They say you’re never too old to keep learning, and that certainly seems to be the case for Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth.
The former Penn State star told Christian Hackenberg and Brandon Bell on The Pocket podcast that he is spending part of his offseason taking care of some unfinished business.
“I’m actually currently enrolled at Penn State right now taking classes to finish up getting my degree,” said Freiermuth.
Freiermuth left school early to declare for the 2021 NFL Draft where the Steelers selected him in the second round at 55th overall. When describing what the transition back to the classroom was for him, Freiermuth simply said, “Brutal.”
But Freiermuth is no slouch in the classroom. As a high schooler, he was Named to the Boston Globe’s All-Scholastics team, which recognizes the area’s student-athletes who make an impact both on and off the field.
Still, Freiermuth says it’s been tough to hit the books again. In fact, he told Hackenberg and Bell that following their interview he had a group project to do with some younger students, whom I’m sure are looking forward to meeting up than he is.
According to Freiermuth, his motivation for going back to school is his mother.
“I promised my mom I’d get my degree, so I’m excited to see the smile on her face when I get it,” he said.
After Freiermuth graduates from Penn State, he immediately will be enrolled in his newest area of study: the Arthur Smith offense.
As I’m sure everyone reading this already knows, the Steelers have hired the former Atlanta Falcons head coach as their offensive coordinator, and he figures to implement a physical, run-oriented offense.
Smith’s offenses have historically featured tight ends. Just last season Kyle Pitts saw 90 targets while Jonnu Smith saw 70. In fact, both players ranked among the top 20 for targets at their position in 2023 with Pitts at 11th and Smith at 20. No other team had two tight ends with the same amount of target share.
Expect Freiermuth, along with Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward, to be heavily involved in this offense.
Hopefully, Freiermuth’s time as a scholar will help him to quickly learn and teach his teammates what figures to be a more complex offense for the position.
