Pitt FB Recruiting
Pitt Offers Elite 2025 4-Star Edge Rusher After Strong In-School Visit
Jesse Harrold knew that Pitt had been interested in his play on the football field since last year, but it wasn’t until some Pitt coaches stopped into Robinson High School that he felt that connection.
Pat Narduzzi and Cory Sanders made a trip to Robinson High last week, and they spent some time Friday with Harrold — a 6-foot-5, 230-pound four-star edge rusher in the class of 2025 — during the important recruiting trip to Florida.
“They were seeing where my thought process was,” Harrold told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “They literally had me on the board drawing up all our defensive plays, wanted me to show them how we run our defense and stuff like that.
“It went pretty well. We were building a little relationship through that.”
Of course, after that time together (with Harrold drawing up plays on the whiteboard), Narduzzi and Sanders weren’t able to leave without officially extending an offer to Harrold.
Wow a big day, Blessed to receive an offer from university of Pittsburgh 💙💛 #H2P @CoachLikeMike @coachcsanders @ChadSimmons_ @247Hudson @MohrRecruiting pic.twitter.com/sLlI8hDuyg
— LA Jesse Harrold (@JesseHarrold4) January 19, 2024
Pitt was just the latest school to offer Harrold, joining the likes of Cincinnati, Colorado, UConn, Florida, Florida A&M, Georgia, Penn State, UCF and USF, and quite a few of those offers have arrived over the last couple of weeks.
Harrold is a kid from Florida who has seen some of his peers leave for Pittsburgh, but when it comes to how he feels about Pitt, it comes down to what he’s seen at the NFL level. Aaron Donald, of course.
“When I think of Pitt, at my position, I think of Aaron Donald,” Harrold said. “He’s done great things, and he came from the program, he exceled and is one of — if not the — greatest defensive tackles of all time. So, that meant a lot to me knowing someone of that standard went to that school.”
Donald, who played at Pitt from 2010-13, is coming off his eighth first-team All-Pro campaign in 10 NFL seasons. He’s certainly one of the best defensive players in NFL history, and while it would be easy to point to his success as a draw, there’s been more following in his wake. Calijah Kancey, who was a first round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is coming off a stellar rookie campaign.
But it’s not just a history of putting defensive linemen in the NFL that appeals to Harrold either. He’s seen some of the top local defensive linemen commit to Pitt, and he’s heard enough to feel like he’d be able to fit in up in Pittsburgh.
“I really like how it’s looking up there,” Harrold said. “They don’t look too much into the portal, they look to build with high school kids. I know a D-lineman from my area who went up there last year, he committed there last year, he’s from (Tampa) Tech. It looks to be like a real good environment, and I feel like I would probably be able to fit up there.”
In the age of NIL and the transfer portal, which pits high school recruits against older, more experienced college “recruits,” Harrold has seen how Pitt still prioritizes high schoolers when building for the future.
There’s not currently a date scheduled for a visit at this point, Harrold still has to talk with his high school head coach about figuring out visit plans, but Pitt is certainly one of the schools currently being considered. And it makes sense that Narduzzi and Charlie Partridge are interested.
Harrold was impactful as a junior at Robinson, racking up 42 tackles (26 solo), 18 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, a forced fumble and two recoveries in nine games recorded on MaxPreps.
247Sports rates Harrold as the 205th-ranked recruit in the class (22nd-ranked edge rusher and 23rd-ranked recruit from Florida). He hasn’t been rated by Rivals or On3 at this point, but that will change quickly as his busy spring continues.
Harrold said that he’s hearing from Colorado, Florida and Georgia at this point, but he hasn’t narrowed down any sort of finalists list — or even a visit list. That will come soon, and in a month or two, he said he’ll start narrowing down a list of contenders, considering he’s still picking up offers.
“I would have to be able to fit the program, and I’m not necessarily saying I want to be a starter Day 1, I’m very grateful for any way I can grind to get to my spot, but I want to make sure I fit the program and like the school so I can get my education also,” Harrold said.
Pitt, who is still pretty new in his recruiting chase, will have to get Harrold on campus in the next few weeks and months to have a shot with the talented edge rusher, but it doesn’t appear as though the Panthers are on the outside at all at this point in his recruitment.
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).
