Just keeping watch on players who might sign a LOI with Pitt.
Johnathan Baldwin had a Q&A with the P-G yesterday and today it’s an interview with the Trib. Baldwin won’t be announcing anything until signing day. From a family connections standpoint there’s the fact that his dad, Jeff, played DE at Pitt. There’s also the fact that he looks at Darrelle Revis as an inspiration.
“I was the water boy for two weeks when (Revis was in) camp (at Aliquippa),” Baldwin said. “He was telling me I had potential and I could be a big-time player at Aliquippa in the years to come. He just told me to stay humble and be focused, just do what you have to do. Leave it all on the field.”
Perhaps the man who has the biggest influence on Baldwin is his father, Jeff, who played defensive end at Aliquippa and Pitt. Jeff Baldwin takes a notepad with him to every one of his son’s games, noting his flaws so they can work on them at home. More importantly, Jeff Baldwin makes sure his son lives up to his incredible athletic potential.
The thing that makes me worry, though, is how much he wants to play football and how much it is just because it is perceived as the easier path.
“It was this year after the (NFL) Draft and I decided I was going to go for football,” Baldwin said. “If I had a good college career in football I think I probably had a better chance than if I played basketball.
“I always thought about the NBA, all the time. I never really thought about football, NFL football. I’d probably pick basketball (if I could go to pros in both), but I’m going for football so I got to love it,” he said.
That doesn’t mean, though, that Baldwin is settling for football. It’s now his focus since he gave up AAU basketball this summer and lifted instead. Now, he runs stadium stairs or extra laps after practice and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to start his day by doing 1,000 push-ups in an hour.
“I just stay focused,” Baldwin said. “I was already a good student. I was working hard at my game. My mom and dad tell me to run extra laps after practice, run full sprints, make sure you finish first every time, don’t let anybody beat you … so I do what they say.”
It’s a candid admission, and logical. Given his reputed talent, it may not be a big thing in high school, but it still seems like his heart is still on the hardwood. Just that little bit of desire not being there for the chosen sport can be huge at higher levels.
Up in the Rochester area, Averin Collier is preparing for his senior season. He has his choices narrowed down to Georgia Tech, Pitt and Clemson. Clemson has a slight lead he has indicated, even if Pitt has been the only campus he actually visited. Some of it may come down to the position he wants to play. Pitt seems to have him as a defensive back, but he seems to be focusing on the offense and as the running back this season. He has increased his conditioning.
It’s helped that Collier also has bought into Dick’s offseason program. He can deep-squat close to 450 pounds and bench-press 300 pounds.
“I’m by no means saying he is as good as an NFL running back, but with those lifts, he’s definitely as strong as an NFL running back,” says Dick, who won a silver medal at the U.S. Olympic weight-lifting trials 19 years ago. We had a lot of kids go from boys to men in the offseason because they put the time in and realized championships are won in the offseason.”
The article also indicates that Tackle Steve Dunn (he plays offensive and defensive) is drawing interest from Pitt.
Finally another player drawing Pitt’s attention is Linebacker Michael Matt of Jeannette. Matt tore the ACL in his right knee last October and is itching to get back out there to show he’s recovered. Pitt and several other schools are also watching.
Matt is hoping to have a big year and earn a Division I scholarship. He’s received interest from Buffalo, Tennessee, Pitt and Penn State. He expects more during the season.
“Teams want to see how my knee holds up,” Matt said. “But I’m ready.”
It probably doesn’t hurt that he’s close friends with teammate Terrelle Pryor.
