With Pat Narduzzi pushing him, Pitt LB Bangally Kamara seeks perfection
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If Bangally Kamara has discovered anything about spring football — and playing for Pat Narduzzi — it’s that he can always do better than what he shows in practice.
With time and patience, Kamara might finally reach a point by the start of the 2023 season that satisfies him and his coach. To be fair and accurate, Kamara is performing well, by all accounts, while entering his second season as Pitt’s starter at the star position on defense (part linebacker, part safety).
But Narduzzi is looking beyond the norm for his senior from Akron, Ohio. Actually, for anyone who lines up on the Pitt defense.
“He’s never going to be one of those coaches,” Kamara said, “who’s going to be, ‘Oh, you’re making so many plays. Oh, my God, you’re so great.’
“No matter what you do with coach Narduzzi, he’s always going to have something little that you need to be great at. That’s the reason why we have so many players going to the NFL.
“Everybody’s not all caught up in themselves. Everybody’s trying to get better. I’d rather have it like that, honestly. I don’t think I get anything out of everybody praising me. I’d rather everybody criticize me. I play better when it’s like that.”
He said the criticism motivates him to do better.
“I don’t think I went out on gameday (last season) and did what I could have done to the best of my abilities,” Kamara said. “(Reading) keys, not really being comfortable with being out there sometimes, my first year starting.
“How the UCLA game turned out (he intercepted a pass and recorded a quarterback hurry in Pitt’s Sun Bowl victory) gave me a little more confidence. Now, I’m going into the offseason trying to cut out those little mistakes.”
If that’s his goal, Kamara has come to the right place.
“He’s going to be very detail-oriented when it comes to film,” Kamara said of his coach. “He’s always looking for little things like steps, where your eyes are at, who you’re reading at this moment.”
Narduzzi is fair and balanced in his assessment of Kamara. Some plays he likes; some he doesn’t.
“He’s scary,” Narduzzi said. “I’m standing behind the offense (during a scrimmage), and I feel that guy.”
Quarterback Phil Jurkovec called Kamara “a disrupter.”
“You know he’s going to go and make plays,” he said.
Sometimes, Narduzzi will tap Kamara (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) on the back and say, “Attaboy.” But it’s a conditional “attaboy” if he’s not where he’s supposed to be.
“I liked it on the field,” Narduzzi said. “I watch the tape, and I’m (saying) ‘We’re going to get our butts kicked if he keeps doing this a lot.’ He did some stuff that you aren’t going to get away with. I let him know that.”
Kamara knows he needs to step up his game on a defense that lost starters Calijah Kancey, Habakkuk Baldonado, Deslin Alexandre, SirVocea Dennis, Erick Hallett and Brandon Hill — a significant chunk of leadership and big-play ability.
It’s Kamara’s turn.
“Definitely something I want to get out of this season is being more of a leader, stepping up where a lot of people have left,” he said. “Make plays in big-time moments. Lead the team, make sure nobody gets on each other when something bad happens. Make sure everybody is at the same place and stays calm.
“The first season starting really didn’t go the way I wanted, but I feel like I came out of it knowing what I had to do to get better.”
What he’s seeking is the “swag” he said defines many great defensive players.
Does he play with swag?
“I would like to say I do,” he said.
What is swag?
“Hitting hard, making plays in big-time moments and letting everybody know.”
To that end, he said he’ll be more patient this offseason and look to the next day’s practice, rather than the season, five months away.
“It’s more about getting better in my everyday technique,” he said. “That’s helped me a lot, not really rushing the process. Now, I just take it day by day.”
Starters have not been set at linebacker, but Kamara (star), Solomon DeShields (money) and Shayne Simon and Brandon George (middle) bring size and experience.
“Solomon, we’re like brothers,” Kamara said. “We talk about everything. I’m really happy where he’s at it right now, getting himself in that position to play a lot of plays. You guys can see him. The guy’s built (6-3, 230). He’s like a monster. I hope, I know he’s going to be like a monster out on the field this year, and I want you guys to watch out for that.”
Kamara spent several minutes Tuesday chatting with reporters, but he wants his interviews to be meaningful.
“I’d rather get interviews after a big game, after we dominated an opponent,” he said.
“I love spring ball, but that’s not what I’m trying to prove, that I’m the best player in spring ball. I want to be the best player in other sequences.”