Lining up across from 6-foot-6, 350-pound Matt Rotheram of North Olmsted must have been scary enough for most Southwestern Conference defenders, but their knees had to absolutely weaken when they saw the fire in his eyes.

“He plays with an attitude,” Eagles coach Mike Ptacek said. “He’s relentless, he makes vicious blocks and he had over 60 pancake blocks last year, which is pretty impressive. There are numerous plays on film where he’ll knock two or even three guys down on one play.”

Rotheram’s dominating physique and play on the football field earned him national recognition after his junior season, and the offensive tackle finally picked Pittsburgh from the multitude of scholarship offers he received.

“I had a great junior year, released my tape and started picking up offers in January,” Rotheram said. “It just kept building up and I ended up with 27 of them.”

Rotheram began a recruitment tour, visiting Michigan State, Illinois, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State and Pittsburgh before finally picking the Panthers.

He also received scholarship offers from LSU, Arizona, Syracuse, South Carolina, Boston College, Kansas, Colorado State, UTEP, Vanderbilt and most of the Big Ten and Mid-American Conference schools.

“It wasn’t really one thing that stood out, more a combination of things,” Rotheram said about choosing Pitt. “I think the biggest part was the coaches. I really felt comfortable with Pittsburgh’s coaching staff.”

Rotheram is the second area offensive lineman to sign with Pitt — Keystone’s Chase Clowser played for the Panthers from 2004-08 — and the third area football player to commit to a Division I program this summer — Elyria Catholic outside linebacker Josh Russ picked Cincinnati in April and Avon Lake offensive lineman Christian Pace picked Michigan last week.

“Everyone in the whole school and the whole program is excited for Matt,” Ptacek said. “Everyone feels like he deserves it because he’s gotten himself into position through hard work, not only on the football field but in the classroom, but he’s given himself an opportunity to earn the scholarship at Pitt.”

Rotheram can bench 330 pounds and squat 475, and he runs the 40-yard dash in 5.4 seconds and has an 8-foot, 1-inch standing broad jump.

All impressive numbers for such a big athlete … then there’re the pancakes.

“That’s not something that shows up on the stat sheets, but you always know,” he said with a laugh. “I think if it did, I’d have a school record.”

Ptacek said the lineman has come a long way in his three years with the North Olmsted football program. Rotheram was brought up to play varsity as a freshman because his physical size was too much to leave toiling on the freshman roster.

“I’m not sure that he was ready mentally for that big jump as a freshman,” Ptacek said. “But I think with that early start, along with his drive and determination to be successful is what helped guide him in the right direction.

“He had an outstanding junior year and we’re excited about him coming in for his senior year, because if he takes it to the next level, we’re going to be so much better as an offensive line and as a whole offense.”

The coach admits that he got as caught up in the recruiting whirlwind as his player, especially when some of the top college programs in the nation came knocking.

“When you get a call from South Carolina, and you have to tell Coach Steve Spurrier that we’re not interested … it’s great,” Ptacek said.

Rotheram said he’s already had a discussion with Pitt offensive line coach Tony Wise, and that it will probably be in his best interest to redshirt next season so he can hit the weight room and learn the Panthers playbook.

“(Wise) thinks I could play, but I wouldn’t have a chance to be a starter,” Rotheram said.

Rotheram, who has always played tackle at North Olmsted, said that half of the schools that recruited him wanted him as a guard, but the Panthers said they liked him at tackle and guard. He also said the idea of his parents and friends being able to come see him play at Pitt is another bonus.

Not that Rotheram’s decision needed any justification, according to his coach.

“No matter what school he picked, he couldn’t go wrong,” Ptacek said. “There were so many great schools recruiting him, the fact that he chose Pitt … I know he liked the city of Pittsburgh, he liked them from the get go.”

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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