Pitt football Recruiting Rewind: Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett and finding Aaron Donald

Johnny Majors was hell-bent on building a roster at Pitt that could rival some of the best in the country. Recruiting at a high level was at the heart of it.

“The biggest thing that happened when we came to Pittsburgh in 1973 was the financial help for facilities improvement,” said Jackie Sherrill, a former Majors assistant who later became Pitt’s head coach, in a 1981 story in The New York Times. “The weight room, the field for practice and playing, and the locker room. You can tell the schools that go into weight rooms. The most important two men on your staffs these days are the one in charge of recruiting and the one in charge of the weight rooms.”

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Pitt deployed those resources to help land elite talent during the mid-1970s that jump-started a run that included 87 wins from 1975 through 1983, including a national championship in 1976.

Here’s a look at some of Pitt’s highs and lows on the recruiting trail over the years.

Best recruit, pre-internet rankings: Dan Marino, QB

Marino was a Parade All-American at Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High School who starred in football and baseball. He was selected in the fourth round by the Kansas City Royals in the 1979 MLB Draft, but he chose football and wanted to play close to home. Marino picked Pitt over Arizona State, UCLA, Clemson and Michigan State, among others.

The lure of playing for his hometown team was special, and he threw for 8,597 yards and 79 touchdowns in four seasons as Pitt’s starter. His junior season was one for the ages as he threw for 2,876 yards and 37 touchdowns while earning first-team All-America honors and finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Marino’s senior season never lived up to the hype, but there will always be the thrilling win against Georgia in the 1982 Sugar Bowl.

Best recruit, modern era: Larry Fitzgerald, WR

Technically, Pitt had to recruit Fitzgerald twice. The Minnesota native initially committed to the Panthers in the Class of 2001 but first had to spend a year in prep school at Valley Forge (Pa.) Military Academy. Coach Walt Harris faced stiff competition from Michigan State during the next recruiting cycle, but Fitzgerald once again signed with the Panthers.

His two years at Pitt were memorable. In 2003, he caught 92 passes for 1,672 yards and 22 touchdowns en route to winning the Biletnikoff Award, Walter Camp Award and finishing second in Heisman voting. Though his Pitt career only spanned 26 collegiate games, he posted 161 receptions for 2,677 yards and 34 touchdowns.

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During his 17-year NFL career, Fitzgerald remained a recognizable face of the program for a younger generation of Pitt players, recruits and fans. The school retired his No. 1 jersey in 2013.

Most influential recruit: Tony Dorsett, RB

A day after accepting the Pitt job, Majors met with Dorsett, his top recruiting target. Sherrill was the lead recruiter for Dorsett, who was widely considered the top running back in Pennsylvania in 1972.

“The staff prior to us said that Tony was too small to play,” Sherrill said in a 2007 interview. “I spent many, many hours in Hopewell High School.”

An argument can be made that Dorsett is one of the best collegiate running backs ever. He was a four-time All-America honoree, a Heisman Trophy winner and a national champion. He rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of his four seasons and finished his career with 6,526 yards on the ground. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994.

And who could forget in 2016 when the Pitt-Penn State rivalry was renewed and Dorsett was seen shouting Hail to Pitt in the bowels of the stadium after the Panthers’ win? Unbeknownst to him, Penn State players were wiping tears while conducting interviews within earshot. It was quite the scene and one way to bridge the gap between generations as the rivalry returned.

Biggest bust: Pat Bostick, QB

Bostick was a four-star prospect who was ranked as the No. 6 quarterback in the 2007 cycle by Scout and Rivals. The Lancaster, Pa., native was thrust into action as a freshman and started the final eight games of the season — including the Panthers’ monumental upset over then-No. 2 West Virginia. He couldn’t hold on to the starting job, however, and he attempted only 52 passes over his final three seasons.

Best developmental story: Aaron Donald, DT

Donald was a three-star prospect who ranked No. 353 overall and No. 12 in the state of Pennsylvania in the class of 2010. At 6 feet and 260 pounds, he didn’t fit the mold of what many colleges were looking for in a defensive tackle. Penn State didn’t extend a scholarship offer. The hometown Panthers did, however, and he emerged as a dominant force during his collegiate days.

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As a senior in 2013, he recorded 28.5 tackles for loss on the way to winning the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. He was picked No. 13 in the 2014 NFL Draft and has been one of the best defensive players in the NFL over the past decade.

His impact at Pitt extends well beyond his success, too. He made a seven-figure financial commitment to the program in 2019 and regularly spends time around the facility in the offseason.

The one who got away: LaVar Arrington, LB

Harris tried to make a run at Arrington, the top-ranked recruit in the country in the 1997 class, but it didn’t go far. A four-year starter at Pittsburgh’s North Hills High School, Arrington committed to Penn State, where he joined former McKeesport standout Brandon Short.

When there’s a player that talented in Pitt’s backyard, it’s a difficult pill to swallow when he heads elsewhere, especially to Penn State. The ones from nearby who get away always seem to sting a little more.

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories looking back at recruiting superlatives for select Power 5 programs. The stories can be found here

(Photo of Dan Marino: Tony Tomsic  / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

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