Pitt Freshman Wants All-American Status

Pitt Panthers freshman defensive lineman looks to become an All-American

Dominic Campbell | Apr 12, 2024

Sep 23, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers defensive lineman Dayon Hayes (50) / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have one freshman defensive lineman who is ready to put his name with the very best of college football starting this season.

Sincere Edwards, who played for Wekiva High School in Apopka, Fla, originally committed to nearby UCF in Florida, but chose to decommit last June and would commit to Pitt in August before the start of the season.

He joined the program as one of nine early enrollees back in January. Leaving high school early might not come as a decision many seniors want to make, but Edwards along with the other nine get a great chance to grow before the other freshmen come in.

Edwards is someone that his teammates and coaches have heaped praise onto for his performances so far in the spring. This is especially true for Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi, who believes that Edwards will see the field often this upcoming season.

"He is," Narduzzi said on if Edwards is pushing for playing time. "He is definitely pushing for it. He’s still learning the defense, too. He still gets confused at times. But for a freshman, he is a different level guy right now. He’s got a motor, he’s physical. If you guys all stood in a line here, he’s going to run through you and not care. He’s just going after you. He’ll probably watch out for Jerry [Dipoala of the Tribune-Review]. But he’s reckless. That’s what he is. He’s reckless. Some guys in, they’re freshmen, they’re cautious, they’re looking around like, ‘Am I allowed to do this?’ The dude’s reckless. He plays reckless. He practices reckless. And I can’t wait to see him in a game."

Edwards excelled throughout high school. He made 62 tackles each in his sophomore and junior seasons, as well as 17 sacks as a junior and 10 as a sophomore. He only played in five games as a senior, but still made 38 tackles, seven for loss, five sacks and a pass breakup.

Standing at 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, Edwards is a force anywhere he plays on the defensive line. He is strong enough to beat out opposing offensive linemen. He also is incredibly quick and makes great tackles in the backfield routinely, while also blowing by opposing offesnive linemen.

While he had a great high school career, Edwards knew he had to come to Pitt early, to grow in the new defense and show the coaches what talents he really had and his confidence is showing in spring camp.

“Me doing that would put me in a better position to start as a true freshman," Edwards said on enrolling early. "My goal is to be a freshman All-American. So me coming here early puts me on the best path to do that.”

Edwards works extensively with defensive line coach Tim Daoust throughout all of his practices, which the rest of his teammates in his position group.

Daoust took over for long time defensive line coach Charlie Partidge, who not only developed NFL talents like Calijah Kancey (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Rashad Weaver (Tennessee Titans) and Patrick Jones II (Minnesota Vikings), but also built a big recruiting base for Pitt football in the state of Florida.

Patridge left for a job in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, but Edwards is staying right where he is, learning from coach Daoust each and every day at practice.

"Coach Daoust? I just want to start off by saying that he’s a great coach," Edwards said. "He’s challenged me the most so far by just giving me a lot of reps in practice and stuff of that nature. Just telling me and challenging me to minimize my mental errors and stuff like that."

Edwards will play mostly at defensive end, also where the Gold Team drafted him for the upcoming Spring Game at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. He'll play alongside his mentor in fifth-year defensive end Dayon Hayes, who is someone that is working to improve Edwards' abilty throughout Spring Ball.

Despite the differences in ages, Edwards and Hayes both see this new defensive line as a chance for to start again, especially after a disappointing record last season.

Many newer and younger defensive linemen have a chance to prove themselves this upcoming season. Two other defensive ends to watch out for alongside Edwards include redshirt sophomore Jimmy Scott and redshirt freshman/Clemson transfer David Ojiegbe.

It is also true at defensive tackle, with redshirt juniors Elliot Donald and Nakhi Johnson, redshirt sophomores Sean FitzSimmons and Nick James, who transferred from Indiana, along with redshirt freshman Isaiah "Ghost" Neal looking to receive more snaps.

“New era is for we have a real young d-line room, last year, they had a real old d-line room," Edwards said. "So when we say ‘new era’, this is to get all - you know, last year, we were 3-9, so ‘new era’ is erasing last year and it’s a new year so it’s a new era.”

One freshman that will join Edwards in pushing for more playing time is defensive tackle Francis Brewu. The two of them spent many hours throughout the spring going over the playbook, hoping to gain an edge over the competition and show they belong at this level.

Hayes is bullish on both of the early enrollees and sees the change in the sport from when he came into college back in 2020, for the better.

"They’re very strong, fast," Hayes said. "They came in squatting 400 [pounds], benching 400 [pounds], like listen, we got lucky with them. We got lucky with them. They’re just different. The new era’s just changing. Like everybody is more polished coming into college."

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Published Apr 12, 2024

DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.