Todd Sibley Jr. completes transfer from Pitt to Albany

Former Pitt running back Todd Sibley Jr. entered the transfer portal on New Year’s Eve, and on Monday, he announced that he would be transferring to Albany and continuing his athletic career with the FCS program.

“I always felt like I had more downs than ups throughout my career, but I know it’s for a reason,” Sibley said via Twitter. “To all my family at Pitt, I love ya’ll to death! Everyone there has helped me in some way, shape or form. But it’s time for me to go chase my own individual goals and dreams. Some of you know I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for almost three years now, and it’s finally here. I’ve been blessed to get one more year of eligibility, and I plan on taking full advantage.”

Sibley came to Pitt in 2017 as a three-star recruit out of Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio, where he ran for 2,296 yards as a senior. He redshirted as a true freshman during his first year on campus at Pitt and was then overshadowed by Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollison, who anchored Pitt’s run-heavy offense in 2018. The following year, Sibley saw significantly more action, as he played in nine games. But with the offense shifting to a pass-heavy approach under Mark Whipple, he was only able to amass 249 yards on 50 carries.

In 2020, Sibley was on pace to make a similar contribution to the Pitt offense, but he saw his season cut short by an injury. And upon his return in 2021, he found that the Pitt coaching staff had decided to give the bulk of the rushing workload to the trio of Israel Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond. Those tough breaks limited Sibley’s chances to see the field and display his abilities, and as a result, he chose to move on to a program in greater need of talent at running back.

At Albany, Sibley will join a Great Danes team that has not posted a winning record since 2019 and most recently went 2-9 in 2021. The team also finished 113th out of 123 FCS programs in rushing offense, averaging just 90.5 yards per game last season. So a starting role should be awaiting him upon his arrival in New York’s Capital Region in 2022.

Sibley will also have the benefit of playing under a staff with Pitt ties, as Albany head coach Greg Gattuso is s former Pitt assistant coach and Albany run-game coordinator Nate Byham played at Pitt as a tight end from 2006 to 2009. The same staff brought in former Pitt running back V’Lique Carter in 2020. However, Carter never played at Albany and ultimately transferred to Arkansas – Pine Bluff.