Pitt Gave New TE Commit Eric Ingwerson What He Really Wanted: A School That Believed In Him

There’s been a lot of interest, from the likes of Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska, but Eric Ingwerson wanted more than interest. He wanted a certain level trust and belief that resulted in an actual bond.

Ingwerson — a 6-foot-7, 235-pound three-star tight end from Papillion-La Vista High in Papillion, Nebraska — just wanted to find a school that believed in him.

“I always just thought the first to believe in me is where I’ll go,” Ingwerson told PSN. “And I was just waiting for that first Power Five offer. So, the first Power Five offer I was gonna commit because the first to believe in me, that’s where I was gonna go.”

He had received offers from Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois, two great schools, but he dreamed of playing college football at the highest level. Ingwerson dreamed of playing at the Power Five level, so when Pitt came calling, he listened. He made it out to Pittsburgh for a visit over the weekend, his first experience in Pittsburgh, and he loved it.  

He was able to check out a beautiful city, watch how tight ends coach Tim Salem — a really good guy — ran practice and even picked up an official offer from head coach Pat Narduzzi. It all felt like home, it checked all the boxes that Ingwerson had, so? He committed.

“I definitely did my research, I looked up everything and I just loved everything I saw,” Ingwerson said. 

However, it also wasn’t his first experience with Pitt either. Despite living across the country, a whole time zone away, he’s been watching Pitt football all season. When your first experience is watching the Backyard Brawl on TV, it’s hard to beat.

“I was just watching like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. This is definitely a team I’d want to play for,'” Ingwerson said. And as he got to see Pitt up close and personal over the weekend, getting to experience the first padded practice of the spring, he realized that he found the team he wanted to join. 

“Just watching them in practice, they looked like they were having fun,” Ingwerson said. “And I just felt like I could really fit in there with the playstyle and their route running and blocking. And I feel like the way coach Salem coaches, he’s more of a teacher coach, and I love that, so that’s also a huge reason why I committed because I feel like I fit in the tight ends room.”

With unteachable size, a 6-foot-7 frame that has plenty of room to fill out, Ingwerson embraces blocking. In fact, he prides himself on his blocking at Papillion-La Vista, but he’s also a unique red zone threat. Throw it up, and he’s gonna have a chance to haul it in. And he’s a threat with the ball in his hands, too.

Ingwerson is excited for the chance to showcase exactly the kind of player that he is, a ferociously fierce blocking tight end with the ability to go up and win jump balls, but he’s also ready to show Pitt — and all of the Pitt fans — that he’s a hard worker whose dedicated to his craft. Pitt believed in him, and he’s eager to reward that trust.