Pitt FB Recruiting
Former Western Carolina QB Cole Gonzales Commits to Oklahoma
The Pitt Panthers received a bit of a recruiting surprise on Christmas morning.
Former Western Carolina quarterback Cole Gonzales was thought to be a Pitt lean considering his relationship with Pitt OC Kade Bell, but he decided to go in a different direction.
This morning, Gonzales made the decision to commit to the Oklahoma Sooners over joining the Pitt Panthers.
BREAKING: Western Carolina transfer QB Cole Gonzales has Committed to Oklahoma, he tells @on3sports
The 6’1 205 QB has totaled 6,682 yards & 51 TDs through 3 seasons
2023 SoCon POY, 2x 1st Team All SoCon
2 years of eligibility remaining https://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/af66k6rUIZ
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 25, 2024
Gonzales traveled to Pittsburgh on December 18th to make an official visit and that’s when he received an offer from Pitt. Following his visit, PSN spoke with Gonzales who made nothing but good things to say about Pitt and Bell.
“When I first got in the portal, Kade was the first guy to call me and my eyes lit up, my heart started pounding and I got super excited,” said Gonzales. “While talking to him, he told me that he wanted to get me up here, meet Coach Narduzzi and it all was a dream come true because it’s all kids dream to play at the highest level and the ACC is bigtime football.”
“Coach Kade Bell is one of the smartest football coaches that I’ve ever been around my entire life. I’ve been around football my entire life with my dad being a coach himself. He just gets it. He works his butt off every day and works with the guys that he has. He understands the playmakers that he has and what their abilities are and how to put them in a position to do well. He’s run this offense for a long time and yeah, it was his first year in an ACC program, so it takes time to develop it. Coach Bell is a great offensive coordinator and knows how to get his playmakers the ball and in space to work. He knows how to dial up an offense and read a defense like the back of his hand so just give him time. Once he gets the right guys, this thing will roll.”
“I have a bunch of former teammates and staff members here that have welcomed me with open arms,” said Gonzales. “And overall, the Pitt players and all the coaches have been super welcoming and super nice, which really stands out to me and tells me the type of community Pittsburgh has. As a player, you want to go into a program that is welcoming, that believes in you and is willing to work with you. Pitt is an outstanding program, and I just feel blessed that I have the opportunity to possibly come here to play.”
Well two days after his visit to Pitt, Gonzales received a phone call that ended up cementing his recruitment and that was from Brent Venables and Oklahoma.
This is no doubt an interesting decision considering Gonzales is heading to a similar situation at Pitt that he would’ve entered at Pitt.
Eli Holstein will be Pitt’s starter in 2025 and in all likelihood, Oklahoma’s starting quarterback next season will be former Washington State star quarterback John Mateer. The new Sooners offensive coordinator is former Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
The 29-year-old Arbuckle has worked with Mateer over the last two seasons.
With this news, Pitt will re-start their search for a capable backup for Holstein.
