Some athletes are remembered for what they did after high school. Others built a resume before they ever left that deserves to be remembered on its own.

Brandon Ifill did both.

For those who watched Penn Hills football during the late 2000s, Ifill was one of the most versatile athletes in the WPIAL. Receiver. Defensive back. Playmaker. Track star. Division I recruit. He could impact a football game on either side of the ball.

And now, years after wearing the red and gold, Ifill’s journey has come full circle with his induction into the Penn Hills Hall of Fame.

It’s an honor that provides an opportunity to look back at a career that took him from Penn Hills to the University of Pittsburgh, and at everything that happened along the way.

 

A True Two-Way Player

Football has changed.

Today, when a player becomes a major college prospect, there’s often pressure to specialize. Brandon Ifill came from an era when some of the best athletes simply stayed on the field.

At Penn Hills, Ifill wasn’t exclusively a receiver or defensive back. He was both. As a junior, Ifill caught 31 passes for 405 yards and three touchdowns. Then he turned around and played defense, recording 37 tackles and an interception. His performance earned him second-team Associated Press Class AAAA All-State honors.

And he wasn’t finished.

As a senior, Ifill recorded 25 receptions for 350 yards while continuing to make plays in the secondary with 31 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. By the end of his Penn Hills career, he had been a three-year starter and four-year varsity letterman.

Penn Hills reached the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs during each of his varsity seasons.

He wasn’t simply somebody with potential. He had produced.

 

Staying Home

When it came time to choose a college, Ifill didn’t have to travel far. The University of Pittsburgh wanted him.

Pitt’s recruiting materials described Ifill as one of the WPIAL’s top “skill athletes,” and he became part of the Panthers’ 2010 recruiting class.

But he wasn’t the only Penn Hills player heading to Oakland. Another member of that Pitt recruiting class was his Penn Hills teammate: Aaron Donald. Nobody knew then exactly where Donald’s career would eventually take him.

But two Penn Hills teammates were making the short trip from their hometown to play major Division I football together at Pitt. Years later, Ifill would describe having a front-row seat to Donald’s development dating all the way back to their childhood. They had known each other since middle school, played together in eighth grade, reunited on the high school field and eventually became college teammates.

That’s a journey very few childhood teammates ever get to experience.

 

Finding His Role at Pitt

College football rarely follows a straight line. Ifill arrived at Pitt as a defensive back and spent time at safety.

Then another chapter opened.

Before the 2012 season, Pitt moved the speedy Ifill to wide receiver—the same position where he had been one of Western Pennsylvania’s top playmakers at Penn Hills.

It was another example of the versatility that had defined him since high school. He wasn’t simply a receiver. He wasn’t simply a defensive back.

He was a football player.

And sometimes that versatility can be both a blessing and a challenge.

When you’re capable of playing multiple positions, coaches are constantly trying to determine where you can help the team most.

For Ifill, his football journey included experiencing the game from both sides.

 

More Than Football

One thing that gets lost when we discuss former high school stars is everything that happens after the Friday-night lights disappear.

Statistics tell us what somebody did. Recruiting rankings tell us what people thought they might become. But neither completely explains what the journey taught them.

Ifill experienced being one of the best high school athletes in Western Pennsylvania. He experienced Division I recruiting. He experienced playing at Pitt. He experienced position changes and the realities that come with major college football. And he experienced it alongside teammates who would eventually accomplish extraordinary things at the next level.

Those experiences become more valuable with time.

 

Coming Home to the Hall of Fame

That’s what makes a Hall of Fame induction different.

It’s not recruiting hype. It’s not somebody projecting what you might become. It’s people looking back years later and saying: What you did here mattered.

For Brandon Ifill, being inducted into the Penn Hills Hall of Fame brings the journey back to where so much of it began. Before Pitt. Before college football. Before anyone knew what the future held. There was a talented kid wearing Penn Hills red and gold who could catch passes on one possession and intercept them on another.

Now his name becomes part of the history of the community and school he represented.

 

Q: You were recently inducted into the Penn Hills Hall of Fame. When you got the news, what was your first reaction, and what does being honored by your hometown mean to you?

A: I was surprised by it. I know there are a lot of athletes worthy of that honor, and I didn’t think it would be my time yet. It feels great to be recognized for what I did not only in football, but also for how good of a track athlete I was.

 

Q: Before the Division I offers and Pitt, when did you first realize you weren’t just a good football player—you had the talent to play at a major college program?

A: When I got the start as a sophomore and competed against other players in the WPIAL who had offers from those programs, I saw that I could have success against them. It gave me the confidence to strive for that same opportunity.

 

Q: You were one of those rare players who could legitimately make a difference at wide receiver or defensive back. Which position did you believe you were naturally better at, and which one did you enjoy more?

A: As a competitor, I never wanted to leave the field. The example I had my freshman year came from the great players I played with, like Aaron Williams, Eric Taylor, and Joe Rash, who played and dominated on both sides of the ball. Naturally, I was definitely a better receiver, and I truly enjoyed it more. I loved playing DB as well.

 

Q: You earned All-State honors and became one of the WPIAL’s top recruits. What do you remember about the recruiting process, and which schools were seriously pursuing you besides Pitt?

A: After my junior season is really when everything took off. I got recruited for three different positions by almost every Division I school on the East Coast. My top five were West Virginia and Michigan at safety, Rutgers and Maryland at receiver, and Pitt at cornerback. I was very close to going to Maryland.

 

Q: You ultimately chose Pitt and stayed home. What made Pitt the right choice, and how much did representing Western Pennsylvania factor into that decision?

A: My parents are Pitt alumni, and my dad was a track athlete there as well. Two main things stood out. One was that my high school teammate, Dan Mason, was there, and he had success his freshman year. Second, our head coach, Dave Wannstedt, was a Pittsburgh guy, and he really made it feel even more like home for me and my family.

 

Q: You and Aaron Donald went from growing up together to playing at Penn Hills and then signing with Pitt in the same recruiting class. Before the rest of the world knew what Aaron would become, when did you first realize there was something different about him?

A: He was always different, lol. He was always one of, if not the best, players on the field. Even in eighth grade, he would destroy games. We grew up competing against people who were bigger and older than us, so I think it helped both of us in the long run, especially him.

 

Q: What’s your favorite Aaron Donald story from when you guys were young—something that shows the person or competitor people outside Penn Hills never got to see?

A: There are so many stories, lol. In eighth grade, he and I would play 21 or HORSE with our gym teacher every day. Then, in college, we had a ping-pong table in the locker room, and he wouldn’t leave the table until he beat everybody who played.

 

Q: At Penn Hills, you were one of the best players on the field. Then you get to Pitt, and everybody was a high school star somewhere. What was your first “I’m not in high school anymore” moment?

A: Definitely training camp my freshman year. The first time an offensive lineman pulled to block me, he got me out of the way quick, lol.

 

Q: You went to Pitt as a defensive back and eventually moved to wide receiver. Looking back, do you think your versatility helped your college career, or did being able to play so many positions make it harder to establish yourself in one role?

A: Yeah, I do feel like the versatility made it harder to find my role, which is what led to my decision to play receiver. I played every spot on the defense and never really got the technical aspect down at any one position on the defensive side of the ball.

 

Q: Your time at Pitt came during a period with coaching and program changes. How much did that instability affect players behind the scenes in ways fans probably never understood?

A: It affected us all. Three different coaches meant three different styles of play, which also meant three different styles of training. Even though I was in good standing with all of the new coaches we got after Coach Wannstedt was let go, I experienced a lot of physical challenges with the last strength and conditioning coach I had, which ultimately led to the end of my career.

 

Q: If you could go back knowing everything you know now, what would you do differently during your college career?

A: I probably would have played wide receiver from the beginning and trusted myself and my abilities.

 

Q: Every athlete eventually has to deal with the day when football stops. How difficult was it for you to separate Brandon Ifill the person from Brandon Ifill the football player when your playing days ended?

A: It was very difficult for me because my career ended due to injury. I had also regained my love for football when I moved back to playing wide receiver and had a great position coach, Bobby Engram, who really taught me how to play the position in detail.

 

Q: Recruiting today is completely different—social media, rankings, highlight clips, kids announcing offers and building brands before they’ve accomplished much. Do you think today’s young athletes are better prepared for college football, or are some of them being built up too quickly?

A: I love the fact that athletes can make money off their likeness and can get exposure so much easier than I did. I do think more young athletes aren’t ready because of the extreme lifestyle change that Division I football brings, with the level of training and competing on an everyday basis. Earning your keep is slowly being taken away from athletes by giving them so much fame and money before they even step on campus.

 

Q: If you could sit down with the current Penn Hills players and give them one lesson from everything you experienced—from being a WPIAL star to Division I football and life afterward—what would you tell them?

A: Enjoy playing the game because it does end. Find out what you love to do and do that to the best of your ability. And always be kind to others, regardless of status or stature.

 

Q: Years from now, when somebody walks past your name in the Penn Hills Hall of Fame, what do you hope they remember about Brandon Ifill beyond football?

A: That I am a good person and a positive influence in my community!