Pitt Sees Star Potential in RB Signee Juelz Goff
PITTSBURGH -- If you looked solely at recruiting stars, it seemed like the Pitt Panthers lost the better of their two 2024 running back recruits when four-star Yasin Willis flipped to Syracuse just nine days before National Signing Day.
But Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi doesn't see it that way. In fact, he feels like the Panthers truly got their guy and the better of the two players when they were able to keep three-start tailback
“At one point we had two but there’s no question he was the guy," Narduzzi said. "His dad will tell you, he’ll tell you and I‘ll tell you - if we were going to lose one, this was the guy we definitely didn’t want to lose."
Flip on the highlight tape from Goff's senior season at Central York High School and it's easy to see why Narduzzi would think that. Of the 9:33-long highlight compilation on Hudl, most of it shows Goff turning tiny openings into big gains by simply out-running helpless competition.
Goff totaled 222 carries, 1623 yards and 31 rushing touchdowns in just nine games in the closing act of his high school career. On the average Friday night, he was totting the rock a casual 25 times, gaining a pedestrian 180 rushing yards and scoring three mundane times. He left Central York as the district's Offensive Player of the Year and all-time leading rusher.
He's the kind of player that keeps defensive-minded guys like Narduzzi up at night.
“I think it comes down to speed," Narduzzi said. "There are a lot of good backs who are a little bit bigger, a little bit slower. This dude’s explosive. As a defensive guy, the one thing you don’t want is that guy who can find a crack and a five-yard run turns into 55."
What gets Narduzzi most excited is that Goff isn't done developing yet. He has track star speed - a 10.8-second 100-meter dash time that would have ranked among the top 10 at the 2021 US Olympic trials - as just a senior in high school and while Goff will have to gain weight to deal with the rigors of big-time college football, the Panthers feel they have given their offense a shot in the arm simply by adding Goff to the fold.
"He’s got that breakaway speed. I mean, you talk 10.8 and he’s only a senior in high school," Narduzzi said. "He can explode and it’s one of those guys where if you give him a crack, he’s going to take more than they’ve blocked for him and that’s what we need is another one of those guys in that backfield.”
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