Senior Season of High School Prepared Pitt Wide Receiver Bryce Yates

The end of Pitt football early enrollee Bryce Yates’ high school career unfolded differently than imagined, but it prepared the wide receiver for what lies ahead.

During his childhood, Yates quickly assumed the role as quarterback, but when it was time to reach ninth grade, the Colonial Heights, Va. native transitioned to the receiving end of the ball.

Recruited as a receiver, Yates compiled double-digit Division I offers by the end of his junior season in which he totaled 1,193 yards and 18 touchdowns before committing to Pitt. As his final season of high school ball arrived, he returned to his roots when Matoaca needed him to pay quarterback.

Pitt WR Bryce Yates with head coach Pat Narduzzi. Photo courtesy of Yates’ X account.

“Our quarterback, he was dynamic my junior year and I had an outstanding season and that was his last year,” Yates said last week. “We didn’t have any quarterbacks heading into my senior year and my head coach, he had a talk with me and was like, ‘How you feel about going back to quarterback?’ I knew that’s what it would take for my team to win and that’s what I did. I stepped up and played quarterback for my team to win.”

Yates thrived in his return as signal caller, completing 143-of-256 passes (56%) for 2,176 yards and 26 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He also added 388 rushing yards and seven touchdowns as Matoaca went 10-2 on the year.

When originally approached with the idea of forgoing his future position at wide receiver for a full season, Yates had some doubts about how the Pitt coaching staff would feel. However, he received full support from the Panthers.

“At first, I was a little worried about how Pitt would feel about me playing quarterback and then coming here and playing receiver, but they handled it pretty well. They still believed in me to come play receiver, so that gave me confidence,” Yates said.

Pitt wide receiver coach JJ Laster was more than OK with Yates playing quarterback as it showed his team-first approach.

“Bryce played wide receiver his junior year, but his senior year, he played quarterback. He was doing whatever you got to do to help his team win. I love that about him because he’s a team player and put his team first,” Laster said on early National Signing Day.

While stepping up at quarterback, Yates put in double the work in order to stay sharp at receiver.

“At practice in high school as I was playing quarterback, I would throw. After I would throw, I would go run a route at receiver. I never stopped running routes and doing things like that. Even on the off days, I still ran routes, still did receiver work. I never stopped playing receiver, it was just in games I was quarterback,” he said.

🤮🤮🤮 pic.twitter.com/wy16Duho4f

— Bryce Yates (@brycetheathlete) March 19, 2024

As a receiver, taking the opportunity to play quarterback during his final season allowed Yates to develop a greater sense of understanding and awareness when it comes to opposing defenses.

“It really just helped me be able to read coverages, memorize the plays. Here, I caught on to the playbook pretty fast and I feel like playing quarterback was the main reason I caught on that fast.” Yates said.

Since the 6-foot, 160-pound three-star receiver arrived early on campus at Pitt, he has jumped into a receiver-friendly offense that he believes will benefit him and the rest of his unit.

“It lets you showcase your talents,” Yates said. “A lot of route running. Gives you a lot of options to run routes and showcase your skills.

“The opportunities. It was a lot of receivers that got different opportunities. They spread the ball around. We had a lot of receivers that were getting targets and that stood out to me.”

Check out Bryce Yates’ junior receiving highlights here.