On a special edition of Hawk Talk on U92 and Renda Digital TV, coach Paul Tortorella talked IUP football last night, focusing on the 22 players who signed Wednesday on National Letter of Intent Day, and on some others who have joined the program since the season ended two months ago. A part of his conversation with Jack Benedict also centered on the Crimson Hawks’ quarterback situation, which is uncertain after the departure of last year’s starter, Mak Sexton.
Tortorella said Sexton is giving up football with a year of eligibility still remaining, explaining that the transfer from Pittsburg State made the decision based on his upcoming graduation from grad school and the attractiveness of the job, and Sexton told him just after the season ended, so he’s known for a while that he will need a new signal caller.
Tortorella has a quarterback still on the team from last year’s roster, has added a transfer who is already in class at IUP, and signed two incoming freshman quarterbacks Wednesday. But all four of those players carry freshman eligibility, and the coach says it’s rare that a freshman quarterback can thrive in the PSAC. So a more veteran QB from the transfer portal makes sense.
Tortorella was looking particularly to bolster his graduation-depleted defensive line in the recruiting season, and he liked what he found.
Given the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the trickle down effect of today’s college football recruiting dynamics, the coach says IUP is essentially a very young team, and Wednesday’s letter of intent day was more fruitful than he was expecting.
Twenty-one of Wednesday’s signees were incoming freshmen. One, offensive tackle Daric Cotman, is a transfer from Division Two UVA Wise, with senior eligibility. In addition to Cotman four other transfers have joined the IUP program since the season ended.
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