Football: Chryst excited as Pitt finalizes signees

The Pitt football team welcomed the 16 newest Panthers on National Signing Day Wednesday… The Pitt football team welcomed the 16 newest Panthers on National Signing Day Wednesday morning, and new head coach Paul Chryst was, as expected, nothing but excited.

Rushel Shell, the nation’s third-best running back recruit, chalked up enormous stats at Hopewell High School in Aliquippa, Pa. With 39 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, 9078 career yards and 110 career touchdowns, Shell holds records at the national, state and division levels, respectively. Coming off a senior year in high school in which he scored 28 touchdowns, Shell appears to be comfortable heading onto Pitt’s campus as the 10th overall prospect in the nation.

“He knew Pitt was the place for him long before we contacted him,” Chryst said. “He is going to get his opportunities.”

Quarterback Chad Voytik — who threw for over 5,000 yards in an elite career with Tennessee’s Cleveland High School — was the first to sign Wednesday morning. Rivals rated Voytik the best overall prospect in Tennessee and the nation’s fourth best “pro-style” quarterback. Chryst described him as a quarterback who “gets it” and “has the intangibles of a winning quarterback.”

“He’ll get opportunities. It’ll be interesting,” Chryst said when asked about Voytik’s playing time in the near future.

Pittsburgh’s wide receiver corps — which is losing no graduating seniors — welcomes twin brothers Demetrious and Chris Davis to the mix. The brothers hail from Austintown Fitch High School in northeastern Ohio. Demetrius — who played quarterback for Fitch — was a 1,000-yard passer and rusher his junior season but only played three games his senior year because of a knee injury.

Chris played as a receiver and a defensive back in high school. Catching passes from his brother, he racked up nearly 750 all-purpose yards his junior year. Both Davis brothers led Fitch to a 10-2 season and were ranked in the top 40 players in Ohio by Rivals. Chryst welcomed the Davis’ ability to perform at different positions and said he is going to find a lot of ways they can contribute to the team.

Offensive lineman Adam Bisnowaty — who grew up 15 miles away from Pitt and attended Fox Chapel High School — was ranked the nation’s 19th-best tackle. Bisnowaty and Wisconsin recruit Gabe Roberts look to improve a large weakness on the offensive side of the ball, where the Panthers line let through the most sacks in the NCAA last year with 63.

Tight end J.P. Holtz rounds out the offensive recruits. Holtz — ranked the nation’s 10th-best tight end by Scout — played several positions in high school, including quarterback, running back and punter.

“We think he fits into everything you want in a tight end,” Chryst said.

Holtz always found a way into the end zone, scoring 15 touchdowns his senior season.

The defensive side of the ball can look forward to a large group of players to add to a secondary that is losing two seniors next year.

Safeties Bam Bradley and Deaysean Rippy are joined with defensive backs Trenton Coles, Ryan Lewis and Jahmahl Pardner to provide depth on the passing defense. Bradley joins his older brother, freshman Nicholas Grigsby, on the Panthers’ defensive squad.

Each new defenseman was ranked in the top 40 players in his respective state, and Rippy was also listed as the nation’s 18th-best outside linebacker. Linebackers Mike Caprara and Devon Porchia come together to solidify and add depth to the position. Porchia — ranked the 20th best prospect in Maryland by Rivals — was a three-year starter at linebacker for the Gilman School and Caprara was selected to Pennsylvania’s All-State Class AAAA while playing at Woodland Hills.

Defensive end Terrell Jackson racked up 20 sacks in his senior season at Marion-Franklin. Chryst described Jackson’s 6-foot-3, 285-pound physique as a “big body that can run.”

Jackson’s body is paired up with that of another end from Ohio, Darryl Render. The 27th-best prospect in Ohio was a part of St. Edward’s perfect season in 2010 and brings his competitive nature to a line that will be missing some starters from last season.

Now that the recruiting class of 2012 has officially been signed, Chryst is even more ready to start sorting things out in the fall.

“If they are ready to help, they will play,” Chryst said of the newcomers Wednesday. “There are a lot of guys who won a lot of games. It makes me more excited.”