Former Top Pitt Target, 4-Star DE Decommits From Washington

Pitt was a finalist for Dominic Kirks the first time around, but he ended up committing to Washington. He decommitted Friday night after head coach Kalen DeBoer accepted the coaching vacancy at Alabama.

Kirks — a 6-foot-5, 250-pound four-star defensive lineman from Riverside High in Painesville, Ohio — chose Washington back in June over Pitt, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Nebraska.

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.

He whittled down an offer list that included Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. And it appeared, at the time, that Pitt was in pretty good shape to land the talented edge rusher.

Kirks took his first official visit over the summer to Pittsburgh, and it couldn’t have gone much better.

“I’ll rate the visit a 10 out of 10,” Kirks told PSN after the visit. “Throughout the weekend, I just felt the genuine care and the love that the coaches have for their players. I also felt the care that the players on the team had for the recruits that were visiting. They didn’t have to do everything they did for us when they hosted us. Nahki Johnson, the defensive end, he was my host and was a real good guy. He gave me great advice and he was open to every question I had. Which was a great thing because he wasn’t sugarcoating anything.

“He was really telling me about how everything works. From Nahki, I was trying to find out what the biggest adjustment was and whether was it more mental or physical. He told me that mental was definitely harder. I also asked him how much Coach Partridge really care for his players and he said that he cares about his players more than anything. He told me that Coach Partridge cares just as much about developing his players as young men as he does developing them as players. That was very important to me.

With excellent size and length (6-foot-5, 250 pounds), he’s a threat to blow by offensive linemen on the edge or power through them on the inside. And it’s easy to see why Partridge and the coaching staff value him.

In just eight games recorded on MaxPreps, Kirks racked up 43 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, eight sacks and two pass breakups — capping off a dominant high school career with another strong campaign.

247Sports rates Kirks as the 251st-ranked recruit in the class (33rd-ranked defensive lineman and the 12th-ranked recruit from Ohio) while Rivals rates him as the 138th-ranked recruit in the class (15th-ranked strongside defensive end and fifth-ranked recruit from Ohio.

Kirks received offers from USC, Maryland and Michigan State since he originally committed to Washington, and according to a report from Eleven Warriors’ Garrick Hodge, he will be taking a visit to Ohio State this weekend.

Ohio State is obviously the team to watch, considering the Buckeyes’ pull to in-state stars, but Charlie Partridge may try to jump back into the fray.

Pitt added five defensive linemen in the class of 2024, including four-stars in Jahsear Whittington, Francis Brewu and Sincere Edwards, but Kirks would be a valuable addition.