Pitt Take 5: After only 4 practices, there’s still plenty of chatter while team takes shape
Share this post:
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi demands no one look beyond the next day’s practice, but we’ll do it here, anyway.
The Backyard Brawl already is sold out, and a crowd of close to 70,000 may show up at Acrisure Stadium.
Not bad for a televised event in which fans get no bobbleheads when they enter.
While Narduzzi and his staff have been preparing for West Virginia for many months (mainly in meetings), he’s more interested at the moment in the competition he says exists at all positions.
Coaches claim every player is competing for playing time, even the ones who are locked in as starters: veterans such as offensive left tackle Carter Warren (who skipped the Senior Bowl to return this season), linebacker SirVocea Dennis (middle or outside, he’s not saying) and Watch List king Calijah Kancey (one of the nation’s best defensive tackles).
Let’s dig a little deeper into the team with five thoughts from a week of observation and chatter on the South Side:
1. Speed matters, but not by itself
When strong safety Brandon Hill was told there’s a rumor floating around the practice facility that his 4.34 40-yard dash time is the best on the team, he didn’t disagree.
“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I can honestly say that,” said Hill, whose speed and play in two seasons make him at least the equal of former Pitt safety Damar Hamlin as an NFL prospect. Hamlin was a sixth-round choice of the Buffalo Bills in the 2020 draft.
“But we have a lot of fast guys on the team, a lot of depth, a lot of guys who can run, offensively and defensively,” Hill said. “If we put all that together, we’re going to be a great team.”
Across the field, free safety Erick Hallett said he runs a 4.45 and remarked that every defensive back on the team runs a sub-4.5.
“We can line up, though, and see who’s fastest,” he said, aware it’s a race unlikely to get Narduzzi’s blessing. Who needs a strained hamstring, right?
Narduzzi likes Pitt’s team speed, but he knows there’s more to defense than athleticism.
“If you go really fast in the wrong direction, you have problems,” he said. “Speed is great. Athletic ability is great. But knowledge and technique you use out there (is also important).
“The great thing about Brandon Hill is he’s not a track guy. He’s a football player. More than his speed, I love how he plays, the attitude he plays with and his knowledge of the game.”
2. Keeping the men grounded
Kancey’s name appears on watch lists for five major awards, but defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said the junior from Miami is handling the respect “in a very mature, very adult (way).”
“There’s this balance of we want to promote you,” he said. “We want you to have a chance to get these things. But at the same time, none of that matters if you don’t come in and work every single day.
“It’s managing the pressure. It’s managing the distractions and keeping the main thing the main thing.”
He said Kancey started his career by being “selfless” in his approach.
“To his credit, I haven’t seen that change,” he said. “He also knows if I did see a change or I felt a change, I would hold him accountable really, really quick.”
How his players practice is just as important to Partridge as how they play in games.
“When (an outsider) walks out to the practice field, I’m disappointed if that person didn’t come to me and say, ‘I love the way your guys work. You guys are always working. You’re always at a certain tempo.’
“If we were to let off the gas, then it would crumble fast.”
3. Plenty of D-line depth
Kancey is joined on the defensive line by four other tackles who can be trusted to enter a game at anytime: David Green, Devin Danielson, Tyler Bentley and Deandre Jules. Elliot Donald and Dorien Ford are younger, but they’re impactful at practice, Partridge said.
At end, Habakkuk Baldonado, Deslin Alexandre, John Morgan and Dayon Hayes also are worthy of starters’ reps at practice.
Partridge also noted that backups Nate Temple, Bam Brima, Chris Maloney and Sam Williams are performing well. He said Maloney, a former walk-on, is “as steady as it gets.”
Partridge didn’t forget freshman Sam Okunlola, who “is way, way, way ahead of the curve for a young guy.”
Faced with so much depth, Partridge said, “I was ready to say a quote that I shouldn’t say in front of the media.”
He amended it by remarking, “It doesn’t stink.”
4. What about running back?
At this point, it’s difficult to tell for sure who will get the bulk of the carries at running back. If Izzy Abanikanda is the starter in the opener, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond Jr. won’t be on the sideline long.
Davis struggled early in the 2021 camp “for whatever reason,” Narduzzi said. But he has run for 1,539 yards (4.5 per carry) and 15 touchdowns in three seasons.
Plus, teammates listen when he speaks up.
“He’s one of those sneaky leaders. He’s always talking. He loves that microphone,” Narduzzi said. “He just keeps growing up. You love him. You love his energy that he gives in that room.”
With three accomplished backs returning, how does senior and Notre Dame transfer C’Bo Flemister fit?
“Tough, hard runner, athletic,” Narduzzi said. “He’ll be a work in progress mentally, but physically he’s got the tools to go in there. He’s really mature. I like how he’s handled himself in the first few days. He’s not panicked. He’s smooth.”
5. The third QB
Narduzzi recruited quarterback Derek Kyler, a transfer from Dartmouth, for a simple reason:
He wanted a competent backup if Kedon Slovis or Nick Patti is forced to miss time.
Kyler’s resume includes experience (20 starts, 18 victories), an Ivy League championship, 4,409 yards and 42 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 522 attempts.
“He’s smart, and it gives us another guy you can count on,” Narduzzi said.
At one point in his pre-Pitt career, Narduzzi was on a coaching staff that went through seven quarterbacks in one season.
“We certainly don’t want to be on our seventh quarterback, but you have to prepare for that, as well.”
Of the competition between Slovis and Patti, Narduzzi said: “Both looked solid. Each one of them has their good plays, their bad plays, like everybody, just like you guys (reporters).
“It’s going to be a test of time, really, to see the consistency. You need the consistency.”