Tennessee State, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Colorado State and Tennessee-Martin. But the lure of Pitt proved too much to pass up for the FCS star after hearing from Pitt early on.

“It was a lot of things,” Wiltz said. “You’ve been around the facilities, everything’s different, you know. Them just coming off an ACC championship, for one, and then the biggest thing for me was the coaching staff, the players, literally everything was great.”

An All-MVFC second-teamer and All-American third-teamer in 2021, after racking up a team-high 106 tackles (51 solo), 14.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions, one pass defense and four forced fumbles and two recoveries, Wiltz ended his three seasons at Missouri State as one of the top players in the FCS.

In three seasons at Missouri State, he recorded 212 tackles (114 solo), 21.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, three interceptions and helped the Bears reach the FCS playoffs in 2020 and 2021. As a junior in 2021, Wiltz flashed a nose for the ball (team-leading tackles and tackles for loss) and the ability to force turnovers (three interceptions and four forced fumbles).

However, the road to get to just Missouri State was a winding one for Wiltz. His college career began at Division II Southern Arkansas University in 2017, but after he didn’t play as a freshman, he transferred to JUCO Independence in Kansas — the community college featured on Last Chance U.

While Wiltz’s role at Pitt is still being decided, since he won’t arrive until mid-May, he’s already looking at the outside linebacker spots — most likely at Star.

“As of now, I’m not quite sure which backer I’m gonna be playing,” Wiltz said. “I’m thinking it’s gonna be Star backer, so I will be playing one of the outside backers. And as of now, it’s more of a learning thing. I’ve played in a few defenses coming from Division II, junior college and here, so I don’t feel like the defense is going to be hard to pick up.”

With SirVocea Dennis locked in as Pitt’s Mike linebacker in 2022, the Star and Money positions are still in open competition. With Shayne Simon, Bangally Kamara, Solomon DeShields competing for the outside linebacker spots, Wiltz will join the trio.

With Davis Beville off the books and Wiltz coming in, Pitt has 85 scholarship players on the roster. With the 85 scholarship cap once again set for this coming season, Pitt would need to have additional moves made in the event of another transfer addition.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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Giovanni
Giovanni
1 year ago

Looks like an insurance policy.

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