Pitt FB Recruiting
Early National Signing Day Presents New Challenges for Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Staff
Early National Signing Day in college football looms just a week from Wednesday, and Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers will welcome their class of 2025 recruits.
Pitt sits firm with 22 commits in the class following the loss of consensus four-star defensive back Elijah Dotson and it’s expected that the Panthers will sign each verbal pledge.
The three-day signing window was shifted to Dec. 4, nearly three weeks earlier than last year’s date, which is presenting some new challenges for Narduzzi and his staff.
“It’s the worst recruiting calendar that’s ever been made,” Narduzzi said last Thursday. “We whine about it as coaches in the ACC. I usually I go in the committee meeting and its usually after we’ve gone out on the road and saw all these kids. It’s usually maybe the Monday before singing day but I’ve been in everybody’s home. I’m usually in every kid that we sign’s home.”
With signing day coming four days after the regular season finale against Boston College, the limited time frame prevents Narduzzi from taking his traditional in-home visits before the prospects put pen to paper.
Pitt 2025 commits Denim Cook and Trevor Sommers.
“I will not have been in any of these kids’ homes, so I have less information from them just about who these kids are, how they live, the support they have at home,” Narduzzi said.
In ten years as a head coach, Narduzzi likes taking the time to visit with the families of future Pitt players.
“It was always comforting to me to be in that home, meet that whole family, meet the brothers and sisters. The aunts and uncles would come over and it would be a big party when you do those home visits and you get to see everybody. You always walked out of those visits saying, ‘What a great visit, great people and you want that guy in your program,” Narduzzi said.
While the first signing day sits in unfavorably early, there’s an explanation behind the move and it has to do with the transfer portal opening to following Monday, Dec. 9.
“The whole reason to move this whole thing up was to get ahead of the portal opening up because the portal is so important,” Narduzzi said. “The NCAA wanted to make sure that people signed high school kids and then dropped kids. Last year there was a few programs that dropped five or six or seven kids that thought they were signing and didn’t.
“If people can’t do business the right way, then penalize them. It should hurt them in recruiting. It shouldn’t be, ‘Let’s move it up and mess up the whole recruiting process.’ I think it’s not done the right way.”
Narduzzi’s ideal signing day would be during the summer following official visit season.
“I’m hoping next year, the signing day is moved up to the end of June, which is where it should be and give us the opportunity to go on the road and at least get in these homes,” he said.
According to the On3 Industry Comparison, Pitt holds the 47th-ranked Class of 2025. Nearly the entire class announced their commitments in the summer following the June official visits and Pitt has seen just one player back off their pledge. Throughout Pitt’s season, Narduzzi and his staff have taken the time to check in on some of their recruits.
“We’ve got a great relationship with our kids and built it on their visit.”
Once the regular season comes to a close for Pitt and signing day comes and goes, Narduzzi intends on visiting each recruit, but it just happens to come after they sign to make them officially a Panther.
“We’re going to try to get them done in December during bowl prep, I’m going to try and shoot out and try and see every one of our kids like we do. I want to get in everybody’s home. Old-school, I want to know where they come from, I want to be there. I want to spend the time and get out there. That’s the plan right now as long as we can swing it,” Narduzzi said.
