Pitt FB Recruiting
Pitt Jumps Into Fray for Versatile Class of 2025 3-Star ATH
Tamez Young has a decision when it comes to where he’ll be playing at the college level. Obviously, he’ll need to pick a school to spend the next three or four years, but he’ll need to pick a position, too.
Young — a 6-foot-4, 215-pound three-star athlete from Robinson High in Tampa, Fla. — is being recruited by college coaches as a tight end and a linebacker at this point, and he still isn’t sure where he’ll end up. The Pitt coaches see him as a jumbo linebacker.
Young picked up a Pitt offer from Pat Narduzzi and Cory Sanders during an in-school visit at Robinson, and it was an excellent first impression.
“It makes me feel good,” Young told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “Had the head coach, got to have a good conversation with him.”
Blessed to receive an offer from the university of Pittsburgh!!🔵🟡 #H2P @coachcsanders @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachLikeMike @JeremyO_Johnson @adamgorney pic.twitter.com/eHrgqmqJd9
— TAMEZ “MEZ” YOUNG (@TamezYoung1) January 19, 2024
Narduzzi and Sanders stopped into Robinson and both coaches chopped it up with the big athlete. It was the first time that Young talked with the Pitt coaching staff in person.
“(Narduzzi) talked about how he loved my film, and he was telling me a lot about the school, basically how they run things and stuff like that,” Young said.
“They said they see me as a linebacker. I feel like me playing linebacker, that’s just, at the end of the day … that’s the kind of decision I still have, do I wanna play tight end or linebacker?”
At this point in his recruiting process, with offers from East Carolina, Florida, Florida A&M, FAU, Indiana, Rutgers, Toledo, USF and West Virginia, schools are split on his future. Some view him as an option offensively and defensively, and some view him as one or the other.
Young just wants to go out there and play football. He was a dynamic receiver threat as a junior at Robinson, racking up a team-high 32 receptions for 480 yards (14.7 yards per reception) and six touchdowns. And he added 32 tackles (16 solo), four tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup defensively.
247Sports rates Young as the 664th-ranked recruit in the class (33rd-ranked tight end and 92nd-ranked recruit from Florida) while On3 rates him as the 606th-ranked recruit in the class (29th-ranked tight end and 82nd-ranked recruit from Florida).
Narduzzi and Sanders mentioned the potential for a visit in the near future, but there aren’t any definitive plans at this point. Young has to check in with his high school head coach and figure out when a visit would work best.
Aside from the recent interest from Pitt, Young is hearing from Florida, Rutgers and West Virginia the most. He’s taking a Junior Day visit to Florida this weekend, and he plans to be active this spring when it comes to checking out schools interested in him, which includes the Panthers.
“I love the program a lot,” Young said. “I like what coach Duzz is doing over there. I love it a lot, so they definitely up there at the top.”
Pitt has not yet landed a commitment in the class of 2025, but the recruits in the class are beginning to come to the forefront.
The Panthers are in the mix for four-star linebacker Dayshaun Burnett (Pittsburgh, Pa.), three-star athlete Emmanuel Taylor (Virginia Beach, Va.), three-star offensive lineman Raphael Greene (Cincinnati, Ohio), four-star wide receiver Jadyn Robinson (San Juan Capistrano, Cal.), three-star running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. (Woodbridge, Va.) and three-star edge rusher Sharlandiin Strange (Wyncote, Pa).
