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Top 2025 WR Taz Williams Jr. Brought Back to his Root With Offer from Pitt

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Taz Williams Jr. had a front-row seat to watch former Pitt star James Conner battle cancer, emphatically beat it and return for yet another 1,000-yard season.

He was a running back himself then, although just a kid in the Churchill area of Pittsburgh, but he often found himself seated in the grandstands at Heinz Field for Pitt games, watching his favorite running back persevere against the odds.

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Williams isn’t exactly a kid anymore, not as a sophomore wide receiver at Red Oak High outside of Dallas, but that Pitt bond is back — and might be even stronger than ever after he picked up an official offer from wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood.

“I mean, it’s a lot to go through because I’ve been rooting for them since I was younger, always went to the games and stuff and I just wanted to come back and play back in Pennsylvania because I’ve got family out there,” Williams told PSN. “It’d just be cool because I’d be close with them and all that.”

Williams, a highly touted wide receiver recruit from the Class of 2025, grew up in Pittsburgh. He lived with his father in the Churchill area, where he would’ve been a Woodland Hills Wolverine, before his father Taz Sr. moved the family to Dallas.

His mother still lives on the South Side — right around the corner from the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. And Taz Sr. himself is from the Pittsburgh area, growing up around the area and attending Point Park University.

“I was born and raised, lived there until I was 11 when I moved to Dallas,” Williams said. “90% of my family is in Pittsburgh. And then I moved to Dallas with my dad, and I’ve still got my mom and little brother in Pittsburgh. So, I always go back for vacations and all that, holidays, and stuff just to spend time with them.”

While he may just have been a kid during his time in Pittsburgh, he still found inspiration in watching Conner. He’s a wide receiver now, in a 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame, but he started as a running back. And all of Pitt’s stars caught his eye.

Whenever Williams is home, he makes sure to always stop by the South Side facility — where he trains with Dee Brown’s 210ths.

Underwood is the receivers coach in Pittsburgh now, and while Tuesday’s conversation between Underwood and Williams may have been the first, it’s a relationship that is already off to a strong start.

“That was my first time actually talking to him when he offered, but he seemed cool,” Williams said. “We hopped on a FaceTime call, and we just started talking about life, family, school and stuff like that. And then he offered me. He’s a real cool dude. I mess with him a lot, already off the first phone call, I mess with him a lot.”

It’s not hard to see why Williams caught Underwood’s eye, not after a sophomore season at Red Oak in which William caught a team-high 31 receptions for 582 yards (18.8 yards per catch) and five touchdowns — and returned eight kickoffs for 220 yards (27.5 yards per attempt) and another touchdown.

He made the most of his carries, too, taking his lone carry for a 78-yard touchdown.

Williams — who has already received offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, California, Houston, Michigan, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, SMU, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UNLV and Western Kentucky — sees the benefit of a coach like Underwood, a former NFL wideout himself.

“It’s just somebody that I could look to and ask him, ‘How can I get there? And what does it take?'” Williams said.

It may have been Williams’ first contact with Underwood, really his first contact with Pitt as a recruit, so it’s just getting started. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an expectation.

“I’m just excited,” Williams said. “To be honest, I’m at a loss for words. I’m ready to get it started and just communicate with all the coaches there.”

Williams has visits to half of the schools in the west, including Oregon, Nebraska, California, Arizona State, UNLV (and maybe Penn State at some point), but Pitt is in the plans. Taz Sr. said that when Taz Jr. is back in Pittsburgh, a visit will be in the works — along with a couple of other schools in the area.

And when it comes to the many, many teams currently recruiting Williams, and the many, many more likely to come, he just wants realness.

“I just want to see somebody that’s always going to be there for me,” Williams said. “I want the connection and bond to be there, no fake stuff. I don’t want it just because I’m a highly ranked player, I want it because y’all truly want me, truly care.”

He feels like Pitt fits that mold — and fits what would likely be his Top Six.

While the major recruiting sites haven’t rated Williams yet, it’s only a matter of time before the class of 2025 is evaluated — and he will likely be among the very best.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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Nonya
Nonya
1 year ago

Until his dad gets a briefcase, then coming home was just a feel good story

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