Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi urges Konata Mumpfield to save pass-catching acrobatics for games
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The scouting reports on Akron wide receiver Konata Mumpfield were glowing.
His speed, hands and route-running ability had placed him among the best pass catchers in the Mid-American Conference and earned him Freshman All-American status. When his name appeared in the NCAA transfer portal after last season, he was recruited seriously by Pat Narduzzi, the coach of a Power 5 conference champion.
Finally, Mumpfield no longer was unappreciated as he had been when he left Dacula (Ga.) High School with no Power 5 offers, according to Rivals.com. Pitt wanted him now, and not just for depth. Narduzzi needed him to help maintain a strong passing game.
Had Mumpfield finally arrived? In his mind, not quite.
After transferring from Akron to Pitt, he believed he still had something to prove. So, he started training camp hoping to make a good first impression by diving for wayward passes.
“It’s one of those things where you come out, new team, fall camp,” he said, “you have to prove yourself.”
Narduzzi knows this about practice fields: The ground is unforgiving.
After watching Mumpfield hit the ground with a thud too many times, the coach had flashbacks to the shoulder injury quarterback Nick Patti suffered diving for the pylon in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“He needs to stop diving for passes,” Narduzzi said of Mumpfield. “We know he’s going to make plays. I grabbed him a couple days ago and just said, ‘Listen, you have to stop doing that.’ We need to get you to Sept. 1 and the rest of the season (healthy).
“Slow down. You’ve made the point.”
Mumpfield complied — “Now, I’m just relaxing, chilling,” he said — but not without reminding the coach that he can still make those circus catches. “One play (in a recent practice), I could have got it,” he said.
When he ran past Narduzzi after letting the football hit the ground, he said, “I didn’t do it this time.”
“Naturally, you tend to do it,” he said. “See ball. Get ball.”
That’s the attitude that served Pitt well last season. The Panthers won 11 games and the ACC championship last season in large part because Kenny Pickett connected with Jordan Addison for 100 completions, 17 of which were touchdowns. Addison ran past defenders like they were telephone polls on a highway.
Without Addison, Pitt needs others to make big plays in the passing game this season. Those players include Mumpfield, senior Jared Wayne, junior Jaylon Barden, sophomore Jaden Bradley, Louisiana Tech transfer Bub Means and tight end Gavin Bartholomew, who will be given more freedom to make plays downfield.
Mumpfield said losing Addison to USC may put more pressure on Pitt’s wide receiver group, but he called the situation “a blessing in disguise.”
“Pressure is a privilege,” he said.
“(Addison) is a great player. I watched some of his stuff. Following that, I have a big role, all of the receivers (do). We’ve been putting in a lot of work. I don’t expect a dropoff.”
While planning his future after Akron coach Tom Arth was fired at the end of a 2-10 season, Mumpfield figured it was a good time to surrender to ambition.
“If I was going to restart, I wanted to restart at that bigger level,” he said. “I prayed for things like this when I was in high school. God has given me that opportunity.”
Pitt recruited him for the class of 2020 as a defensive back after he intercepted three passes and returned three punts for touchdowns in his senior seasons at Dacula.
But he wanted to play wide receiver in college, and Akron was the best place for him at the time. At Akron last season, he caught 61 passes for 723 yards and eight touchdowns.
Mumpfield played games against Power 5 schools Auburn and Ohio State. Performing in front of crowds of 83,821 (Auburn) and 95,178 (Ohio State), he caught a total of 10 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in 60-10 and 59-7 losses.
Asked to rate the defensive backfield talent he’s seen at his two stops, he said there isn’t a big difference in that area. “Maybe more up front.”
True to his new locker room, he said Pitt’s defensive backs are “special.”
“They’re all legit,” he said.