What Pitt is Getting in Isaac Patterson

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have landed two commitments in as many weeks.

On the weekend, it was Jacob Thomas, a 2027-class slot receiver with truly elite speed. Back on Feb, 21, Westerville (Ohio) Westerville South rising senior safety Isaac Patterson joined quarterback Angelo Renda in Pitt’s 2026 recruiting class.

To learn more about Patterson and why he chose the Panthers, On SI spoke with the three-star recruit shortly after he announced his pledge. Following up on that interview, looking to drill deeper into what Pitt has landed in Patterson, Inside the Panthers connected with Westerville South head coach Eric Calland.

I’ve been covering recruiting for years. On the spectrum of maturity, intelligence, having a good head on their shoulders, after speaking with Isaac Patterson, I would rate him very high. He seems to be a particularly bright young guy.
Am I picking up on that correctly?

“Like you said, Isaac's a great kid,” Coach Calland said. “He's a great student. He's actually one of my students. I'm an AP psychology teacher at the school. He was getting recruited by Ivy League schools, so that tells you a little bit about his abilities as a student.

“Overall, I think he's really embraced this recruiting process. I mean, obviously, it picked up pretty quick. He pays attention and because he pays attention, he’s aware of how the processes work, whether it's football or this recruiting stuff or anything like that.

“I think he understands that it’s a lot of those little things that go into being an all-round player, which includes how you conduct yourself and your habits outside of the game.”

I know that Isaac mentioned some schools were recruiting him at cornerback. And in that 6-foot, 185-pound range, I could see him playing free safety, strong safety, or the nickel position. He can come down and pop you but he’s also a solid coverage guy with his speed.

Is that something you like and value about Patterson in your defense - his versatility in the defensive backfield? Does that stand out to you?

“Oh, absolutely. With our defense, we keep it pretty simple, but we like our safety to be able to cover, and they'll get a decent amount of one-on-one matchups, but then also when they get that run read to come down and be an extra linebacker.

“Going into his sophomore year, that was evident real quick. It's like, ‘Okay, well, he's going to be out there because he's going to fly down. He's going to open-field tackle and do it with aggression.’

“He was always good covering as well, but he really made a leap, I think, going into his junior year, knowing he kind of needed to be the guy, and he did it flawlessly. So, yeah, for sure, he could fit into whatever because like I said, he pays attention.

“He loves football. I think he would do well in any type of defensive scheme situation because he'd pick it up, and he'd learn, and he has the tools to really do anything. On tape, you could see where he would show that he could play corner if they needed him to do that, if they wanted to do that.

“I think Pitt is looking at him at safety. We have a very simple scheme. I think there are actually some things that are similar, which I think kind of attracted him in a way to what Pitt does, but I think he really could do anything back there.”

#AGTG 1000% COMMITTED 🟡🔵
GO PANTHERS! #H2P pic.twitter.com/B0biqSMFF1
— Isaac Patterson 3⭐️ DB (@IsaacPatt_) February 21, 2025

I firmly believe you can’t get a strong read on a playing by watching highlights. You have to watch full game films. That’s what I did with Patterson, watching one of your games from last year.

Right away, I noticed he was back to return the opening kickoff, then he stayed on the field playing slot receiver, and then he played safety on the next drive. So, did he impact all three phases throughout the year for you?

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. He made that evident because he did it as a sophomore, too. He played some receiver for us. Obviously, we try to (rotate) guys and not have guys in the game the entire time.

“That being said, it's just one of those things where he was ready to go, and he pretty much always was in there just because he's such a difference-maker, and on the offensive side of the ball, he can make plays with the ball in his hands.

“When it comes to kick returns, he's one of our guys that really wants to do it, and he's obviously very, very athletic and a good weapon to have back there. He took a punt return back this year. So, it was certainly a blessing.

“Week One, honestly, you could just tell he took on that role of, like, ‘Hey, all right, I need to be the guy,’ because he was really good as a sophomore, but we had a couple of seniors we could lean on.

“As a first-time sophomore starter, you do your thing, do what you're good at, contribute, but you could tell he really took on that role of, ‘Okay, I’m going to be the guy.’ He did it flawlessly.”

When I spoke with Isaac in mid-February, it was clear that he had serious interest in Pitt. But I wasn’t necessarily expecting him to make a college decision roughly a week later. I figured it’d come much further into the off-season.

What are your thoughts on Isaac choosing Pitt?

“I think one thing that was important, it just seems like we're in such a weird place today with high school recruiting and the transfer portal. You just don't know, right?

You don't know what's going to happen when it comes to what teams are going to get, and how many high school kids they’re going to take.

“I can tell you every college that comes in and visits, it seems like they're kind of in a different place when it comes to how they all want to develop from a high school level, but at the same time, you get a lot of them picking up a lot of portal players.

“I think it's just one of those things where if something just really, really felt right, it's not a bad thing to go ahead and jump into it because there's just so many uncertainties right now.

“I just know he felt really, really good about the coaches and everything. More schools were wanting to come visit…but I think just the fact that he felt so good about it and knowing the landscape is kind of strange at times, I think it just felt really good for him.”

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