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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers will have one of their defensive backs depart for the highest level of professional football after their collegiate career.
Senior defensive back Donovan McMillon announced on Twitter that he is declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft, signalling the end of his college football career. He had no more years of eligibility after playing four full seasons.
Thank you Pittsburgh! pic.twitter.com/2lEdEXdVVB
— Donovan McMillon (@donovanmcmillo3) December 28, 2024
McMillon, who played for nearby Peters Township High School, spent his first two seasons in college at Florida. He played in all 13 games as a freshman in 2021, making 10 tackles (six solo) and then played in 12 games as a sophomore in 2022, making 20 tackles (12 solo) and one tackle for loss, serving as a special teams ace.
Following the end of the 2022 season, McMillon would transfer from Florida and go back home to Pitt, enrolling mid-year.
He played in all 12 games for the Panthers in 2023, starting eight at strong safety. He made 105 tackles (54 solo), one pass defended and one forced fumble, earning him an All-ACC Honourable Mention. His 105 tackles led the team and finished as the most since Jordan Whitehead had 109 in 2015.
One of McMillon's best games came against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, where he made 18 tackles, the second most of any defensive player under head coach Pat Narduzzi.
He had a team-high 115 tackles (55 solo), along with eight pass breakup and one forced fumble this season. This made him the first Pitt player to finish with 100+ tackles in back-to-back seasons since linebacker Scott McKillop did it in 2007 and 2008.
He made a season-high 15 tackles (10 solo) in the comeback win over Cincinnati on the road in Week 2. He also posted double-digit tackles against West Virginia at home in Week 3, North Carolina on the road in Week 6 and Cal at home in Week 7.
McMillon made an interception in the win over the Kent State Golden Flashes in the season opener at home and forced a fumble vs. the Mountaineers.
He finished with 220 tackles (109 solo), two tackles for loss, one interception, nine passes defended and two forced fumbles in 25 games for the Panthers the past two seasons.
He also accepted an invite to the Hula Bowl a college football all-star game that will take place on Jan. 11, 2025 at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Fla. that will help boost his draft stock.
McMillon is one of four Pitt players who have accepted invites to bowls later on in the season. This includes redshirt senior placekicker Ben Sauls and senior wide receiver Konata Mumpfield playing in the East-West Shrine Bowl and senior tight end Gavin Bartholomew playing in the Senior Bowl.
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As the college football season approaches, the Atlantic Coast Conference is set to welcome three new head coaches to the fray: Jake Dickert (Wake Forest), Frank Reich (Stanford) and arguably the National Football League's greatest coach of all time in Bill Belichick (North Carolina). CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson recently ranked the coaches in the conference and surprisingly slotted the NFL icon-turned-college head coach 12th out of seventeen ACC head coaches. Is this a fair placement for Belichick as he enters his first campaign at Chapel Hill? Belichick is nothing short of a legendary figure in the football landscape. The former Patriots head coach led New England to six Super Bowl victories and won two more championships as a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. After a 23-season tenure with the Patriots, Belichick sought a new challenge and signed with the Tar Heels in a surprising decision ahead of the 2025 campaign. One would wonder how a coach that has a combined eight super bowl championships and 12 super bowl berths is not even in the top 10 coaches of his own conference. So how does a coach of his caliber rank so low? One glaring reason Belichick is ranked low is because of his lack of experience in coaching at the college level. Belichick was a tight-end at Wesleyan University in the 1970s, but has since served as an assistant or head coach at the professional level. The 73-year old will have to adapt to coaching teenagers and young adults - a far cry from the seasoned pros he once commanded in the NFL. Belichick is known for a hard-nosed and structured coaching style. Whether that style will translate to the college level, particularly in today's landscape, remains to be seen. Another reason on why the NFL legend is ranked just five spots from the bottom is because of the other quality coaches in the ACC. Coaches such as Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Mario Cristobal (Miami), Rhett Lashlee (SMU) and Mike Norvell (FSU) are ranked ahead of Belichick on this list. Swinney has already won two national championships. Cristobal posted a 35-13 record in five seasons at Oregon before taking on the challenge of returning Miami to prominence three years ago. Lashlee was the 2024 ACC Coach of the Year and led SMU to a College Football Playoff appearance. Norvell was the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year. However, Belichick's football acumen is second to none and he has the capabilities to build a strong program at UNC. Belichick has welcomed over 70 new players to the roster and it will be interesting to see how the three-time NFL Coach of the Year can mold all the pieces together. Belichick has been a cornerstone for dynasties and showcased sheer dominance across football for over three decades. Now, as he embarks on a new journey at the collegiate level, there is no doubt his mindset and determination will reverberate in Chapel Hill. If there is any coach that can reinvigorate a program and hush the doubters, it is Belichick.
Steelers reporter shares big claim about how Aaron Rodgers has looked in training camp
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spent the bulk of the spring as an unsigned free agent and, thus, only began officially practicing with Pittsburgh Steelers teammates during the team's three-day mandatory minicamp in June. During a Monday appearance on Pittsburgh radio station 102.5 WDVE, Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed how Rodgers looked during his first few training camp practices with the club. "His release is just astonishing to watch," Dulac said about Rodgers, as shared by Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot. "Everybody knows about it, and when you see it in person, you see it every day in practice, you just marvel at it. To me, he's the greatest thrower of the football I have ever seen, even at 41 (years old). That flick of that wrist and that ball comes out, it's moving and it is something to see." Rodgers was with the New York Jets when he suffered a torn Achilles four offensive snaps into the 2023 regular-season opener. He was then slowed by a nagging hip issue, injuries to both his knees, a low ankle sprain and a serious hamstring problem as the 2024 Jets went 5-12. According to Pro Football Reference, Rodgers finished last season ranked 28th in the NFL among qualified players with a 48.0 adjusted QBR and 26th with a 43.9 percent passing success rate. That said, he was also eighth with 3,897 passing yards and tied for seventh with 28 passing touchdowns. Rodgers and Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson endured some struggles during training camp sessions last summer before the two allegedly "never saw eye-to-eye" during the season. It sounds like Pittsburgh fans should be encouraged by how Rodgers performed in recent practices. "That guy can get rid of the ball as quick as anybody," Dulac added. "He made three throws in seven-on-seven (drills) the other day that the cumulative total I bet couldn't have exceeded 2.1 seconds. And two of those were for touchdowns." Rodgers wants to finish his career "the right way" and help the Steelers notch at least their first playoff win since January 2017. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Pittsburgh at -150 betting odds to miss the playoffs for the upcoming season.
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