Dayon Hayes Will Return to Pitt

Dayon Hayes made it known that he plans on returning to the Pitt Panthers next season.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers received encouraging news regarding one of their defensive leaders following a win. 

Dayon Hayes has had a frustrating campaign up to this point, with his production not necessarily matching his impact. That all flipped on Thursday, however, as he came away with two sacks and six tackles in Pitt's win over Boston College. 

“It felt good, man," Hayes said. "It took forever man, I was on a drought lately, but man it felt good to get that quarterback finally.”

Hayes' performance caught the attention of Pat Narduzzi, who acknowledged his standout game while also praising the pass rush as a whole. 

"Yeah, Dayon had a good game," Pat Narduzzi said. "When you get a chance, I think we had a few sacks. I don't know how many sacks we had. Six sacks. Again, it's hard to get sacks when they have 66 rushes, but we were able to get to the quarterback and early in the game, and that was good. I think we had three early in the first or second quarter. Those were critical."

Hayes was eligible to participate in Senior Day festivities, but opted not to as he remains eligible to return to the program next season. When asked if he has unfinished business at Pitt, Hayes responded with a big smile. 

"Yeah, I do. I ain’t leaving yet.”

Hayes' return would supply the Panthers with a major boost on the defensive line as he continues to evolve as a player while also improving Pitt's chances of a turnaround in 2024. 

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