Pitt assistant Andre Powell keeps running backs grinding through difficult season
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When Pitt travels to Durham, N.C., to confront Duke on Saturday, Andre Powell will mark nine full seasons on coach Pat Narduzzi’s staff.
They met when both were assistant coaches at Rhode Island in the 1990s, and their career paths crossed again in 2015 when Powell was one of Narduzzi’s first hires at Pitt.
Powell has been an assistant coach at 10 schools, teaching, coaxing and guiding young men at such various positions as linebacker, running back, wide receiver, kicker, punter, holder and long snapper.
His time at Pitt is longer than at any of his previous nine stops. So, what happened this season — a 3-8 overall record, 2-5 in the ACC and two four-game losing streaks — doesn’t sit well with the 57-year-old South Carolina native.
But he knows how to deal with it, and he said the running backs and special teamers under his tutelage follow his lead.
“You have to have experience to do things, and I have not experienced what we went through very often,” he said. “I had hair and abs the last time I experienced this.”
He said his players have embraced the grind and continued to work toward a goal. Right now, it’s just to be 1-0 on Saturday.
“When things don’t go their way, it’s easy to chuck in the towel. Those guys in my room have hung in there,” he said. “They’ve performed well. They’ve known the game plan. They’ve been positive. They’ve had good energy. And that’s hard in this day and age with young kids when things don’t go your way. I’m proud of all those guys.
“I don’t like losing, either. I don’t like losing back-to-back games or getting on a losing streak. Pat sets the tempo. When we get in front of our guys, we have to teach and coach with energy and make sure when we install the game plan, we install it with some confidence. That’s been the course we’ve been on.”
With two quarterback changes this season, Pitt’s offense has struggled and the ground game is last in the ACC, averaging 107.3 yards.
“We have not been as productive as we have in the past. We realize that,” Powell said. “That can be attributed to a lot of things.
“You just keep grinding. You know as a player and as a coach, that sometimes things don’t go your way and we’re always telling our kids to endure and keep going. We have to do the same things as coaches.”
But Rodney Hammond turned on the light Saturday, emerging to rush for 145 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, making ’23 his best of three seasons with 526 yards. Pitt is 8-0 over the past three seasons when Hammond carries 15 or more times, and he’s turned those eight opportunities into 735 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“Rodney got hot. He was producing. That’s the way it works,” Powell said. “When a guy gets a hot hand, we ride him.
“One game, C’Bo (Flemister) got hot against Wake Forest. Some games, we weren’t very productive for whatever reason.”
Hammond has endured injuries at various points this season, but he has appeared in every game.
“He got nicked up in the (BC) game,” Powell said. “I’m proud of him. He hung in there and took advantage of his opportunities.”
Pitt’s ground game has functioned with a three-man rotation, including Hammond, Flemister and Daniel Carter, who have compiled 207 of the team’s 214 carries by running backs. Players such as LSU transfer Derrick Davis (Gateway) and freshmen Montravius Lloyd and T.J. Harvison have stepped aside, hoping their opportunity will arrive next year.
“When we had Izzy (Abanikanda) last year, it was hard to keep those (backup) guys happy because they weren’t getting to play as much,” Powell said. “The year before when (offensive coordinator Mark) Whipple was here, we’re throwing the ball a lot. Those guys want to run the ball.
“The main deal is getting that W. We’re a team. You’re going to get your opportunities and when you get your opportunities, you have to make the best of them.
“Derrick is a talented guy. He’s going to help us. He’s getting better. We have talented guys in our room, and when we get to full capacity, across the board, on offense, it’s going to look different.”