WVU Football Flips Penn State’s 2027 CB Commit Zachary Gleason

Rich Rodriguez did it again, flipping a top recruit headed to Penn State. Hayes Fawcett of On3Sports reported late Thursday morning that Zachary Gleason, a three-star DB from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, had flipped his commitment and will join the WVU football program.

Gleason then confirmed his change of mind by adding “I’m home” to Fawcett’s report.

He was one of the first players to commit to Penn State’s re-vamped Class of 2027, doing so doing so on the last day of March. Now, he’ll be a Mountaineer.

Gleason took his official visit to Penn State over the weekend, along with most of the 2027 Class, but had visited Morgantown the week before.

He also had offers from schools such as Boston College, Cal, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Pitt, Rutgers, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.

So what makes Gleason DI material?

Well, he possesses a blend of physicality and technique that reminds some of Derek Stingley Jr., a first-team All-Pro with the Houston Texans.

Gleason’s game also extends to runsupport and corner blitzing, which some feel is reminiscent of another two-time first-team All-Pro– Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens.

Gleason started his high school career at Chartiers Valley— also in the Pittsburgh area— and transferred to Central ahead of his sophomore season.

A corner’s No. 1 job is to shut down who they’re guarding, and Central’s defensive scheme– which featured plenty of press coverage– allowed for Gleason to do that.

But that’s not all he can do, and Penn State took notice of that when recruitng Gleason.

“He’s able to set the edge,” Central coach Ryan Lehmeier told NSN. “You know, he was a great blitzer when we sent him last year. He got home a couple times and caused fumbles. Just everything. Going the extra mile and some of the stuff that you ask of a really good corner to do. You know, Zach’s done that.”

WV Sports Now’s site Nittany Sports Now helped with this story.