The already paper thin Pitt secondary just took another hit on Wednesday when the team announced that sophomore cornerback Trenton Coles has left the program and will look to transfer.
The Clairton product had reportedly been thinking about transferring for some time after being behind another Clairton product, Titus Howard on the depth chart. But once Howard was suspended for the season, Coles decided to stay and was running with the first team. However in the past couple weeks, Coles hurt his ankle and was practicing with the second team while sophomore Reggie Mitchell and freshman Avonte Maddox started getting first-team reps.
Coles was entering his third year in the Pitt program and played in 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman, recording nine tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
It is being reported that within an hour of announcing he will transfer, Coles had already been contacted by three schools.
Coles was an all-state football player for Clairton and won WPIAL and PIAA titles in the 100- and 200-meter sprints in 2011.
With his departure, along with the suspension of Howard and the loss of Jahmahl Pardner, who left the team during spring drills, the Panthers have next to no depth at the position.
It’s likely that Mitchell, a former safety and transfer from Wisconsin, could have the inside track to start opposite Lafayette Pitts.
Freshmen Maddox and Phillipie Motley and former safety Ryan Lewis will also be in the mix. Both Maddox and Motley were ESPN three-star prospects from this past recruiting class.
What makes all the losses at the position difficult for the Panthers is that only the junior Pitts, a three-year starter, has game experience at the position.
With so many ACC teams running the spread offense these days, Paul Chryst and his staff better develop some quality corners in a hurry.
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