Blake Zubovic, Jake Kradel return for final opportunity on Pitt's offensive line

Blake Zubovic was honest about the 2022 Pitt football season.

“It was a good year,” he said. “Nine wins, you know, it doesn’t happen that often.”

But he was sweating inside Pitt’s indoor practice facility Thursday after the fifth day of spring drills for a specific reason.

“We felt there was more on the table to achieve,” he said. “We knew with the talent we had, with the group we had, we could achieve a lot more than we did. We decided to come back and try to make that happen.”

Zubovic and Jake Kradel are local offensive line products from Belle Vernon and Butler, respectively. They are best friends who went on spring break together in advance of their sixth Pitt season after making a combined 53 starts (38 for Kradel and 13 for Zubovic).

They could have opted for an alternate path this year, but even though both were honored on Senior Day last season, Zubovic said he couldn’t imagine life without football. They decided to accept the NCAA’s offer of an extra year of eligibility after the pandemic-shortened the 2020 season.

“I wasn’t sure where my life was headed,” Zubovic said. “I guess when I decided to go out for Senior Day, I was buying myself some time. When I really sat down and thought about it, I (said), ‘Man, would I rather be doing anything else but playing football this year?’ The answer was no.

“There were variables for me each way, but it came down to I just wanted to come back and play with these guys.”

Kradel had much the same thought, and they are likely to line up next to each other this season. Barring a dramatic change, Kradel will be at center and Zubovic at right guard — just as they were at the Sun Bowl in December.

Of course, change often occurs on the offensive line, where big bodies collide and muscles are strained to the breaking point. Pitt had five starters returning for the ’22 season, but injuries to Carter Warren, Owen Drexel and Gabe Houy robbed the unit of the stability that makes good lines great.

Those three players — plus guard Marcus Minor — are gone and will be among 13 former Pitt players working out for the NFL at the school’s Pro Day on March 29.

Yet Zubovic and Kradel are not the only familiar faces on the line. Matt Goncalves, who has made 21 starts in his career, is at right tackle, and Branson Taylor, who started four games as a replacement for Warren, is competing at left tackle. Meanwhile, Ryan Jacoby, who started five games at Ohio State before transferring to Pitt, is at left guard after serving as an in-line tight end for the Panthers last season.

And you can bet offensive line coach Dave Borbely will make room for massively built redshirt freshman Ryan Baer (6-foot-7, 335 pounds), a highly coveted four-star recruit who joined the Panthers in its class of 2022 from Eastlake, Ohio.

“He takes what he’s taught by (coach) Borbs, and he applies it,” Zubovic said. “He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. He takes coaching really well. He wants to be better. He’s always with us watching extra film.”

Offensive linemen do everything together, from watching practice video, hanging out at each other’s apartments and/or eating meals (especially when treated by former quarterback Kenny Pickett’s NIL deals).

Zubovic said the camaraderie is easily explained.

“First, it’s coach Borbs. The guys he brings in, the culture he makes. He forces us to be all on the same path and, then, you get along better,” he said. “A lot of good character guys.

“Second part, we work together, I think, more than any unit. It doesn’t matter if the whole right side of the line has their assignment perfect. (If) one guy goes the wrong way, has the wrong idea on a linebacker, play’s over.

“You grow up playing offensive line and you understand that football really is a team game, before a lot other players who are out on islands. The more cohesive you are, the more success you’re going to have.”

It sounded like double talk, but Zubovic made a lot of sense when he said, “Everyone’s going to be better if everyone’s better.”