ALTOONA, Pa. -- Pat Narduzzi said Pitt got "lucky" in that there were no surprises on national signing day, which isn't always the case.
"I'll just say it's a mess out there," Narduzzi said of the national recruiting landscape in college football. "But we were lucky there was no surprises. Everybody that we had committed or thought was gonna sign today did, and I think that's the most positive thing."
Pitt signed all 22 members of its recruiting class on Wednesday -- 19 high school products, three transfers -- and jumped up a few spots in the national rankings for the class of 2023. The Panthers are now No. 48, according to 247Sports.
Check here for our signing day preview list of all the recruits.
It's not a star-studded class, with all 3-star prospects among the high school signees. But the Panthers have done well in the transfer portal this cycle, bringing in quarterbacks Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux, as well as safety Donovan McMillon, a former 4-star recruit who is transferring from Florida.
"Unlike any other signing day, I didn't know what was going to happen this morning," Narduzzi said. "Coming in, you never know what's going to be of any signing day -- for this one in particular because I think the landscape out there has totally changed from what it was years ago."
Narduzzi cited that Pitt is bringing in winners, with 11 of the 19 high school commits having won some kind of championship. The coach also talked about how the Panthers landed recruits from eight states: Florida (7), Pennsylvania (5), Georgia (2), Ohio (2), California (2), Maryland (2), Virginia (1) and New Jersey (1).
What is Pitt looking for in recruits?
"We're looking for character," Narduzzi said. "It's not how fast he is, and man, he can go get that ball or in tackling. But it comes down to character. I think you went with that. So, we're looking for for those character guys that are winners, they're leaders, guys that can help this program more than their talent as far as what they put on the field. So, you know, winners are important."
There can be success found in the transfer portal, and for the second year in a row, Pitt has gone out and gotten its starting quarterback there. But for anyone wondering, Narduzzi said that, no, the program is not going to be so reliant on the portal in building its foundation.
Narduzzi still prefers the old-fashioned way of bringing in young players and developing them within the program.
"We don't want to bring too many (from the portal), and we want to bring the right ones in, and we're about 85% effective with the guys we brought in, which is pretty good," Narduzzi said.
"I'm still that type of guy that wants to build our roster off of high school players," he later added. "And there's more (good) high school players out there for us to get. I think a lot of people are dipping into the portal maybe too much, and we'll find out. But I think it can help you one year, and it can kill you the next year.
"I would rather develop those guys. I'd rather he be in our culture. Sometimes if they're in a different culture, you don't know where they came from, and it's done a totally different way. I want to develop our kids as people, as men, and you can't do that in one or two years."
PATTI UPDATE
Narduzzi did confirm what many Pitt fans were suspecting: Quarterback Nick Patti will be leaving the program after the Sun Bowl.
Narduzzi said the QB spot was "a great need for us in the offseason with Nick Patti going to move on."
Jurkovec will be in line to start next season, and Patti would have been expected to compete with Veilleux for the backup job. But with Patti deciding to move on, Veilleux will be in line to take over as QB2 next season.
