After slight shuffling of personnel, Pat Narduzzi will ‘find out on game day’ Pitt’s true identity
Share this post:
Pat Narduzzi was careful Monday not to inaccurately describe the personality of his ninth Pitt team at the outset of the first game week of the season.
“We got a great group of guys,” he said. “I don’t want to say polite.”
Polite usually doesn’t carry the day in college football.
Then, he hit on it.
“They are pleasers,” he said. “They want to do what you want done.”
So, the question becomes: Can this team of coachable “great guys” and “pleasers” have the right blend of physicality, aggressiveness, leadership and competitive spirit to get the job done and get Pitt back to the top of the ACC?
“We’ll find out on game day what the leadership is in this room,” he said, speaking to reporters in a room normally used for team meetings. “We’re going to find out if they really take ownership on game days, how bad they want to win.”
Narduzzi said his players are so ready that he might even turn down another week of training camp, if it was offered to him.
“I’m ready to play. I think our kids are ready to play,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything else — if we strung this week of camp out a little bit longer — to see. They’ve had enough. They’re ready to play somebody else.
“I think they’re sick of hitting each other. It’s a great opportunity to find out where we are. We’re going to find out what we have. You don’t know playing against each other.
“We can feel good as we stand out there and you had a good day … and this guy looked good and that guy looked good. But it all comes down to what you do on Saturdays. Nobody cares what you did the past two years; 20 wins are never going to get you a win this year.”
The Panthers’ opening opponent Saturday at Acrisure Stadium is Wofford, a tiny FCS school in Spartanburg, S.C., that ran into hard times last season. The Terriers lost their first five games before then-interim (now head) coach Shawn Watson orchestrated a 3-3 finishing stretch. Watson was Narduzzi’s offensive coordinator in 2018 and 2019.
“He knows what we like to do,” Narduzzi said. “But he still has to stop it.”
Meanwhile, per tradition on the first Monday of the season, Narduzzi released Pitt’s depth chart, often referred to as a two-deep. But this depth chart had three, sometimes four players at some positions.
Here are some of the highlights:
• The first bad news of the summer involves senior left guard Ryan Jacoby, a transfer from Ohio State who suffered an injury midway through summer camp and is out for the season. It’s especially unfortunate because, Narduzzi said, Jacoby had corrected some footwork issues from spring ball.
“That’s a big departure because he was playing at a high level,” the coach said. “We’re excited about where he’ll be in the future because of what he’s learned from spring ball to now.”
The replacement is junior Jason Collier, who arrived in 2019 as a 240-pound tight end and has bulked up to 6-foot-6, 330 pounds. “Jason’s been here for a long time. He knows the system. He’s smart. He just naturally fit into that spot.”
• The backup quarterback job goes to Penn State transfer Christian Veilleux (pronounced VAY-air) over Nate Yarnell.
“(Christian) was right there with Nate and just at the end (Veilleux moved ahead),” Narduzzi said. “That doesn’t mean Nate can’t win a football game for us as we know he’s already done. Christian got a little more comfortable and didn’t make as many little mistakes as Nate did.
“But that could change next week. Nate won’t be on scout team like he was last year.”
• Senior Nate Temple, who missed most of the 2020 and 2022 seasons with injuries, is scheduled to start at one defensive end opposite Dayon Hayes.
“He stayed healthy. I give him a lot of credit,” Narduzzi said of Temple. “I didn’t know if he could make it through a camp or spring ball and stay healthy, and he did. We’re excited he did. That’s the first win of the year. Nate Temple stayed healthy.”
The immediate backups at end are Nahki Johnson and Bam Brima.
• The third wide receiver is Daejon Reynolds, a transfer from Florida. Narduzzi likes his consistency and football IQ, but he said there is competition “nipping at his butt.”
Backups will be freshmen Kenny Johnson, Zion Fowler-El, Izzy Polk, Lamar Seymore and junior Jake McConnachie, a former walk-on who was awarded with a scholarship last week. Narduzzi believes the scholarship offers McConnachie some relief after working hard to earn one. “That will make him play even better,” the coach said.
• M.J. Devonshire and Marquise Williams are listed as the starting cornerbacks, but Narduzzi believes he has three, including senior A.J. Woods.
“All three can play in the NFL, in my opinion,” he said. “It’s which one’s going to start this week, which one’s going to start next week, based on how they practice and how we feel the matchups are.
“MJ, if I was an offensive coordinator, I’d probably not throw it his way. Those other guys are going to get more passes. He just goes and gets the ball. You can have a perfect pass, and this guy somehow comes up with it. Our quarterbacks found that out (in practice).
• Bangally Kamara and Solomon DeShields are the outside linebackers, flanking middle man Shayne Simon.
Kamara changed positions — from Star to Money — while Simon moved from Money.
“They’re interchangeable, based on who we’re playing,” Narduzzi said of Kamara and DeShields. “To me, there’s no difference. One guy plays in space (Star); one guy doesn’t. They’re both good athletes. Bangally is physically suited to do both, but maybe a more physical guy in the box. Bangally is a heckuva blitzer, and we like to blitz.”
• Matt Goncalves played left and right offensive tackle during camp, but he’ll start on the left.
“He’s your best tackle. You always want to put your best tackle at left tackle,” Narduzzi said. “If we had a left-handed quarterback, maybe he’d be at right tackle.”
Branson Taylor, who also has played both tackle spots, will start on the right.