It would be easy to point to Mason Heintschel as an underwhelming commitment. He isn’t a four-star recruit with a ton of Power Four offers; he’s a two-star, according to Rivals, and Pitt was his only Power Four offer. I get it. I still think he’s going to be a really nice pickup.
Heintschel — a 6-foot-2, 200-pound quarterback from Clay in Oregon, Ohio — looks like he’s the ideal sort of quarterback to play in a Kade Bell offensive scheme.
I can’t claim to know much about the level of talent in northwest Ohio, I know it’s an area that isn’t recruited heavily and Heintschel fell through the cracks a bit, but he’s fun to watch on film. It’s not a habit that he should look to continue as his career progresses, but he has enough natural arm strength to whip throws back across his body. He can drop a 50-yard pass into the bucket on the run. I wouldn’t classify him as a true dual-threat, although it would be easy after watching him run for his life as a junior, but he’s athletic enough to make plays off-platform.
I really like his fit with Bell. We haven’t been able to see exactly what the new offense looks like and won’t be able to do so until Aug. 31, but by all accounts, it’s an offensive scheme that relies upon quick decision-making. Heintschel didn’t always have that luxury as a junior at Clay, forced to escape the pocket and act as a sort of magician, but his gunslinging style of backyard football is what modern college football is all about.
He’s also the first quarterback commit that Bell himself has landed in Pittsburgh.
“(My relationship with Bell has) been awesome,” Heintschel told PSN. “We’ve been able to build a strong relationship, we call each other all the time and it’s been one of those things where it’s right. I’ve known since we’ve been able to build this relationship that it’s the right move for me. And the fact that we’ve been able to grow so close together in this short amount of time has played a big role in this decision.”
I’ve only seen a bit from Heintschel, just what he’s posted on his Hudl highlights, but he certainly does not look like a two-star recruit. I don’t know if it’s legitimately a case of falling through the cracks or what, but it looks like Pitt found a hidden gem. It’s a cliché phrase, but the tape is what you’d expect to see from a kid who has offers from a handful of Power conference offers. It’s hard to watch his tape and not be intrigued by the thought of him playing in an up-tempo offensive scheme designed to highlight its quarterbacks’ strengths. He’s a gunslinger.
Heintschel carried Clay as a junior, racking up over 3,000 yards of total offense and 33 touchdowns despite a lackluster offensive line in front of him, and with a strong summer of competition (and a commitment to a Power Four school), he should enter his senior season with a significantly higher level of hype.
I think the big-time schools will come around on Heintschel. There’s a reason why the Pitt coaching staff waited so long to offer, not wanting other schools to jump into the race, and Heintschel won’t be a hidden gem forever. I’m no quarterback expert, I can’t claim to be able to predict that he’ll have future success, but I like what I see from the young quarterback. I think, at the very least, he’s an intriguing addition to an uncertain room.
Pitt has a new-look quarterback room as it stands, with a couple of new additions this offseason, but Bell has not yet added a quarterback that he’s found himself. It’s a fluid situation — one that still may change again before the start of the 2024 season — but there’s certainly potential, it just remains to be seen whether any of the quarterbacks are a good fit in the scheme.
Nate Yarnell will have the first crack at running the offense, and Eli Holstein and Christian Veilleux are in the mix. All three lack legitimate experience at the college level. Ty Dieffenbach and Julian Dugger (and Holstein) have never taken a college snap. I think Bell will want to build the room himself eventually.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pitt lands two quarterbacks in the class of 2025, two quarterbacks to build upon in the future. Just because Pitt landed Heintschel doesn’t mean that Zollers — or another quarterback — is off the table.
Heintschel really wanted to be a Pitt Panther, and while he isn’t the big, flashy name that gets fans excited, his style of play should. His tape should.
“I just knew as soon as I stepped foot on campus that this was the place for me,” Heintschel said. “It was home. Getting to meet all the coaches and build relationships with them over the past few months and even on that visit, it was just a no-brainer for me.”
Karl, Thanks for an excellent article. Mason sure looks good. Question: what metrics, or other criteria, are used to determined a H.S. player’s “star” status? With ~ 25,000 high schools in the U.S., how can any of these recruiting services possibly rank and rate every player relative to others in the class across the ecountry?
Let’s hope he continues to improve, but does not improve too much before he arrives on campus. Don’t want another Kenny Minchy(?) case where a high budget NIL team comes in and swoops him up before signing day and Pitt is left empty handed.
Karl is correct to assume that some of us might be underwhelmed, but I’m willing to keep an open mind. As you reminded us, this wouldn’t be the first time a QB’s recruitment blew up after verbally committing to Pitt.
With the Zoller’s decision date set, it’s not surprising that Heintschel expedited his decision.