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Recruit Report: Pitt recruit watching QB play intently
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A kid in Tennessee is paying close attention to Pitt's struggles at the quarterback position -- and Chad Voytik thinks he might be able to do something to help next season.
Voytik is a standout quarterback at Cleveland High School in Tennessee who committed to Pitt this summer. Cleveland coach E.K. Slaughter said one of the main reasons he chose Pitt was the opportunity for playing time early in his career.
Now, Voytik can't help but notice Pitt's problems at quarterback. He visited Pitt for the Notre Dame game.
"He's commented to me a few times on their quarterback play," Slaughter said. "He does want to play early. He'll go up there, be a student of the game, do everything he can to be on the field and he'll be a great citizen. Those other guys [at Pitt] better get their act together because he wants to beat them out next year."
Voytik (6 feet 1, 200 pounds) is ranked the No. 5 pro-style quarterback in the country by rivals.com.
"There is a pretty big learning curve from high school to college, just getting used to the game," Slaughter said. "But I think there is a definite possibility of him being able to play next year. He's really talented and has a big arm."
Cleveland had high hopes for this season, but has a 4-4 record. Still, the team is expected to make the playoffs. Slaughter said Voytik "is doing really well." While Voytik is a good passer, he also is an adept runner, rushing for close to 500 yards in eight games. He has thrown for a little more than 1,000 yards.
"We'd like to be a little better than sitting 4-4," Slaughter said. "But he's been great for us. We've had to make some adjustments offensively because of personnel, injuries and things like that.
"He's a dual-threat kid for us. He's almost our leading rusher. ... We used to be completely in the spread offense, but we've had to move to more of a pro-style offense with some spread mixed in because we have been struggling to be able to run the ball out of our spread stuff. That also has helped Chad."
Voytik's final college choices were Pitt, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. He also had scholarship offers from Clemson, Louisvlle, Virgina and Southern Mississippi, among others.
Voytik has been chosen to play in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio in January. The game includes top players from around the country. Voytik also has been the subject of a reality series on Versus television. A camera crew has been following him and Cleveland's team for much of the season.
Pitt fans can watch Voytik play tonight as Cleveland's game against Bradley High will be televised live on ESPNU at 8 p.m.
First Published October 21, 2011 12:00 am
