Pitt FB Recruiting
Pitt ‘Felt Like Home’ for 2025 WPIAL Offensive Line Target
Jaiden Brown-Demery is familiar with Pitt considering he’s a hometown kid, but he hadn’t actually been in for any sort of visit since he was a freshman. That changed with a Junior Day visit over the weekend.
Brown-Demery — a 6-foot-4, 345-pound athlete from West Mifflin High in West Mifflin, Pa. — was able to connect with the new coaching staff for the first time in person.
“It was great,” Brown-Demery told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “I liked it down there. It felt like home. I’m older now, I see how different it is. It’s not the same view as when I was younger. I see it as a better opportunity to play and to be able to go down there and talk to coaches.”
Great TIME yesterday in the HOMETOWN ain’t nothing like home they say 🏡 I really enjoyed myself BIG TIME #H2P @On3Recruits @MaxPreps @PghSportsNow @Pitt_FB @CoachDarveau @Kb1Raw @CoachDuzzPittFB 🅿️ITT LETS GO 🅿️ITT 🔵🟡🔵🟡 pic.twitter.com/oSFcmD2Q0O
— Jaiden Brown-Demery (@Juice_55_OTM) February 4, 2024
Jeremy Darveau is still new as the Pitt offensive coordinator, just getting moved in over the last week or so, but he’s been able to build a connection with Brown-Demery over the last couple of weeks. There’s a good relationship already in place.
Brown-Demery was offered by Pitt just last month, naming the Panthers to his top four, but it’s been good so far — even with a new offensive staff. There were introductions Saturday afternoon.
“The offensive coordinator, we had a little meeting and everybody was in there,” Brown-Demery said. “The offensive coordinator came out, talked, talked about his coaching staff because he’s new, too, and he has a different coaching style. It’s going to be very dominant, fast, physical, so he was really just introducing himself.”
When it comes to Brown-Demery, who has good talks with Darveau about what it means to be a Pitt offensive lineman (the “gorillas” of a football team, low, long arms, fast and powerful), he’s the type of lineman that Darveau is looking to mold into a Panther.
Brown-Demery served as a key offensive and defensive lineman for West Mifflin as a junior, helping the Titans to a 7-5 record, and he earned Defensive Lineman of the Year and All-Section honors for his play.
The major recruiting services (247Sports, Rivals and On3) haven’t rated Brown-Demery yet, but as his recruiting process has picked up over the last month, that should be changing throughout the spring.
He holds offers from Bowling Green, Duke, Pitt, Temple, Toledo and West Virginia, and he’s hearing a lot from Akron, Duke and Penn State right now. There will be some unofficial visits added to the schedule shortly, and he just wants to opportunity to check out schools for himself, build one-on-one relationships with coaching staffs and see if he’d be a fit.
Pitt has done a good job of meeting those requirements so far, still firmly in his top four, and he won’t soon forget about the Panthers.
“I still love it, feel good,” Brown-Demery said. “I definitely think (the relationship) progressed. I liked getting to talk to the coaches. Being able to talk to the coaches one-on-one, being able to talk about how they coach and all of that.”
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).
