Pitt’s young WRs Che Nwabuko, Kenny Johnson put talents on display in quest for playing time
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Che Nwabuko kept everyone waiting, but no one questioned his reason for being a bit tardy to his first interview session. Pitt’s redshirt freshman wide receiver was staying after practice to put in some extra work.
Football comes first. Who could argue?
Then, after arriving at the appointed spot, he went around the semicircle of reporters and shook everyone’s hand. He repeated the gentlemanly gesture when he was finished answering questions.
It proved to be an enlightening five minutes.
When he was asked to identify the fastest player in training camp, he smiled and said, “You already know who it is. You come out to practice. You see me every day.”
Yet he admitted there are others who will give him a run for the honor.
“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I have some competitors out there, (A.J.) Woods, (Marquis) Williams, (Bub) Means.”
Actually, it doesn’t matter who’s fastest.
“Just get the ball in my hands,” said Nwabuko, who recently turned a short pass into a long gainer. “Let me do what I do with the ball.”
Nwabuko, who didn’t get into any games last year during his redshirt season, is that rare Pitt athlete who competes in two sports. He ran indoor track this winter, recording personal-best times of 6.71 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational in Louisville and 21.08 in the 200 at the ACC indoor track and field championships, also in Louisville. He finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in those events.
As a high schooler, Nwabuko was a track champion at Manor High in Austin, Texas.
On the football field, he recorded 2,984 all-purpose yards over three seasons, averaging 16.4 per catch. Also, he won gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter races and 400-meter relay at the University Interscholastic League State 5A Track and Field Championships.
But where does he fit on Pitt’s wide receiver depth chart? Assistant coach Tiquan Underwood is looking for pass catchers beyond returning starters Konata Mumpfield and Means.
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— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) August 9, 2023
The list of hopefuls includes — among others — Florida transfer Daejon Reynolds, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound redshirt sophomore; redshirt junior Jake McConnachie; Nwabuko; and four first-year freshmen: Izzy Polk, Lamar Seymore, Kenny Johnson and Zion Fowler-El. It’s already been established by coach Pat Narduzzi that one or two of those freshmen will play this season, the extent of their participation to be decided.
Johnson and Seymore stated their cases earlier this week with impressive catches in practice.
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Johnson said the first week of summer camp is largely spent “paying attention to the details, making sure that I’m in the playbook the way I’m supposed to, getting extra work.”
“It’s a great thing to get in to be seen and not heard.”
Everyone saw Sunday when he ran a go route and ended up making a leaping catch in the back of the end zone.
“All week, all we’ve been talking about is drive, drive, drive, making sure we’re getting out of our release,” he said. “I made sure I reached that, and I saw the ball going over.”
He said to himself, “Shoot, I can’t run under this one. I have to dive.”
“It was great defense. High-pointed it.”
Johnson, a graduate of Dallastown High School in York, was named MVP of the Big 33 Football Classic this year. He caught nine passes for 161 yards, including a decisive 31-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 15 seconds to play in Pennsylvania’s 31-27 victory against Maryland.
After that game, Johnson heard from Narduzzi and Underwood, who congratulated him, adding an important message.
“They were just telling me to stay locked in, make sure I’m staying on my grind,” he said.
Johnson knows becoming a polished pass catcher requires more than making highlight-reel catches.
“I need to be able to know what I’m doing. It doesn’t matter if I’m making plays if I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said.
Nwabuko, who’s also getting looks as a kick and punt returner, agrees, noting he appreciates Underwood’s attention to detail.
“Coming from high school, I wasn’t really much of a receiver,” Nwabuko said. “I didn’t have a straight-on receivers coach to teach me the all small things … being cleaner on my routes, my releases. I’m building on everything he’s been teaching me.”
He said he’s ready to take the next step in his second season with the team.
“When I first got here, I was just ready to work, ready to soak in everything the coaches were telling me,” he said. “Last year, I had to work through some things. As a young guy, you always have to do that. Sit in the back and learn from the older guys.
“This year, I’m going to be able to take what I learned from last year, build on it and really show what I have.”
Including his eye-catching speed, clocked this summer at 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash, he said.
“I tell (the quarterbacks) to put it out there. Let me go get it. You have to put the fire extinguisher on my feet.”