Splash plays make highlight reels, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi more interested in consistency
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After two weeks of hanging around Pitt’s summer training camp, you get the impression that everything is great and there are, perhaps, a dozen big plays every day.
That may be true, but coach Pat Narduzzi is looking for more than splashes of production. He wants consistency, and the coach said Wednesday morning prior to the 12th practice of August that he’s getting it from some players while others are lacking.
“We talk to our guys about stacking (good) days on top of each other. You see inconsistencies. That’s what we’re working on right now. You get into the dog days of camp, day 12, going through the motions sometimes, some guys.
“And, then, there’s the consistent guys. You see the same guy every day. Most of those (players who ascend to NFL camps) are consistent guys because they can put it together every day. A lot of the guys who don’t go to the NFL are guys who are up and down.”
Of course, no discussion about consistency would be complete without Narduzzi identifying some of the better players in that regard.
“We talk about our kids every night,” he said of his coaching staff. “We sit in the staff room for an hour and go down through the depth chart.”
Narduzzi mentioned quarterback Phil Jurkovec, wide receiver Bub Means, running backs Daniel Carter and C’Bo Flemister and offensive tackle Matt Goncalves.
The coach hinted that the offensive unit might have more consistent performers than the defense, but he pointed out linebacker Shayne Simon, cornerback M.J. Devonshire and defensive tackles Tyler Bentley and Deandre Jules.
Bentley, Jules, David Green, Sean FitzSimmons and Devin Danielson appear to be solidly planted in the tackle rotation. Top ends are Dayon Hayes, Nahki Johnson and Nate Temple.
Narduzzi announced a recent position switch, moving redshirt junior Jahvante Royal from wide receiver to cornerback where he played during his first three years at Pitt. The emergence of freshman wide receivers Izzy Polk, Kenny Johnson, Zion Fowler-El and Lamar Seymore allowed coaches to confidently make the change.
“Jahvante’s going to give us more depth at corner,” Narduzzi said. “He had a nice pick the other day. Coach Underwood (Tiquan, wide receivers) taught him how to catch and now he’s a better DB.”
The coach said redshirt sophomore punter Caleb Junko has the “upper hand” in the two-man battle with Jeff Yurk.
“But it’s a constant battle. We have two good punters right now that we can count on,” he said. “It may go into the season, find out what happens the first couple games and see who’s going to be the gamer.”