Pitt Freshman Makes Journey from Germany to Pittsburgh

The Pitt Panthers' newest offensive lineman took the long road to college football.

PITTSBURGH -- One of the Pitt Panthers' newest offensive linemen made sure to introduce himself clearly. 

“Mor-itz Sh-mor-anz-er,” he said, slowly pronouncing his name through a German accent when meeting with the American media for the first time as a college football player and a Panther. It's been a long journey to Pittsburgh and Moritz Schmoranzer wants to get off on the right foot in his new city. 

This has been a long time coming for Schmoranzer, who said he came to the United States as a high school sophomore specifically to pursue a career in football and possibly earn a college scholarship. Now that he's achieved that goal, and is in the middle of his first semester as a Pitt Panther, Schmoranzer was able to reflect on his journey to Pittsburgh. 

He watched Super Bowl LII, when the Philadelphia Eagles knocked off the New England Patriots in one of the best NFL championship games of all time, when he was about 12 years old and immediately fell in love with the physicality of the game.

That physicality and aggression didn't translate very well to flag football in the German town of Langenfeld, which is located about a mile from the Rhine River and roughly 40 miles from the shared border with the Netherlands. 

“In flag football, I would bump into smaller kids and get flags and all that,” Schmoranzer said. 

It did translate when he arrived at North Cross High School, a co-educational part-boarding and part-day school in Roanoke, Virginia, and began playing tackle football. Schmoranzer's football career got off to a rocky start, with him playing wide receiver before he really found a niche as an offensive lineman, which coaches said gave him a better chance of playing in college. 

“It was always my dream, having the ball and running," Schmoranzer said. "But I mean, when I started actually playing lineman during camp season and everything, I thought it was much more fun because you have action every play.” 

He flourished as a two-way star for North Cross and flashed his athleticism in track and field events. Schmoranzer went from a floundering wideout in his first year playing tackle football to a bonafide Power 5 prospect, earning offers from Miami, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia and Pitt, among others. 

The Panthers were a late addition to the field of offer but he liked the relationship he built with Pat Narduzzi and the rest of the coaching staff. The personality of the city felt familiar and the school had everything Schmoranzer needed. 

“It just felt the best. I come from a village in Germany. Blue-collar family and that’s what Pitt is," he said. "I just liked the feeling I had. It was between Miami and Pitt for me and Pitt had everything I wanted and I needed.”

Schmoranzer feels he has a leg up despite being new to college because he's spent so much time away from home at an early age. He had to grow up, be independent and undergo some major changes to reach his goals. Now, he'll get a chance to settle in with the Panthers and reach further than just earning a college scholarship. 

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