Ty Dieffenbach traveled across the country to come play for the Pitt Panthers, but his new home will be quite a lot closer.
Dieffenbach — a 6-foot-6, 215-pound quarterback from Calabasas, Calif. — committed to Cal Poly to continue his football career, he announced on social media Friday night. He entered the transfer portal earlier this month.
It’s a nice landing spot for Dieffenbach, who was surpassed on the depth chart by walk-on David Lynch late in the season. Lynch himself was benched in the bowl game for true freshman Julian Dugger.
Dieffenbach initially committed to Pitt as a three-star quarterback out of Agoura High in the class of 2023, flipping from UNLV close to early National Signing Day. He was brought in by former offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.
He didn’t see the field during his two seasons in Pittsburgh, serving as QB4 this season. When Pitt went down Eli Holstein and Nate Yarnell in the second half against Louisville, it was Lynch who entered the game in relief.
“When it just came down to the focus every single day in practice and the details, when you get your snaps, you’ve got to make your snaps worthwhile,” Narduzzi said at his weekly presser. “And it just seemed like we weren’t getting what we wanted out of Ty right now. And again business decisions. I don’t care if you’re a walk-on or scholarship player. I’d, obviously, love to — I don’t care.
“Go back to Sam Scarton starting at kicker instead of Ben Sauls. Which, we knew Ben was a phenomenal kicker back when he was a freshman, but you’ve got to put it through the yellow uprights. We’re playing the best players. We’re trying to win football games. We felt David gave us the best chance of winning right now.”
Dieffenbach, who said he has four seasons of eligibility remaining, will have the opportunity to compete for the starting spot in a room that didn’t have a lot of success this season.
Pitt is set to return Eli Holstein and Dugger, with early enrollee Mason Heintschel entering the mix.
