Pitt Coaches Looking for Next QB on Recruiting Trail

The Pitt Panthers are have been out searching for their next quarterback.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers hold a loaded quarterback room stocked with two transfers in Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux and a pair of young reserves in Nate Yarnell and Ty Deiffenbach. But still, the Panthers are looking for the next guy for after Jurkovec leaves to graduate at the end of this year.  

As the coaches went out recruiting this past week, Pitt's priority was clearly to find their next quarterback. Even with a fully stocked group of signal-callers, offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has an eye toward the future. 

2025 quarterback Luke Nickel was the first to earn an offer from Cingetti and Pitt. The 6'2, 200-pound product of Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia currently holds offers from Penn State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Michigan State, Indiana, Cincinnati Stanford and Florida State.

Later on the same day, three-star quarterback Tyler Cherry, a 6'5, 210-pound prospect from Greenwood, Indiana, also heard from the Panthers. He added Pitt to an offer sheet that includes Indiana, Ball State, Bowling Green, UConn, Eastern Michigan, Miami Ohio, Ohio, Toledo, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan.

2025 quarterback Roy Thomas Jenkins from West Brook High School in Beaumont, Texas was the third high school quarterback to add a Pitt offer. The Panthers are just the second out-of-state program to break in on his recruitment. Houston, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tulane and Texas Tech had been the only ones to offer. 

Alex Manske, a rising 2025 quarterback from Algona, Iowa, also earned a Pitt offer. This is just his second Division I offer - Wisconsin was the other - but Tennessee, Iowa, Iowa State and Kansas State also showed interest. 

The Panthers also liked what they saw from Jamison Kitna, a 2025 quarterback from Burelson, Texas. Kitna also holds offers from Baylor, Duke, Houston, North Texas, Texas Tech, UAB and UTSA.

Pitt was looking even further down the road when they offered freshman quarterback Jonas Williams from Bolingbrook, Illinois. Williams also holds offers from Tennessee, Louisville, Marshall, Purdue and Kent State.

Jax Madden Brown, an unrated 2025 prospect from Pflugerville, Texas, earned a Pitt offer as well. That brings his total to two schools - Arizona State was the first to offer.

And the Panthers are swinging for the fences by offering K.J. Lacey, one of the most coveted signal-callers in the 2025 class. His impressive offer sheet includes Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Central Florida and Virginia Tech.

Grayson Wilson, a 6'3, 2025 quarterback from Little Rock, Arkansas, rounds out the list of singal callers contacted. He now has Pitt, Arkansas, Illinois and Central Arkansas on his offer sheet after hearing from the Panthers. 

Elsewhere, a few prospects scheduled their visits to Pittsburgh for this spring. 

Andrew Bolden, a 2024 offensive tackle from Perrysburg High School in Ohio, was one. He visited Toledo back in January. He'll be in the Steel City later this month. 

Rowan Byrne, a 6'6 2025 offensive tackle from Iona Prep in New Rochelle, New York, will head to Pittsburgh in 10 days. Rutgers, Boston College, Syracuse and Minnesota have offered, with Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State and Maryland showing interest.

Local junior safety Clinton Robinson of Keystone Oaks in Pittsburgh, will take the short trip over to Oakland for his visit, which is scheduled for the same weekend as Byrne's visit. 

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