Pitt FB Recruiting
2025 3-Star Athlete Target Taking Official Visit to Pitt
Emmanuel Taylor made it out to Pitt for a spring practice earlier this month, meeting the coaching staff for the first time, and he’ll be making it back in the near future.
Taylor — a 6-foot-2, 195-pound athlete from Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, Va. in the class of 2025 — announced Thursday that he will be taking an official visit to Pitt from June 20-22.
He narrowed down a list of offers that included Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Duke, East Carolina, Liberty, Marshall and Virginia Tech to just three back in January: ECU, Liberty and Pitt. And Pitt is the first school that he’s scheduled for an official visit.
Locked in for my official visit with the University of Pittsburgh between June 20th-22nd #H2P @Coach_Manalac @QPayton @NCAAFNation247 @Pitt_FB pic.twitter.com/ykjcxFmDW6
— Emmanuel “Manny” Taylor (@EmmanuelKT4) March 21, 2024
Pitt extended an offer to Taylor back in November, with then-running backs coach and special teams coordinator Andre Powell serving as a lead recruiter for the Virginia recruit, but it’s Ryan Manalac who has spearheaded his recruiting process for the Panthers. And it was Manalac he spent time with on March 8.
“My decision to come visit Pitt was me wanting to get face-to-face interactions with the coaching staff in order to build connections with each individual,” Taylor told Pittsburgh Sports Now earlier this month. “Also, to see the landscape of the university that I might attend for the next three to four years. My current relationship with the Panthers staff is decent, but it was grown over the last few days.
“I previously communicated with coach [Andre] Powell and coach [Pat] Narduzzi and hope that the communication and connection grow more in the future.”
It makes sense why Manalac is interested. Taylor possesses good size, and as he’s played wide receiver and linebacker at the high school level, he’s likely to be recruited for both positions. But he looks like a Star linebacker when it comes to the Panthers — serving as an athletic, rangy option.
He was an explosive defensive playmaker for Green Run in 2023, racking up 120 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, four sacks and six touchdowns, and his athleticism flashes just about every time he steps on the football field.
247Sports rates Taylor as the 100th-ranked athlete and 24th-ranked recruit from Virginia, and while neither Rivals nor On3 have ranked him, it’s only a matter of time.
It was important for Pitt to get Taylor on campus, which has already been accomplished with an unofficial visit, and now the official visit will go a long way in determining how the relationship winds up going. June is still a ways away, but it appears to be trending in the right direction.
“The thing that interests me most about Pitt is the love and culture that they have amongst the establishment,” Taylor said. “I would love to be surrounded by individuals that represent and take those two things seriously as I do.”
Taylor is one of a handful of 2025 targets that have announced plans for an official visit, and there will be many more in the coming weeks and months. Pitt has landed one commitment from the class of 2025, three-star defensive lineman Trevor Sommers (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).
