Steve Petrick is coming home.
The former Norwin standout tight end announced Thursday that his college football plans have changed once again. He is transferring from Temple to Robert Morris.
Petrick, a redshirt freshman, played in three games last season at Temple but said things were not what he envisioned.
Coming out of high school, Petrick initially committed to James Madison but changed his mind and took an offer from Temple to go against higher-level competition.
At either place, he felt a world away.
“I missed home,” said Petrick, 6-foot-5, 242 pounds. “My family is important to me and things just weren't working out the way I wanted it to at Temple. RMU is closer to home, a great business school, and I believe in the new head coach (Bernard Clark).”
Clark replaces John Banaszak, who resigned after four seasons.
The Colonials went 2-9 the last two seasons and have not had a winning campaign since 2010.
Petrick will join a strong Westmoreland County contingent in Moon that will try to help turn things around. The group includes receivers Tim Vecchio (Penn-Trafford) and Anthony DelleFemine (Norwin), defensive end Chris Stanford (Penn-Trafford), lineman Bussy Remaley (Hempfield), and kicker Nick Bisceglia (Kiski Area).
“I can't wait to be back playing with (DelleFemine), Chris Stanford and Vecchio,” Petrick said. “I am real close with those guys, and I can't wait to play in front of my community.”
Clark likes Petrick's attributes.
“Steve is definitely going to give us some size at tight end that we don't have and he'll be able to stretch the field for us as well,” Clark said. When you got a 6' 5”, 250-pound guy running down the field the way Steve can, I think he's going to be outstanding.”
Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.
