PITTSBURGH – Calijah Kancey is very used to people comparing him to fellow Pitt alum Aaron Donald.
After all, both were considered undersized defensive tackles coming out of high school and neither were highly recruited. Both came to Pitt, became unanimous All-Americans during their time with the Panthers, and were first-round picks in the NFL draft.
Now entering his third year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kancey is back in Pittsburgh for the offseason working out at Pitt’s South Side facilities just as Donald did throughout the entirety of his 10-year NFL career.
While plenty of northerners head south in the winter to escape the cold, the Miami native has done the opposite, choosing to leave the warm and sunny Florida clime to come north to Pittsburgh for the winter.
Kancey, 24, was on hand Wednesday to watch some of his former teammates work out in front of NFL scouts during Pitt’s pro day. It was there he explained why he left Florida to come north for the offseason.
“Pittsburgh’s a place I hold special in my heart,” Kancey said “And getting to come back and work out and be around the people who I started with.”
Kancey has been working out in Pittsburgh with some of his former Pitt teammates including Habakkuk Baldonado, Bam Brima and Nate Temple. He’s also excited to be around some current Panthers he hosted on official visits during the recruiting process, including defensive linemen Isaiah “Ghost” Neal and Jahsear Whittington.
In his second year with Tampa Bay in 2024, Kancey missed the first five games due to injury, but provided a major impact upon his return, notching 7.5 sacks. That number was sixth in the NFL among defensive tackles – and every tackler with more sacks than Kancey also played in more games.
After two seasons in the NFL, Kancey’s gotten used to what it takes to be a pro – which is why he’s spending his offseason working out and focusing on getting better.
“I’m definitely settled in,” Kancey said. “That’s why I’m back here, and not on an island somewhere. Just here, enjoying time with the people that I started with, and getting back to myself and my foundation, as far as my roots and where I started.”
As he watched guys take part in the vertical jump, 40-yard dash and other drills at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Kancey lamented that he thinks Pitt is overlooked too frequently, especially considering the amount of NFL talent the program has produced over the years.
“I just think it’s a place that should be more targeted,” Kancey said. “Pitt has produced a lot of great guys in the NFL and is still doing it. There’s something we’re doing right if we still got a lot of guys in NFL and doing a great job at it.”
For Kancey, Pitt being disregarded rings familiar. Listed at 6-foot, 280 pounds, Kancey has often been written off as being too undersized to play in the middle of a defensive line – even as he’s proven his doubters wrong at every level along the way.
In that way, Kancey was a perfect player for Pitt – and the Panthers were the ideal team to allow his talents to shine. The bond Kancey shares with the program makes it easy to see why he’d want to spend the offseason in his second home.
“I wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, and I wasn’t highly looked at out of college going into the NFL. It’s just kind of always been my story – he’s too short, he’s too small, and Pitt was a school that just took a chance on me and didn’t care about my size,” Kancey said. “Pitt is still being overlooked, the underdog school, and I have an underdog story. It just all fits me.
“From Day 1 when I committed here, I just knew that it was the spot for me, the place for me to be.”
Amanda Filipcic-Godsey is a freelance writer in Pittsburgh. She covers Pittsburgh sports for CNHI Pa. newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaFGodsey.
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