Jennings making the most of his time at Pitt

Freshman Rashad Jennings ran for an impressive 118 yards in the Blue-Gold scrimmage Saturday…. Freshman Rashad Jennings ran for an impressive 118 yards in the Blue-Gold scrimmage Saturday. His travels to get to where he is today, however, far surpass the length of a single football field.

More than a year ago, Jennings signed with Pitt to play Division I football and was on his way to fulfilling a dream. His dream was quickly interrupted when he was declared academically ineligible.

Jennings isn’t easily discouraged, primarily because of his strong faith. He was only inspired to work more diligently after his hardship. After posting low grades at two different high schools, Jefferson Forest and Lynchburg Christian Academy, Jennings had some ground to cover to get his grades up.

“I took six home-school classes to pull my GPA up to where it needed to be,” he said. “That was tough, but my dream was to come play college football, so I did what I had to do to get here.”

Jennings was declared ineligible because of confusion over his high school transcripts, but was qualified with the NCAA’s Clearinghouse about two weeks after Pitt had started classes, meaning he would be behind in many areas.

“Instead of me coming here two weeks behind in school and two weeks behind in [football] camp, I just decided to stay out, get my weight down, get my body fat down, do some things I needed to get done.”

He took the dark clouds from the Clearinghouse confusion and found a silver lining. Instead of a late start and playing catch-up, Jennings decided to stay at home in Virginia where he started a workout regimen and cut his weight down from 265 pounds to 235. He also got a chance to get closer to his parents, Albert and Deborah Jennings. His father was confined to a wheelchair after a car accident last year, and the younger Jennings used some of his time off to help his father recover.

“I come from a Christian family and we’re all close, very close,” Jennings said, “but [the time off] gave me quality time with my dad, both of my parents, and time to get closer with them.”

Jennings also has two brothers, Butch and Bryan, who both play football. Butch played football at VMI and Liberty. He then moved on to the NFL to play for the New York Giants. Bryan played for the San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots and Tennessee Oilers after playing college ball at Virginia Tech.

His brothers hold impressive resumes, and he certainly looks up to them, but they were not his primary inspiration to play.

“Since I was six years old, I always wanted to play football,” Jennings admitted. “It’s in my genes. I did watch my older brothers, but I found my own love in it. I really just want to use my God-given ability to play.”

His imposing physical presence — a 6-foot-1-inch frame — along with his speed has paved the way for many individual accomplishments, records and numerous awards throughout high school, including two-time first team All-Virginia Independent Conference honors and being named Lynchburg Christian Academy’s Team MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, while being rated one of the top 25 prospects in Virginia by Rivals100.com.

Though only enrolled as a true freshman since January, Jennings has already emerged at Pitt as a vital asset. Throughout spring practice, he has proven himself to be a big, physical running back, moving through tackles, breaking past veteran players and impressing his coaches.

“[Jennings] has probably been as productive as any running back that we’ve had the entire spring, so I’m encouraged by that,” head coach Dave Wannstedt said after one practice.

Initially recruited by Walt Harris, Jennings had offers from other Division I schools including Virginia Tech and North Carolina.

“What made me choose Pitt was Harris and the staff, and as you can see, everyone who recruited me is gone,” Jennings said. “But, I consider it a blessing because I am still under one of the best coaching staffs in the country. I love ’em.”

Jennings played tailback in high school and with two of Pitt’s most experienced tailbacks out with injuries, he has a good chance at being a front-runner for the starting position.

After a successful spring season and solid performance during the Blue-Gold game, Jennings has caused quite a stir, but as he has learned, he has to keep working hard to get where he wants to be.

“Right now my main goal is to just get on the field, do what I can, and hopefully help the team win the championship,” he said. “I think it’s possible.”