Tim and Bridgetta Devlin of Mt. Lebanon traveled by car to watch their son, Andrew, play college football for the University of Virginia every weekend last fall.

Sometimes, Bridgetta would text her son when they were driving through Pittsburgh and past Heinz Field, joking with Andrew that they would be there to see him had he decided to go to Pitt instead of the Atlantic Coast Conference school in Charlottesville, Va.

Now the Devlin family's commute to watch their son play will shrink from a little more than five hours to a little more than five minutes with Andrew's decision to return to his roots to continue his college football career with the Panthers.

Devlin, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end, has transferred from Virginia to Pitt. He must sit out one season under NCAA transfer rules, but he will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

"I'm really excited about it," Devlin said. "It all happened so quickly. It's been kind of a whirlwind."

Devlin left the Cavaliers because coach Al Groh fired his offensive coaching staff and brought in a new set of coaches who implemented the spread offense. Tight ends do not have a big role in spread offenses.

The coaches switched Devlin to defensive end and he tried out his new position for a month during spring drills. Giving away 50-plus pounds against offensive tackles was an eye-opening experience for Devlin. He knew it would be a struggle to add the necessary weight to compete for playing time on the defense next season, so he decided to transfer to a school where he could play tight end in a traditional pro-style offense.

"I want to stress that I really liked my time at Virginia," Devlin said. "I loved my coaches. My teammates were great. But I couldn't be unhappy on the football field for three more years. Virginia runs the 3-4 [defense]. The two defensive ends who played last year were 290 and 285 pounds. I was playing a full 30 pounds lighter at the position. If you're light and you're going up against 330-pound tackles, it's not good.

"They tried to find a place for me to fit in, but I wanted to be happy playing football. I probably wouldn't have seen the field next season because of my weight. It didn't bother me to transfer because if I went somewhere else, I'd be sitting out anyway."

Devlin chose Virginia over Pitt two years ago when he was a standout player at Mt. Lebanon High School, so the decision to call the Pitt coaches when it came time to transfer was an easy one. Some college coaches hold it against recruits when they decide to play at another school, but Devlin said head coach Dave Wannstedt and associate head coach Greg Gattuso, who recruited Devlin out of high school, showed no such animosity.

"It was tough for me to tell the coaches at Pitt no because we had built such a strong relationship," Devlin said. "They were very supportive. They weren't angry. When I made my decision, I called every school and thanked them for recruiting me. Some were great and some weren't so great. And the coaches at Pitt were great."

They're also easy to contact. Wannstedt and Gattuso live in Mt. Lebanon. Devlin and Gattuso are two blocks apart.

"I can throw a football from my backyard to coach Gattuso's," Devlin said.

Now Devlin will be catching footballs from Pitt quarterbacks. At Virginia last season as a redshirt freshman, Devlin caught three passes for 22 yards. He learned his craft well behind Cavaliers tight end John Phillips, who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys last month.

With three senior tight ends leaving the Pitt program after the 2009 season, Devlin will have an excellent opportunity to earn playing time in 2010.

Nate Byham, Dorin Dickerson and John Pelusi are graduating after the coming season. Devlin will battle Mike Cruz and incoming freshman Brock DeCicco for playing time, but there should be plenty of opportunities for all because Wannstedt likes to use double-tight end formations.

"It's a good situation for me," Devlin said. "Hopefully, I can learn from the seniors and see how they run their offense. Even though it's a pro-style offense like we ran at Virginia, there are differences. I look forward to meeting those guys and working with them."

Devlin knows many of his new teammates. He played in the Big 33 Classic with fellow South Hills area players Chris Jacobson (Keystone Oaks), Myles Caragein (Keystone Oaks) and Dom DeCicco (Thomas Jefferson).

Devlin is set to enroll June 22 at Pitt. For the next month he is working out with his former Mt. Lebanon teammates, getting ready for the second half of his college football career.

"It will be unbelievable to come back here to play," Devlin said.