Phil Jurkovec said he was "close" to committing to play his college football at Pitt right out of high school.
Donovan McMillon went for a stint at Florida for learning and growth experiences.
Derrick Davis Jr. felt it was time to come home.
The trio transferred over the offseason to play for Pat Narduzzi and for a Pitt team which is coming off a 9-4 season and a victory in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30. Jurkovec is slotted in as the starting quarterback, while McMillon is expected to start Day 1 at safety and Davis ready to rotate in as a running back behind Rodney Hammond Jr.
Whatever route it took for these three former WPIAL stars to get to Pitt, all that matters is what's happening now.
"You can do it at home," Jurkovec said on Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "You can come here and win. Obviously the WPIAL doesn't have the talent that it used to have in the past. There's still a lot of talent, but it's not what it used to be, but I think it would be really cool if the guys in high school and younger, if they came together and wanted to stay home and make the culture here really strong."
No, the three did not come to Pitt right out of high school, but each bring a level of veteran experience and leadership which is needed at their respective positions. Jurkovec is set to be the new voice of the offense after Kedon Slovis transferred to BYU (and, maybe was not much of a leader after all), while McMillon hopes to be next in line among a lineage of Narduzzi defensive backs to make it into the NFL and Davis a part of a ground attack which just produced the ACC's leading rusher.
Nonetheless, the three are happy to be home.
"It's meant a lot to me because coach Narduzzi's giving me this opportunity," Jurkovec said, "but just talking to everybody -- my family, everybody I grew up with whose helped me out back from high school, everybody's very excited. I'm very fortunate and thankful to everybody that they still support me at Pitt, and I think it's conducive to success here. You have everything you need."
For the Pine-Richland graduate Jurkovec, that includes the reunion with Frank Cignetti Jr., his former offensive coordinator at Boston College whose offense he will operate in 2023.
(He said he is here to "compete" for the position, but let's not be naive and turn this into another 2022 offseason scenario.)
"I owe a lot of my success at Boston College to coach Cignetti," Jurkovec said. "He really knows how to coach quarterbacks. I'm so happy to be back in that system and the way they train the quarterback, it's different. ... He has high expectations, and he keeps it for the whole room. He's big on competition and speaking the same language. It's a little bit different now because I have a couple of years in this offense under my belt, so I guess the questions and everything, it's upper level. We're trying to do it the best."
The Peters Township product McMillon arrives from a two-year stint at Florida. He is expected to slot in at safety right away alongside Javon McIntyre, replacing the outgoing Brandon Hill and Erick Hallett II.
"Whenever I went through the whole (transfer) process, and being able to come back to the city that I'm from, it just all went together," McMillon said. "I think 'Duzz and the whole staff are just making something happen right now. The 2021 ACC Championship, for example, that was an exciting thing to see and watch. Not seeing an ACC Championship in a while. I'm excited to be a part of that and go win another one."
McMillon was not secretive about the lineage of recent defensive backs to play at Pitt and to succeed in the NFL, and he made a note of the success that cornerback M.J. Devonshire had in his development in 2022. McMillon said Panthers safeties coach Cory Sanders was the first phone call he received upon entering the transfer portal, and Narduzzi was in his Gainesville, Fla., apartment in a matter of days after that for a visit.
McMillon said "the pieces just fell together" this time around, though there was a maturing process he felt he had to go through coming out of high school.
"I felt like I had to get away," McMillon said. "I felt like I had to go somewhere else, go be able to go mature, and I just wanted the experience. I feel like I got that experience, and I feel like I've grown from that, and I get an opportunity to come back. ... Definitely felt like it was a maturing opportunity."
Once the LSU transfer Davis got into contact with Narduzzi, he was pretty set on what he wanted to do. It helped that he had a prior connection with McMillon, who met with him on the field following this season's LSU-Florida game to rekindle their bond.
The former Gateway star Davis was one of the highest-regarded safeties in his recruiting class. But, after spending some time as a two-way player at LSU, he will join coach Andre Powell's running backs room.
"The coaches, the staff, they show the same love they were showing to me when I was still in high school," Davis said. "That's why I really love this university and this staff, to be honest with you. They kept it 100 with me, and I kept it 100 with them. Other than that we just collaborated very well. Like PB&J."
While Davis is joining the running back room, Davis told me after Wednesday's news conference that the door is open for him to potentially play some snaps on defense.
"Me and Narduzzi were talking, and he was asking if I could pick up on offense, if I'm thriving on offense, they'll look into playing me on defense and sending me in on third down," Davis told me. "Going to blitz the quarterback. Other than that he really wants me to focus on offense and just feeling comfortable here at Pitt."
