Pitt FB Recruiting
Mason Heintschel Making Impact on Recruiting Front for Pitt
Across the month of June, Pitt has landed a bevy of commitments off of its official visitors and there’s a good chance that Mason Heintschel has had a hand in each of those decisions.
The 6-foot-2 three-star quarterback commit has made a concerted effort to be a leader in the Class of 2025 to reel in as much talent as possible.
“Taking that role is big for anybody, but especially at the quarterback position because I feel like those guys are usually the leaders in the group. I’m trying to do the best I can to bring in the best class,” Heintschel told Pittsburgh Sports Now.
The Oregon, Ohio native was the second prospect to commit in the class and immediately got to work recruiting.
“That’s kind of who I am. The first day that I committed, I texted coach [Kade] Bell and was like, ‘Who are the guys that we’re looking to get?’ I started texting all those kinds of guys,” Heintschel told Pittsburgh Sports Now.
Heintschel’s recruiting role heightened when he made his official visit from June 6-8 – a weekend that produced five commitments.
The guys!! Added a few more to the family this weekend as well. @Pitt_FB @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachDarveau pic.twitter.com/HQSza9rV4I
— Shep Turk (@TurkShep) June 8, 2024
“It’s always great to be back. One of the things me and my parents talk about a lot is whenever we go back, it always solidifies that I made the correct decision. It was a great time and spent a lot of time with our recruits, and as you can see, brought in five guys on my official visit, so that was awesome,” he said.
Three of those commitments came on the offensive side of the ball, which is where Heintschel made his impact on the recruiting front.
“Coach Bell is bringing something really special here. He really preached the fact that they’re going to get the ball in their hands a lot and they’re going to get opportunities to make plays,” Heintschel said. “That was one of my big pitches that, ‘You are going to get the ball a lot and you’re going to have opportunities to score and get your name out there.’”
The first official visit weekend featured a handful of skill position players on the offensive side of the ball that were either already committed or were on their way to making their verbal pledge with three-star tight end Max Hunt, three-star running back Ja’Kyrian Turner, three-star wide receiver DaMarion Fowlkes, three-star wide receiver Bryce Yates and three-star wide receiver Tony Kinsler.
Being around the future of Pitt’s offense allowed Heintschel to envision what it could become.
“I think it’s going to be really special,” he said. “I’ve been able to watch most of those guys’ film and I see a lot of speed and potential from those guys. We have a chance to be an explosive offense. There was a video that [Turner] was showing us of him running a 4.29 at a combine and that’s insane. I realistically think that we’re going to have an explosive offense over the next few years with the guys already at Pitt and the guys coming in.”
While this group might not be on campus together for quite some time, Heintschel was still developing the connection between himself and his future teammates.
“I asked a lot about their families, how their high school seasons went just to get to know each other. I was able to build a really great relationship with Max and DaMarion just over that weekend. It’s great to know we are already building bonds. It’s nice to start that bond early so when we get on campus, we are able to slide into those roles of becoming a family,” he said.
Another topic that Heintschel hit home with recruits was the relationship between the Panthers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“The fact that we share facilities with the Steelers and we’re so connected to them in a type of way – we are the only team in the nation that has that – that’s a really great liberty for us.
“We were taking a tour through the facility and they have a board of guys from Pitt that ended up playing in the NFL. The list for the Steelers is three times bigger than any other team in the NFL. The Steelers see those guys from Pitt working every single day, seeing how they act, seeing how they train and to have that accessibility to an NFL team, that’s one of the biggest things I preached to those guys. Nobody else has that.”
As Heintschel wrapped up a successful official visit, he returned the following weekend to work at Pitt’s camp with coach Bell.
“We came in Saturday morning to get up and meet some of the recruits. Sunday morning went to the camp and it was a great time. It was what coach Bell and I had talked about and I wanted to work with him and that made it easy,” Heintschel said.
That’s also when Heintschel spent time with offensive line commit and WPIAL product Shep Turk, who has also been making an impact recruiting players.
“Shep Turk has been doing a great job as well. He’s a really outgoing guy. He’s one heck of a recruiter,” Heintschel said.
Pitt’s Class of 2025 now sits at 17 total commitments.
Heintschel, Turk, Kinsler, Fowlkes, Hunt, Yates, Turner, along with three-star wide receiver Kha’leal Sterling, three-star offensive linemen Torian Chester (Albany, Ga.) three-star athlete Synkwan Smith (Roswell, Ga.) and three-star Akram Elnagmi (England) make up the offensive commits.
Three-star linebacker Emmanuel Taylor, three-star cornerback Shawn Lee (Harrisburg, Pa.), three-star linebacker Justin Thompson (Olney, Md.), three-star defensive end Julian Anderson (Orlando, Fla.), four-star cornerback Elijah Dotson (Detroit, Mich.) and three-star defensive lineman Trevor Sommers (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) round out the defensive commits.
