Pitt FB Recruiting
Pine-Richland Coach on Why Pitt Should be Excited About Commit John Curran III
It was a long time coming for Pine-Richland offensive lineman John Curran III and his opportunity to commit to Pitt.
Curran camped at Pitt the past couple of years and assistant coaches Cory Sanders and Jeremy Darveau had checked him out throughout the past couple of months as well. It all led to an official visit invite, an offer and the eventual commitment to his childhood team.
Since the start of his junior season, Curran built an offer sheet of over 20 schools, but Pitt came in as the first Power Four offer.
Pine-Richland head coach Jon LeDonne stood witness to the hard work and determination that led Curran from a WPIAL champion and All-State offensive lineman to a Pitt recruit.
Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with LeDonne to go in-depth on why Pitt should be excited about Curran.
Q: I don’t know if you’ve had any conversations with him, but what was it like seeing and hearing him commit to Pitt?
“Just an exciting time for he and his family. He got the call from Coach Narduzzi when we were on the practice field last week telling him they really loved what they saw during the college showcase we had at Pine, and then what he did down there at their camp sealed the deal for him. He and his dad took the call from Coach Narduzzi at practice. Just a lot of tears of joy with all of his hard work and commitment he put in over the years. They spent this past weekend down at Pitt and loved everything about it.”
Pine-Richland offensive lineman and Pitt commit John Curran III. Photo courtesy of Curran’s Instagram account.
Q: Talk about John as a player. We see the videos of him throwing around crazy weight, but talk about him and what he brings on the field.
“He’s just an old school ground it and pound it kind of guy. He has that weight-room strength that he applies on the field. Every time he makes contact with someone, they’re going backwards and on the ground and he finishes guys through contact. Anytime you have a tough running back like Mac Miller in the backfield and got a guy like John leading the way for him, it’s exciting for sure.”
Q: What type of character guy is he? What’s he like off the field, on the sideline?
“He’s a gentle giant. Great heart. Puts his teammates before himself. Great kid. High academic kid in the classroom. Very well respected by his peers. The rising senior group is a very tight-knit group and a lot of that is because of him and what he does and how he treats everybody. He’s always the first one to step up anytime I send out a volunteer opportunity out in our community. He and his brother, his dad, family are some of the first people to step up, so I can’t say enough about how he was brought up with his mom and dad and how they raised him and just the great character kid he is.”
Q: He gets the Pitt offer this week and gets the invite to the official visit, but what was it like seeing him go through the process where he was picking up so many offers from FCS, Mid-American conference schools?
“Like you said, it was a process. He was a first-year starter for us last year. He was always a weight-room guy and had the strength, but he worked on his craft daily on the football field to get where he was. He was a first-year starter out of five guys last year, but he kind of took the leadership role with that group. He continued to get better, put in the extra time off the field to perfect his craft and he’s pulling a lot of guys with him that are doing the same thing.”
Q: You think of Pittsburgh football, you think of grit and toughness. In what way does he possess those traits?
“Just his style of play. He’s not afraid of contact. He’s not going to run around, he’s going to run through them and open up holes.”
Check out the Hudl highlights of John Curran III here.
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