Allen Bryant wasn’t planning on committing to Pitt when he arrived this weekend, but he wasn’t able to go home without telling the Pitt staff that he wanted to commit.
And the Pitt coaching staff was more than happy to welcome the 6-foot-1, 170-pound defensive back as the newest Panther.
“I hit it off with coach Sanders,” Bryant told PSN. “It was him when I got there, and he seemed like a real good dude. We got to get in the film room to go over plays and how he thinks I’d fit in the system and their philosophy and how he coaches DBs. It was really good. They allow their DBs to make a lot of plays. That’s why they have so much success back there.”
Bryant — who will spend his senior season at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida — committed to Pitt Saturday morning, and he officially announced his commitment later in the afternoon.
It was Sanders who spent time with Bryant in the facility, but it was P.J. O’Brien — a fellow Floridian — who hosted him in Pittsburgh. Watching film with Sanders and hanging out with O’Brien and the defensive backs made all the difference.
Sanders and the coaching staff see Bryant as a bit of a do-it-all defensive back right now. Sanders said that he would be a fit at the field safety position, but he could also slide outside and play corner, too.
It makes sense considering Bryant’s fluid athleticism and track-star speed. He’s more than capable of pressing a wide receiver off the line, but he’s certainly able to drop back into that centerfielder role in the secondary.
As a junior at Christian Calvary Academy, Bryant racked up 44 tackles (24 solo), an interception, four pass breakups and recovered a fumble. And he returned 15 kickoffs for 347 yards (23.1 yards per attempt) and 18 punts for 192 yards (10.7 yards per attempt). He recorded two touchdowns last season, catching one and returning a kickoff 92 yards for another.
So, while Bryant wasn’t looking to commit during his official visit to Pittsburgh, he was just looking for a place he could call home. He happened to like Pitt, he hit it off right away with Sanders and felt at home hanging out with O’Brien and the defensive backs.
It made sense. And now he’s the newest Pitt Panther commit.
“Hail to Pitt,” Bryant said. “About to get to work and try to win another championship.”
Bryant is the second defensive back Pitt has landed in the class of 2024, joining three-star Tayshawn Banks (Cincinnati, Ohio). And they’ll likely have some company in the near future.
