After big numbers vs. Pitt, Duquesne WR Joey Isabella hopes to follow brother's path to NFL career

It’s not like Duquesne wide receiver Joey Isabella took the Pitt Panthers by surprise. They were preparing for him on Saturday in advance of the 2025 season opener for both clubs.

“They’ve got a great receiver in a guy named Joey Isabella,” Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi said during his opening press conference of the season. “Really good player. We’ll have to know where he is.”

For as much as the Panthers tried to do that Saturday, they still lost Isabella eight times to the tune of 120 yards. Fifty-nine of those yards came on a deep hook-up with quarterback Tyler Riddell.

All that went right for Pitt in its 61-9 win over their crosstown rivals over Labor Day weekend, one thing that Duquesne was able to do according to plan was get Isabella involved.

“I was happy that he was able to have that kind of success on that stage against that kind of opponent,” coach Jerry Schmitt said Tuesday. “That’s something that we have come to expect from him because of his work ethic and the talent that he has. We’re out there in walkthroughs, not going full speed, but he’s working on his steps and getting off the line of scrimmage. He’s constantly working. You love coaching a young man like that.”

For his part, though, Isabella felt the individual performance was a bit empty because of the final score.

“Being able to be successful on a field like that against a team like that definitely built my confidence, but I’ve got to stay humble. It’s just one game, and we’ve got a lot more games to come,” Isabella said this week. “At the end of the day, we lost the game 61-9. I had 120 yards. It was good and all, but it clearly didn’t have that much of an impact if we still lost by that much.”

Narduzzi had good reason to be leery of Isabella. He finished 2024 on an eight-game touchdown streak. He caught 11 overall on the season and finished fourth in receiving yards in NEC play with 741.

“He does a great job of finding space. He works really hard on his route running. He knows how to set guys up, even the bigger guys,” Schmitt said.

First play of the second half ... ⚡️TOUCHDOWN⚡️

64 yards from Darius Perrantes to Joey Isabella and we take the lead ‼️ pic.twitter.com/3tlgQVVmtm

— Duquesne Football (@DuqFB) November 2, 2024

In his sixth year of college eligibility, the 23-year-old Isabella is refined. Specifically, he’s got a shifty ability to get open despite his 5-foot-9, 185-pound frame.

“His setup moves and his side-to-side area quickness are through the roof,” Dukes’ offensive coordinator Anthony Doria said Tuesday. “He can play with anybody. I think he proved that this week.”

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Isabella didn’t get going on his football career until eighth grade. He says that footwork was partially honed on the soccer pitch. That’s a sport both he and his NFL vet brother, Andy (most recently with San Francisco this summer), played growing up.

Meanwhile, he got the knack to track balls and use his hands from another sport.

“All sports kind of correlate. Baseball was a big sport for me growing up,” Isabella said. “I was a center fielder tracking balls down. I think that helped me out with football. I never had a struggle catching balls for football, even when I first started. I guess that is kind of natural.”

Even at the FCS level, Isabella often finds himself against bigger defensive backs who should have the ability to minimize his catch radius. But he frequently finds ways to run away from — or battle through — that coverage.

“His speed and his strength at his size is a unique combination,” wide receivers coach Danny Welke said before a recent practice. “He has the ability to step on guys’ toes, slip ‘em, press guys, win outside, win inside. He has all the skills. And he does have the ball skills to go with that. If he ever is covered, he can stick his foot in the ground and make a play.

One of Isabella’s attributes so far in 2025 has been his adaptability with new quarterback Tyler Riddell after playing most of his career with departed all-conference QB Darius Perrantes.

“When I committed here, (Isabella) reached out to me via social media,” the Gardner-Webb transfer said. “We are two older, experienced guys who played a lot. So it was easier to jell there. Before even connecting on the field, it was how much time we spent off the field. Just walking somewhere, building a personal relationship first.”

Four additional games are scheduled for the Dukes before conference play begins. One of them (Sept. 20) is a road contest at Akron, another FBS opponent.

It’ll be a second opportunity this year for Isabella to put his skills on display and perhaps get an NFL look as his brother did when he graduated from UMass.

“I’d love to keep playing. He’s probably trying to build my confidence, but he tells me the teams he has been at have asked about me,” Isabella said. “So that would be cool to play at the next level. But I’m focused on right now and having a good last season at Duquesne.”

The next step for Isabella on that path is the Duquesne home opener against Lincoln on Saturday.