Pitt Football
Pitt DE Joey Zelinsky Continuing Blue Mountain Legacy

Joey Zelinsky’s phone rang as his plane touched down in Memphis about a month ago. He was in town to visit one of his top collegiate choices but knew he needed to answer the phone.
“Hey, let’s get all those other visits canceled,” Pitt defensive line coach Tim Daoust said on the other side of the phone. “Let’s get you up here.”
Zelinsky — a 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive lineman from Cressona, Pa. — wasn’t initially considering the Panthers, since he hadn’t heard much from the coaching staff, but things change quickly in the transfer portal. He told Daoust yes, of course, and made the trip with his mother.
He hasn’t left since.
“I really wanted to take all of my visits because I was down to Memphis, Pitt and JMU, but then we got into the Xs and Os, and the scheme, you could tell that Pitt really depends on the D-line to make plays and it’s not much reading, it’s kind of just going,” Zelinsky said Wednesday on the South Side. “That’s what I really like, it’s simple, you can play violent and do your job.”
Zelinsky entered the transfer portal on Dec. 24 after three seasons at Eastern Michigan (and two more at Hudson Valley Community College before that) and committed to Pitt a little under two weeks later.
It didn’t hurt that Zelinsky went to Blue Mountain High with Gavin Bartholomew either.
After Zelinsky heard from Daoust, the first person he called was Bartholomew. They talked for a bit, with Bartholomew promising to vouch for his former teammate, and he wasn’t ready to let Zelinsky commit anywhere else.
“I kept telling him, ‘I’ve got these other schools I want to visit,’” Zelinsky said. “And he was like, ‘Bro, you’d be dumb not to go to Pitt.’ So, he was kind of just telling me how good Pitt is.”
Pitt worked out on a personal level, returning a little bit closer to home at a place that already feels like home, but the situation on the field is pretty ideal, too. The Panthers lost a lot in the portal and to graduation, and that includes a veteran leader like Nate Matlack. Matlack, who transferred in from Kansas State last offseason, emerged as a leader and key contributor. Zelinsky is looking to do the same.
“It’s kind of like a see it and go, there’s no real reactions,” Zelinsky said. “When you watch it on film, the D-line is just flying around trying to make plays. That’s what I really like.”
Zelinsky has played a lot of football in his life. He prides himself on his knowledge of the game, perhaps above all else, and that translates on the field. He’s a big, sturdy run defender with enough power to get past opposing tackles on the outside.
The idea of continuing the legacy of the Pitt defensive line was hard to ignore, too.
“Obviously the biggest name is Aaron Donald,” Zelinsky said. “I would say he paved the way for Pitt, but coming through, JT — he comes through all the time, Jaylen Twyman, he helps us in the film room. He’s like a secondary coach, just picking up knowledge from a guy like that is an honor.”
He feels like he owes it not just to himself, but to the guys like Donald and Twyman who came before him, to be great. It’s a lot of pressure, sure, but Zelinsky has waited his turn. He’s proud of his MAC roots, but it’s a different level of ball in the ACC.
The goal now, with one season of eligibility remaining, is to do whatever he can to elevate the room. He doesn’t want to step on any toes, so he’s putting his head down and working hard and leading by example. Everything in football is earned.
Just like he earned the chance to play for Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt Panthers.
“(Narduzzi is) obviously a defensive guy but walking into his office, he was super excited to have me there,” Zelinsky said. “And when he brought up me and Gavin going to the same high school, he said, ‘I never thought I’d have two Blue Mountain guys in here.’”
