Pitt FB Recruiting
Pitt Commit Juelz Goff Praises Team’s Culture During Official Visit
Uncommitted players garner a majority of the talk amongst fans when it comes to official visit weekend as they anticipate their favorite teams next commitment.
However, these weekends in June also belong to players that have already given a verbal commitment to a team and that was the case this weekend with Juelz Goff.
Goff is a three-star running back from York, Pennsylvania, who committed to Pitt back in January. He was in Pittsburgh for his official visit this weekend and spent quality time with his future coaches and teammates.
The past three days were different for Goff than the uncommitted players touring Pitt as he’s already decided where he’s going to spend the next few years. So instead of heavily examining aspects of the university and trying to form opinions on certain things, Goff was able to relax a bit more and actually served as a recruiter for the Pitt coaches.
“Obviously, I’m committed to Pitt, so my main focus was to comfort some of the other guys and inform them about what I’ve experienced,” said Goff. “Also, just talk to them about some of the coaches that they haven’t met yet or might be new to. So, yeah, this was a very comfortable weekend for me. I was also getting myself comfortable with the Pitt system and understanding some of the Pitt coaches, since I was having the chance to be around them for consecutive days. I thought that was a very good experience for me.”
While he was spending time with fellow recruits, Goff also made sure to point out that the Pitt coaches did a good job of spending time with him as they continue to build a relationship. National Signing Day isn’t until December, so the recruiting has to continue despite an early commitment.
“I spent a good amount of time with Coach Powell and a lot of the other coaches were around too like Coach Borbs and a lot of the other assistants spent time talking to me,” he said. “They spent time with me and my family trying to get that bond strengthened. I am verbally committed to Pitt, but they want to make sure things stay good.”
“One thing that I learned this weekend was about the coaches. Sometimes it’s different when you just meet someone for just a day versus consecutive days. When you just meet someone for a day, they might act a certain way but not really be like that all the time and in everyday life. For the past 3 days I was around the Pitt staff, and they were the same way all the time. They were real and weren’t faking it. I learned how genuine the Pitt coaches are and that was the biggest thing I took from the weekend.”
The other thing that Goff took from his past few days is that the Pitt football program is trending upward. He said that those at Pitt for official visits genuinely felt the excitement about what’s happening, and it starts with the head coach.
“Most definitely. The culture there is amazing. Coach Narduzzi is for real,” said Goff. “Most people or players can’t accept someone being honest and real but that’s what he’s all about. 100% of the time, he tells you what the truth is and is transparent with you no matter what. He doesn’t just tell you what you want to hear. I think that’s what a lot of parents and players are seeing, and they like it. I just really felt the excitement there and the other players did too. I just feel like everything is falling into place for Pitt right now.”
The final thing we talked about is the success Pitt has with getting a commitment from a player, once they get them on campus for an official visit. The past two weekends, 10 players committed to Pitt following their visit. I asked Goff if he can try and explain that? Why does it happen?
“To be honest with you, it’s nothing outrageous,” said Goff. “It’s the Pitt culture, it’s the coaches, the brotherhood of the players, you can see and feel it. You had Aaron Donald working out in the weight room. He came back to work out at Pitt on his own. That goes to show you what the culture of Pitt is…”
“The coaches are genuine. Each individual coach is a genuine guy. A few other schools that I visited, there might be one or two guys that were like that. But with Pitt, there wasn’t one coach that was off, and I think a lot of players feel and see that. Pitt coaches are honest and transparent, and I think that’s a big reason why they have such a high percentage rate of commitments after official visits.”
