Pitt FB Recruiting
2026 3-Star S Isaac Patterson Has Pitt ‘At the Top’ of His Board
Isaac Patterson received a rather pleasant surprise right before leaving the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex with his dad Saturday night.
Pitt linebackers coach Ryan Manalac set it in motion on Friday morning, visiting Patterson — a 6-foot, 185-pound three-star safety from Westerville South in Westerville, Ohio — at school. The pair talked for about 45 minutes, mainly about life at Pitt, and he invited Patterson to Junior Day on Saturday.
So, Patterson and his dad made sure to make the three-hour trip out to Pittsburgh. It was the first time since a camp appearance last summer, and it went well. Patterson expected to receive an offer sooner or later, considering the relationship has continued since the camp appearance, but when he didn’t receive an offer before heading to the Pitt vs. Clemson basketball game, he figured it just wasn’t his day.
But he was in for a surprise. Patterson spent the majority of the day with secondary coach Archie Collins and safeties coach Cory Sanders.
“During the basketball game, during halftime, they had wings for us. So, me and my dad sat down and coach Sanders sat down, and we just talked that entire time. He just wanted to learn more about me and my play style and why I am the way that I am.
“So, then on the way back, we got off the bus at the facility, and I went to dap up coach Collins because I was getting ready to leave, and he said to just wait here for a second. He waited for coach Manalac to come over. Coach Manalac thanked my dad for bringing me, thanked me for coming and then just broke up the news that I had been offered. And it was really a surreal feeling.”
Pitt joined Akron, Bucknell, Dartmouth, Miami (Oh.), Penn and Toledo in extending an offer so far.
After a great junior day visit and conversations with @Coach_Manalac and @coachcsanders , I’m blessed to say i’ve received my 7th D1 offer from @Pitt_FB ! pic.twitter.com/1iZ8N4UM0n
— Isaac Patterson 3⭐️ (@IsaacPatt_) January 18, 2025
Patterson camped at Pitt last summer, earning praise from Narduzzi, Collins and Sanders, and he heard from the coaching staff throughout the rest of the summer. But the relationship picked up recently when Manalac gave his phone number to Sanders.
Manalac started the relationship, but it’s Sanders who would be Patterson’s position coach at Pitt.
“They see me strictly as a safety,” Patterson said. “Coach Sanders told me because of my speed and my frame and obviously playing both sides of the ball in high school, I have really good ball skills. That’s all they really look for in a DB. He said I check all the boxes and check all of them really well.”
Patterson watched quite a bit of Pitt this season, attending the season opener against Kent State and watching the Syracuse and Clemson games on television, and he liked what he saw from the Panthers.
“I think that’s one of the perfect systems for me,” Patterson said. “That Cover 4 defense, the way that they let their safeties play, they just let them play ball. And obviously that’s all that I want to do.”
Patterson was a two-way star for Westerville South as a junior, leading the team with 24 receptions for 460 yards (19.2 yards per reception) and four touchdowns. And he racked up 52 tackles, three tackles for loss, an interception and seven pass breakups. But his future is on defense.
247Sports rates Patterson as the 65th-ranked safety and 60th-ranked recruit from Ohio. Rivals and On3 haven’t ranked Patterson yet, but it’s likely only a matter of time with the way his recruiting process is growing.
Patterson has been hearing from Cincinnati and Boston College, and since picking up the offer from Pitt, he’s heard from Liberty, Minnesota, Nebraska, Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Ball State.
He’s looking for two things at the next level: decent playing time as a freshman and proximity to home — no more than five or six hours away.
Pitt is standing out early in the process for more reasons than one, too.
“I don’t think you can ask for much more,” Patterson said. “They develop their guys. You can tell they have a genuine relationship with all of the players, and they send guys to the league, which is also really important. They have ties to the Steelers, which no other program can say they have ties to an NFL team like that. And it’s just the rich history of the school. It’s just amazing.”
There’s a history at Pitt, an opportunity to reach the level of football he’s dreamed about, but there’s also a coaching staff that has already made an impact.
“They’re definitely at the top of my board, especially because coach Sanders is such a genuine guy,” Patterson said. “He has a ton of experience, and he really cares for his guys. He knows everything down to the littlest details. He was telling me about how he can just tell when players aren’t playing their best and what makes them play their best. He was telling me how Donovan (McMillon), how he knew what his best playing weight was and if he went over a certain weight, he wasn’t going to play his best. And that really is just a testament to how much he knows his guys. And I think that’s really important to me.”
