Pitt FB Recruiting
2024 4-Star OL Target Caleb Holmes Has Already Learned A Lot About Pitt Ahead of OV
Caleb Holmes considers BJ Williams not just the best offensive lineman but one of the best players he’s ever played with during his time at Creekside High School.
Holmes actually lined up beside Williams last season at Creekside in Fairburn, Georgia. Williams was the left tackle, and Holmes was the left guard. It’s not a coincidence that the Creekside coaching staff called a lot of run plays to the left side.
“Coach (Maurice) Dixon is a scheme to the right, power to the left guy,” Holmes told PSN. “Coach Dixon loves running to the left. So, we were that side that was moving.”
It paid off in 2022 to the tune of a 10-3 season, with nearly 3,200 team rushing yards, and while Williams has since left for Pitt, Holmes is due to return for his senior campaign. But his senior season will come after he decides upon his next location.
Holmes — a 6-foot-3, 300-pound four-star interior offensive lineman from Creekside — holds offers from Auburn, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia Tech, James Madison, LSU, Louisville, Marshall, Maryland, Memphis, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and UCF, and he has his first official visit scheduled.
Holmes will be taking his first official visit to Pittsburgh this weekend, from June 1-3.
“So, (Williams) being up there, and of course with Rashad Battle, who I was also close to my freshman year as Creekside, I just felt like that was a good first choice to start somewhere that I had already had experience with the score that offered me early, especially with BJ and Rashad up there,” Holmes said.
Pitt was one of the first schools to offer Holmes, with Archie Collins extending an offer back on Oct. 5, 2021. It came after Collins came down to get a look at Holmes in person at a Georgia camp over the summer. Collins called Dixon about a few of the Creekside guys he had seen and eventually called back to extend Holmes an offer.
The communication since has been consistent since, with Pitt sending letters and making him graphics on Twitter, but the relationship really picked back up once again this spring after Collins made a trip down to Creekside. With BJ being back at Creekside at that point, it really helped the connection grow.
But it hasn’t just been Collins in Holmes’ ear. Holmes and Dave Borbely have been able to build a strong connection as the pair have talked on the phone.
“He’s fun, you know, he’s real funny,” Holmes said. “He told me that I’m wanted, you know — that’s the place I want to get. They’ve taken care of BJ, the expectation is they’re gonna take care of me the same way. But he’s made it clear that once I get out there, the expectation is to work. And that’s something that I fully respect, something that I fully look forward to. Because you know, that’s what I look for in a program.”
Borbely loves Holmes’ aggression, whether it’s from his time at right tackle or at left guard throughout his time at Creekside, and he certainly loves his first step — his quickness in a 6-foot-3, 300-pound frame. “He likes how I move guys off the line,” Holmes said. “When he told me he analyzed my film, I think one of the things I point out is me dragging dudes 10, 15 yards down the field.”
Holmes models himself off Williams actually. As he’s watched Williams work on and off the field at Creekside over the last few seasons, he’s seen things he hasn’t seen from any other high school football player. There’s a certain level of respect and admiration that Holmes has for Williams.
So, of course, he’s asked Williams all about how he’s adapted in such a short amount of time at Pitt. Holmes isn’t at all surprised that Williams is already working for second-team reps as a true freshman, he’s seen his mentality.
“The question that I asked him the most is, is he comfortable?” Holmes said. “BJ’s a real simple guy. My maintenance may be a little higher than his, but I would constantly, every time I saw him, anytime we gotta talk, I would just ask him about how it was going, how workouts were going, how the coaches would treat him, and, you know, he never, he never really had anything bad to say.
“There was never any negative thoughts that came about, and we talk to our alumni that are going to college and they may say, you know, ‘Yeah, we good, but you know, sometimes coach do this,’ or you know, sometimes the players have some real feedback. But when it comes to BJ, everything that, at least I’ve heard, that he’s told me has been good, and I trust that because that was my brother down here.”
But Holmes is still a very highly-rated recruit in the class, and he has interest from a lot of major programs around college football.
247Sports rates Holmes as the 183rd-ranked recruit in the class (seventh-ranked interior offensive lineman and 25th-ranked recruit from Georgia) while On3 rates him as the 258th-ranked recruit in the class (19th-ranked interior offensive lineman and 31st-ranked recruit from Georgia).
Rivals rates him as the 15th-ranked offensive guard and the 51st-ranked recruit from Georgia — holding a 5.7 Rivals Rating.
Pitt will be his first official visit this week, Auburn will be up next over the weekend of June 9, and he’s looking at Georgis Tech and Oklahoma afterward. Pitt has the unique opportunity of being his first official visit, really setting a tone.
It will be his first time in Pittsburgh, and he just wants to be able to see what exactly Pitt has to offer.
“What Pitt is really built on because everybody wants to be on a winning college team, wants a chance to compete for a championship of course, but about feeling at home and trusting the process of everything that they have going on,” Holmes said. “Coach told me that once I get up there, I’ll be able to get a real feel or a real picture for the things that are going on. And it won’t just be fluff or what colleges try to make look good, but a real image of what’s going on.”
Holmes will be joined by a number of highly touted recruits this weekend, including four-star recruits in quarterback Trever Jackson, wide receiver Nick Marsh, defensive end Elias Rudolph, linebacker Gabriel Williams and safety Reggie Powers III — among others.
As of now, Pitt has commitments from three-star offensive linemen in Adham Abouraya and Jiavani Cooley, and Holmes would be a key addition to the class.
