Pitt Focusing on Recruiting Quarterbacks in Month of March

While Pitt men’s basketball has been garnering all the praise and attention over the past two days for making their first NCAA Tournament since 2016, Pitt football is quietly working on the recruiting trail to try and find future prospects during their offseason.

The Panthers have most recently targeted quarterback recruits in the month of March, offering numerous recruits across different classes, as they try to find their signal caller for the future.

Pitt football recruiting coverage sponsored by

RM LAW, P.C. is a boutique litigation law firm with a national practice dedicated to protecting shareholders’ interests and promoting improved corporate governance practices.

Class of 2024-Two Recruits 

Three-star Tyler Cherry from Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind.-March 3
Three-star Sam Kaiser from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo.-Friday, March 10

The two class of 2024 quarterback recruits are the only ones that 247sports has given star ratings to out to. This isn’t really surprising, since most recruits, aside from the elite, don’t receive star ratings until they are juniors in high school.

Cherry holds 12 offers from FBS schools, including three from Power 5 schools in Pitt, Indiana and Vanderbilt. He stands 6-foot-5 and 247sports ranks him as the No. 68 quarterback in the country and the No. 18 player in Indiana in his class.

Junior Season Highlights
Indiana 6A State Champions
2269 Passing Yards
22 Passing Touchdowns – 5 Int
140/215 (65%) Completion
125 QB Ratehttps://t.co/R6NwV35D2w

— Tyler Cherry (@_tylercherry) December 1, 2022

Kaiser holds three offers from Pitt, Vanderbilt and Miami (Ohio). He stands at 6-foot-6 and 247sports ranks him as the No. 59 quarterback in the country and the No. 17 player in Missouri.

Kaiser possesses great ability to stay in the pocket, take hits and complete passes. He has great power in his arm, while also solid accuracy as well that will bode well at the college level. Kaiser also can scramble when necessary, forcing defenses to account for his running ability.

6’6 210 LB QB
(1700 pass YDS)(22 pass TDS)(135/230)(60%)(250 rush YDS)
9-3 (10 games played) https://t.co/AvbTkR0xmz

— Sam Kaiser (@SamKaiser11) November 14, 2022

Class of 2025-Seven Recruits 

Luke Nickel from Milton High School in Alpharetta, Ga.-March 3
Roy Thomas Jenkins from West Brook High School in Beaumont, Texas-March 3
Alex Manske from Algona High School in Algona, Iowa-March 3
Jax Brown from Weiss High School in Pflugerville, Texas-March 4
Karle (KJ) Lacey from Saraland High School in Saraland, Ala.-March 4
Grayson Wilson from Central Arkansas Christian in Maumelle, Ark.-March 4
Jamison Kitna from Lakota East High School in Middletown, Ohio-March 6

Class of 2026-Five Recruits 

Jonas Williams from Boilingbrook High School in Boilingbrook, Ill.-March 5
Cole Leinart from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif.-Wednesday, March 8
Ryder Lyons from Folsom High School in Folsom, Calif.-Saturday, March 11
Briggs Cherry from Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tenn.-Saturday, March 11
Jackson Taylor from Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, Calif.-Saturday, March 11

Pitt offered seven quarterbacks out of the class of 2025 and five out of the class of 2026. The emphasis on finding star talent doesn’t start until recruiting services begin to ascribe rankings to players, it begins quite early and includes offering players that are generally just sophomores or in their first year of high school.

One player that is interesting to watch out for in future years is Cole Leinart, who is the son of Heisman winner and start USC quarterback Matt Leinart, in the Class of 2026.

Pitt is not the only school in for these quarterbacks, as many of them have offers from a plethora of Power 5 schools already, even at a young age.

The Panthers’ quarterback situation for the future is one that the coaching staff is addressing. The only current quarterbacks that are on the Panthers that seriously have the opportunity to earn playing time in the future are rising redshirt sophomores in Christian Veilleux, who transferred from Penn State, and Nate Yarnell, who started and won the Western Michigan game last season.

Three-star Ty Dieffenbach will join the Panthers this season, but he is the only quarterback that the Panthers have signed in the past two recruiting classes.

It will be interesting to see who Pitt seriously courts at the quarterback position coming soon and who takes visits to the school in the upcoming months.

Expect to see offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti Jr., offensive graduate assistant Jonathan DiBiaso, tight ends coach Tim Salem, running backs coach Andre Powell, pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood and of course, head coach Pat Narduzzi on the recruiting trail for the next signal caller for the Panthers.