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2024 West Mifflin OL Rico Steele Continues Building Pitt Bond With Junior Day Visit

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Rico Steele is very familiar with Pitt’s South Side facility, considering he’s a hometown kid from West Mifflin High School and trains with Dee Brown’s 210ths at the facility.

But Saturday’s Junior Day visit was his most inclusive yet, having the opportunity to spend more one-on-one time with the Pitt coaches than ever before. Even though he hasn’t picked up an offer, his most recent visit helped build the relationship.

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“The best part of the visit for me was going into the position meeting with (offensive line coach Dave) Borbely, watching film with him,” Steele told PSN. “I’d say that was the best part.

“I’ve known coach Borbely for a while and when we were in the film office, I sat right next to his desk and talked to him a lot, so I’d say I have a good relationship with him.”

Steele, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound interior offensive lineman in the class of 2024, has received offers from Bowling Green, Kent State and Toledo during his recruiting process and visits include Pitt — for a handful of visits — and West Virginia, Coastal Carolina, Syracuse and Penn State.

He’s an aggressive, throwback kind of offensive lineman — in the same mold as his favorite offensive lineman of all time Bill Fralic — that thrives in run blocking. And that level of aggressiveness is what has stood out to Borbely so far.

But it also goes two-fold as Steele has evaluated Pitt’s offensive scheme himself.

“I think Pitt has a helluva program down there,” Steele said. “I like the way they run the football down there, that’s huge the way they play on the field. A lot of teams don’t run the football like that anymore, which is huge.

“I’m gonna be an interior guy in college, and I would just like to consider myself an old-school kind of player in the way I play the game aggressively, and the way I play in the run game.”

And as Steele spent time with Borbely watching how Pitt’s offensive line as a whole operates, he saw a definite fit within the system — especially as a run blocker.

Aside from getting to spend more individual time with Pitt’s coaching staff, the Junior Day visit allowed Steele to check out a wild Pitt Basketball win over No. 20 Miami and spend time with recruits from all across the region. It was a great opportunity.

“As a hometown guy, I’d say it’s huge to get recruited by Pitt,” Steele said. “Being in the area and being so close to home there.”

But at the same time, staying home isn’t the deciding factor in his recruitment either. He simply wants to find a school that is a good fit for him, in all aspects of the game.

Steele’s spring plans will include Boston College, Syracuse and Duke, and maybe even a trip down to Miami after recent talks with the Hurricanes’ coaching staff.

Pitt will also be in the plans this spring, too, especially after Borbely told Steele that he will be making an in-person visit to West Mifflin in the near future.

Pitt hasn’t yet offered Steele, there’s definitely mutual interest from both sides going forward.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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Joe Schmo
Joe Schmo
1 year ago

Hope the kid gets a offer from Pitt!! I wonder if his dad/uncle is Rodney Steele? Grew up And played ball with a few from the Hazelwood area. Great guys. Bobby, Rodney, and the late Todd Steele. Wish him luck!!

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