The door to Todd Graham’s office flew open, and the Pitt football coach marched purposefully into the lobby, immediately annoyed by the Wednesday morning silence.

The fax machine, the most important piece of equipment in the football office on national signing day, was not ringing.

“C’mon, Lafayette,” said Graham, who was not trying to exorcise the ghost of a French Revolutionary War general, only attempting to save Pitt’s 2011 recruiting class.

He knew Woodland Hills cornerback Lafayette Pitts had signed the Panthers’ letter of intent — he had the picture of the ceremony on his cell phone to prove it — but he didn’t have the signed piece of paper that the NCAA demands.

“Turn those cameras off,” he playfully shouted at a TV cameraman, “because if we don’t get a fax in the next five minutes, me and Junk (director of football relations Bob Junko) are fixin’ to fight.”

Finally, the phone rang and an aide calmly handed Graham a piece of paper with Pitts’ name on it.

“All right, baby,” Graham shouted before bursting into Junko’s office and exchanging embraces and high-fives with Junko and recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks coach Tony Gibson. Graham couldn’t have been more pleased if he had found another season of eligibility for Darrelle Revis.

“He’s a born leader,” Graham said of Pitts, adding that he plans to use him as a punt/kick returner and a quarterback in the Wildcat, possibly as soon as his freshman season.

“I felt like he was one of the best, if not the best player in the area,” Graham said.

So ended what Graham later referred to as “24 hours of drama” in the recruitment of Pitts, who committed to Pitt under former coach Dave Wannstedt before deciding to follow Wannstedt assistants Frank Cignetti and Jeff Hafley to Rutgers. The final reversal back to the Panthers served as tangible validation of Graham’s whirlwind recruiting efforts that found him in the homes of 24 recruits since Jan. 11, the day he was hired.

Pitt’s 20-member recruiting class includes players from 10 states and the District of Columbia. He also got four from the WPIAL, including three from Woodland Hills, an important outpost that has been in the past two title games.

Woodland Hills coach George Novak had been among the most frustrated of area coaches when Wannstedt was fired, and Graham patched the leak that had Pitts reconsidering his commitment.

Graham said a conversation with Johnny Majors, the most recent Pitt coach to win a national championship, reminded him of the importance of recruiting locally.

“I believe we can recruit nationally, but coach Majors told me, ‘You have to win Western Pennsylvania.’ ”

Perhaps that’s why a hopeful smile crawled across Graham’s face when his cell phone rang (the Pitt fight song, by the way), and he hopefully said, “Ejuan.”

It was linebacker Ejuan Price, Pitts’ teammate at Woodland Hills, who was wavering on his commitment to Ohio State and seriously thinking of changing his mind and signing with Pitt.

For most of the morning, Graham had been jovial and chatty, speaking freely to secretaries, reporters and coaches, but when Price called, he walked into his office and shut the door.

Price’s name suddenly appeared on the board with the other prospects, and some staffers were hopeful of another reversal. But a few hours later, Price finally settled on Ohio State and Graham quietly took down Price’s card himself.

Later, when word arrived from McKeesport that Delvon Simmons and Branden Jackson had chosen North Carolina and Texas Tech, respectively, Graham took the bad news well.

“That’s what I figured,” he said. “That stinks. That’s all right.”

Mindful of the WPIAL junior class that may be even more critical to future Pitt success than this one, Graham offered goodwill wishes even to those who spurned him, including Desimon Green of Clairton.

“At the end of the day, I want to end up coaching the ones I am supposed to coach,” he said. “And the ones who are supposed to go elsewhere, we want the very best for them.”

Earlier, Graham was full of energy when talking to players who called him after faxing their letters of intent.

His standard greeting: “What’s up, big stud?” he said, almost shouting into the phone.

“I’m proud of you and proud to be your coach,” he told Beaver Falls linebacker Devin Cook. “We are going to do a lot of great things in the next four to five years. Welcome to the family.”

Later, when running backs coach Calvin Magee called Jeremiah Bryson of Smyrna, Tenn., Bryson was calling the Pitt office at the same time.

Magee, a big bear of a man, ended up with a phone in each ear, and he happily roared into each of them, “We can start practice right now. Let’s go.

“You excited• You are mine now.”

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)