Pitt FB Recruiting
A Perfect Official Visit Led to 2024 3-Star OL Mason Lindsay Deciding Pitt Was It
Dave Borbely met Mason Lindsay and his family at the door. It was an excellent first impression, but even that didn’t compare to Lindsay hearing the music blasting from the Aaron Donald Performance Center.
Pitt was lifting. “Music is blasting, everybody’s getting hype, everybody’s pushing weight, throwing it up in the air, whatever it may be,” Lindsay told PSN. And if there’s one thing Lindsay likes about lifting, it’s a live environment. But it didn’t end there.
He went out to the outdoor practice field and was met by the Steelers conducting OTAs. Lindsay spent time talking to Borbely, Dwayne Scott and even Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer. He toured the facilities, saw the team room and met with Pat Narduzzi. And that was just the beginning of his first day in Pittsburgh.
He got some food, went off the PNC Park and ended his day at Dave & Buster’s with some Pitt players.
He spent Friday doing more of the same, but he also took some official pictures, learned more about Pitt’s academic support systems and the Life Skills program and everything about being a student-athlete at Pitt.
The only thing he needed to see Saturday was the indoor practice facility. He met with Narduzzi for a bit and then he went home. But of course, by Sunday morning, he let the Pitt coaching staff know that he saw all he needed to see. He wanted to be the next Pitt Panther.
1000% COMMITTED💯 #AGTG #H2P @CoachDScott1 @CoachDuzzPittFB @Pitt_FB @RivalsFriedman @DMCoachbrown6 @CoachMcGregor pic.twitter.com/NfkvccRxAg
— Mason lindsay (@MasonLindsay19) June 7, 2023
Lindsay — a 6-foot-7, 300-pound three-star offensive lineman from DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland — hadn’t planned to commit as he made his official visit to Pittsburgh, but it quickly became apparent that he couldn’t deny what he was feeling.
“When I went with some of the players into the city, and I was talking to them, they were like, ‘Yeah, there’s nothing really wrong with this program,’ And it’s like, I’m a city kid. I love the city,” Lindsay said. “And the fact that the practice facility is off in the distance, and the city’s right there. The campus is also in the city. It’s just perfect.”
Scott — Pitt’s newest offensive graduate assistant, who will be working with the offensive linemen — was Lindsay’s staff host, but he spent a lot of time with Terrence Moore, too. And in talking to Moore, he found out a lot about the program.
“I’m a big guy. I hate conditioning, so I asked him how they condition,” Lindsay said. “He’s like, ‘We don’t condition heavy. We don’t condition like crazy.’ Because at my school now while I was gone, they told me they did like, 20 hundreds. And that’s insane to me. And I’m like, ‘How do y’all condition? What do y’all do for conditioning?’
“He’s like, ‘We just run tempos, only 50 yards.’ And that’s perfect. And then I was like, ‘How’s coach Borbs when he’s upset or whatever?’ And he’s like, ‘He’s like any other coach, but usually, it takes a lot to get him upset, and he’s really on point and will make sure that he gets you where you want to go.’ Same with coach Stacc. And their biggest thing was just don’t be late, which. I’m never really late to anything.”
So, Lindsay was convinced. He found the atmosphere, the teammates and the overall family that he was looking for in a college program. And it came on his first official visit. That chance to see how Pitt operates as a program was paramount; it was perhaps the most important part of his visit.
“Just getting to see how a college team like runs everything,” Lindsay said. “Because I’ve always wondered, even on official visits, I always wondered how a program is run. How do they do things? How everything is set up and getting to actually see it. I mean, and again, every school’s gonna have a different setup, but it’s just the pace, the energy, the perfection of everything. It was just amazing to see.”
With his commitment, he’s now the newest Pitt Panther. And that means the world not just to him as a student-athlete but to his family. It’s a weight off not just his shoulders but his entire family.
“I’m proud,” Lindsay said. “I’m happy that I got my parents that weight of having to pay for tuition or financial aid wherever it may be, that weight is off their shoulders now. I won’t have to burden that upon them.”
Pitt’s coaching staff sees him as a tackle, either left or right tackle, it’s still to be determined, but his immense size (6-foot-7, 300 pounds) offers immense potential across the line. And he joins three-star offensive line commits in Adham Abouraya and Jiavani Cooley.
Pitt’s first official visit window, with two commitments still officially unannounced, has produced three-star safety Allen Bryant, three-star cornerback Davion Pritchard and Lindsay.
