Pitt Football Lands Michigan Transfer OL

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have added another important piece to their offense for next season through the transfer portal.

Pitt landed offensive lineman Jeffrey Persi, who is transferring in from Michigan, for his final season of eligibility, according to Chris Peak of PantherLair.

Persi played for JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. and started his final two seasons at offensive tackle after transitioning from tight end.

He was a consensus four-star recruit in the Class of 2020, with 247Sports ranking him the No. 26 offensive tackle and No. 27 recruit in California, Rivals ranking him No. 35 at his position and No. 28 in the state and ESPN ranking him the No. 36 offensive tackle and No. 30 recruit in California.

Persi committed to Michigan over a wide range of offers, including one from Pitt, and would redshirt his true freshman season in 2020, not playing any games.

He would play in just two games in the 2021 season, seeing action at left tackle vs. Northern Iowa in Week 3 and against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game.

Persi played in all games in 2022 on special teams and five games on the offensive line. He made his first collegiate start for Michigan at left tackle vs. Rutgers in Week 10.

He played in all 15 games for the Wolverines in 2023, helping them win the National Championship, their first since 1997. He also played five games on the offensive line, with four contests at right guard and one contest at right tackle.

Persi saw action in 10 games this past season, playing nine on special teams and six on the offensive line. He started two contests at left tackle vs. Washington in Week 6 and Illinois in Week 8.

Pitt has added three transfer offensive lineman so far, in rising redshirt senior Keith Gouveia from Richmond and rising redshirt junior Kendall Stanley from Charlotte and Persi.

They also have returning starters in rising redshirt junior Ryan Baer, rising redshirt senior Lyndon Cooper and rising junior BJ Williams.

The Panthers will still have a number of scholarship offensive lineman headed into 2025. This includes rising redshirt seniors in Terrence Enos Jr., rising redshirt juniors in Isaiah Montgomery and Jackson Brown,rising redshirt sophomores in Ryan Caretta and Tai Ray and rising redshirt freshmen in Caleb Holmes, Jiavanni Cooley, Adham Abouraya, Mason Lindsay and Moritz Schmoranzer.

They also have four incoming offensive lineman in the Class of 2025, who signed their National Letter of Intent on Dec. 4.

This includes Shep Turk from nearby Thomas Jefferson High School in Jefferson Hills, Pa., Torian Chester from Westover High School in Albany, Ga., Jordan Fields out of North Shore High School in Houston and Akram Elnagmi, who hails from the NFL Academy in London, U.K.