Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi finds way to strike balance between work, rest
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The thought briefly crossed Pat Narduzzi’s mind that he might have been able to work an extra 15 or 20 minutes each night to get ready for No. 14 Notre Dame.
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“I was thinking this week, ‘What else can I do?’ We worked this week, four tight ends (Notre Dame formations) to no tight ends.”
Oh, no, what if Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman puts five tight ends on the field?
But common sense won the day, and Pitt’s coach said to himself. “What am I doing? This is not good.”
Football coaches notoriously — perhaps even carelessly — work long hours, trying to prepare for anything the opponent might try in the upcoming game.
Some Pitt assistant coaches go directly from the airport to the office after a road game to get a jump on the next week. Someone from the other team might be doing the same thing. Former Pitt defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable, who worked under Paul Chryst more than a decade ago, wasn’t the only coach in the country to put a sleeping bag in his office.
But Narduzzi, 57, isn’t afraid to admit, “I can’t do any more.”
“I’m getting about 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night. That’s not good. It’s not healthy.
“It’s almost like you have to say, ‘Maybe I should get home before 11 o’clock. Maybe it’s counter-productive at times.’ You’re making bad decisions when you don’t have (enough sleep).”
Narduzzi and his staff work seven days a week, double-digit hours a day during the season and often put in 12-hour days in the offseason, self-scouting, recruiting, meeting with players.
Finding balance is the key. When he met with reporters Thursday, the day before leaving for Notre Dame and Pitt’s eighth game of the season Saturday, he said, “I’m pretty fresh. I get a workout early in the morning. I’m ready to go.”
On the field, Narduzzi said players had a good week of practice “like we normally do.”
“We fixed a few things that I was interested in fixing.”
First on that list is improving the run defense that used to be the best in the ACC but has fallen into the middle of the pack. In three of Pitt’s five losses, Pitt has allowed a runner to gain 100 or more yards: Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner (153), Virginia Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten (109) and West Virginia’s C.J. Donaldson (102). Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne just missed triple digits (96).
“(Notre Dame is) capable, with that offensive line. Protection’s good, and they can run the football,” Narduzzi said. “They proved that against everybody. We’re going to have to stop the run first, which we have not proven we can do right now.
“Our linebackers have to do a better job of attacking downhill and hitting the right gaps. I think we hesitate at times at linebacker trying to be perfect. And by being perfect, we’re not being as physical as we need to. I’d like to see our linebackers go make more plays.”
On the other side of the ball, Narduzzi has been pleased with improvement on the offensive line now that senior guards Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic are back from injuries. Quarterback Christian Veilleux has been sacked only once in two games after Virginia Tech dropped Phil Jurkovec four times in his last start.
“They’ve played well enough for the quarterback not to get hit,” Narduzzi said. “I also think Christian’s done a good job, and coach (Frank) Cignetti’s done a good job getting the ball out of his hands quicker, knowing what we’re dealing with.
“Jake did a nice job (moving from center to guard against Wake Forest). I think he’s feeling a little bit better this week than he did last week.”
Veilleux, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, apparently has won over his teammates as the recognized leader of the offense. Wide receivers have hung a Canadian flag in their meeting room.
Meanwhile, Narduzzi confirmed Jurkovec is doing some work in practice with the tight ends, although the coach insists a position switch hasn’t occurred.
“He wants to play a little bit over there,” he said. “He still doesn’t have a position change, but he’s played on the kickoff return (in practice). He’s on the punt team. He’ll play anything. He’ll go wherever we can get him in.”
When he was asked if Jurkovec has a future at tight end in the NFL if he so chooses, Narduzzi said, “That’s not for me to decide.”