Inside The Panthers

Pitt Football Offers Midwest Tight End

Without question, the Pitt Panthers are gunning for an impact tight end class, offering another prospect at the position today.
Kevin Sinclair|
IG: dominick.barryy

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Pittsburgh Panthers

The Pitt Panthers coaching staff is on a mission to sign a tight ends class that can produce, and the sooner the better.

It wouldn't be accurate to suggest the position is in trouble, but Pittsburgh lost four-year contributor Gavin Bartholomew — now a Minnesota Viking — and his projected replacement Jake Overman has just one year of eligibility remaining. Upperclassman Jake Renda transferred to UCLA, and although Pitt landed Marshall tight end transfer Justin Holmes, underclassmen Malachi Thomas and Max Hunt are promising but largely untested.

It's why Pitt fans have seen the coaching staff extend offers to multiple 2026-class tight ends in recent weeks, including Parker Ord out of Frisco (Tx.) Panther Creek, Wyatt Villarreal from Celina, Texas, and Preston McDaniel out of Idaho Falls (Id.) Thunder Ridge High School, among others.

Those new names join a decent group of recruits at the position showing an interest in the Panthers, including a few set for official visits next month in Javonte Williams from Potomac (Md.) The Bullis School, and Adam Land from Lynn Haven (Fla.) Mosley High School.

Even so, the Pitt staff is continuing to expand its options as rising senior tight end Dominick Barry out of Center Grove High School - one of the better football programs in Indiana in recent years - announced an offer from Pittsburgh today.

Last season as a junior, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound, multi-dimensional tight end (capable at H-Back and receiver) caught 31 passes for 237 yards and five touchdowns. To date, he's collected over a dozen offers, including Cincinnati, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Liberty, Miami of Ohio, Ohio, Purdue, Toledo, Wake Forest, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Current Pitt 2026 Verbal Commitments

  • QB Angelo Renda (Southlake [Tx.] Southlake Carroll)
  • WR Dylan Wester (Sarasota [Fla.] Booker)
  • WR Demetrice McCray (Orlando [Fla.] The First Academy)
  • S Marcus Jennings (Detroit [Mich.] Cass Tech)
  • S Isaac Patterson (Westerville [Ohio] Westerville South)

Current Pitt 2027 Verbal Commitments

  • WR Jacob Thomas (Pembroke Pines [Fla.] Flanagan)
  • RB Tyler Reid (Miramar [Fla.] High School)

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Kevin Sinclair
KEVIN SINCLAIR

Kevin Sinclair writes coverage of the Pitt Panthers along with the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans for On SI. Previously, he was a recruiting reporter and managing editor at Irish Illustrated, the privately-owned Notre Dame site within the 247Sports Network, for over seven-and-a-half years. Kevin studied multimedia journalism and has been a sports writer for nearly a decade.

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