University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Football Camp: Day 15, Photos & Quotes
8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
2016 Pitt Football Camp, Day 15 Coverage: Photos & Quotes
Head Coach Pat Narduzzi
Opening statement:
"Good morning. Camp started out like a heat wave and now it has kind of chilled out a little bit, which is what we like. We had a great day yesterday. We continue to be a healthy football team. I'm happy with where we are right now. It should be another great day today."
On giving the team the second practice off yesterday:
"We gave them the afternoon off. Like I told you guys before, we want quality over quantity. It's not how many practices you can get in, it's how good those practices are. I think doubles are overrated to begin with. The NCAA as a whole has started to move away from a lot of two-a-days. Going back to even when I was in school I was like 'what are we doing.' I'd rather have the quality practices as opposed to the quantity. It keeps our guys fresh and lets them know that we care about them."
On evaluating a "quality" practice:
"In a quality practice there is a lot of focus. There is attention to the little things. It's about the offense's execution, and the defense's reaction to what they are doing. You have to be in position to make the play. If we're just sloppy and things are wide open defensively, that's not a very quality practice; you are wasting time, basically just out there going through the motions. Same thing on offense. If a couple guys aren't executing—whether it's catching, throwing or protecting the quarterback—then you've got problems. We're looking for that focus. It's difficult for these kids to sit out here for two hours a day. Remember, they are here in this building from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 at night. It's a long day for them. So we're trying to get that focus and attention."
On the optimism surrounding the team right now:
"As coaches, you're never satisfied. I feel good about this football team we have. I think this football team cares about each other. I think they are tight-knit right now. There is great chemistry. Now, does that equal wins? I don't know, but it's nothing to be disappointed about. I'm happy where we are as a football team, and I talk team, not individuals. So I'm happy with what we've got, but that doesn't equal wins either. We'll find that out on a weekly basis."
On Pitt's experience playing a large factor on this team:
"The seniors are involved; there is 20 of them. They have to be mature about what they do and how they do it."
On Defensive End Ejuan Price becoming a leader:
"Ejuan [Price] has been explosive—more explosive than he has been in the past. He is playing with a lot more confidence. A year ago today, he wasn't able to play. He's confident, and he's explosive in what he is doing. He is causing havoc in the backfield every day in practice. It's hard to get him out of a game. Even in Saturday's scrimmage, we were like 'after about 15 plays, let's get him out. We don't need to see much more. Let's make sure we're smart and see what those other guys have.' But he's a guy that doesn't want to come out of the game. He's a guy that is having a lot of fun playing this game and understands how to do it effectively."
On redshirting freshmen:
"Every freshman wants to play. I do think it's important to redshirt the freshmen. If we could redshirt every guy, I would love to do it. But if they are ready to play, we're going to play them. We are not going to save them for that fifth year, because they may be gone by that time. The landscape of college football and the NFL is if you have a great year after your third year, you go take the money. I'm all for that as long as you're a first rounder. In an ideal world, if you could redshirt every one of them you would. They are 18 years old, they will be better at 20 [years old]. I always say to them 'do you think you can be better next year at this time?' And every one of them will say 'yes.' Why wouldn't they wait until next year? I tell them 'don't get disappointed when you're not playing.' We've got a freshman class that I think is outstanding. Are they all ready right now? No. There is a lot of mental stuff that goes into it."
On how many freshmen will see the field:
"We would anticipate playing four to six. But you might not know that until the third game. I don't know if everybody is ready. There will be some that may be ready September 3rd. There are some that may be ready September 24th. We're going to train them to be ready to go, and we'll find out. There could be four to six, or there could be three. Right now it's hard to know."
On having clarity early on as to who is starting on the offensive line:
"It's nice to say here are our guys that will be playing, but what happens when one guy goes down? That's reality. Our guys can mix together and play. We have a lot of guys we can put in different spots. It's a positive. You don't want to be dealing with that the third game of the year. If all of a sudden the third game of the year there is an injury and you have to plug a guy in who hasn't had any runs with the ones, then you're in a tough spot. It's a good situation where we're at."
On what Dorian Johnson brings to the line and the locker room:
"He's a super, super kid. He's a quiet guy. He isn't someone who is a vocal leader, but he's a guy that leads by example. He won't miss a practice; he won't miss a meeting; he doesn't want to miss a thing. He's a leader by example; he's got a lot of class. He will anchor that offensive line."
Running Back James Conner
On his health and getting back on the field:
"I feel good. I have just been taking it day-by-day still. I'm going full speed, and everything is great. The couple live periods were good for me to get my feet back and get into the rhythm of things. It's not getting rough. I need all the contact I can get to get back to my old self. So it's been good."
On the feeling of running the ball again during the scrimmage at Heinz Field:
"It was cool. It's a great place—a lot of history at Heinz. It's our home field, so getting to be back there is always special."
On the coaches monitoring his workload:
"The coaches take good care of all of us. I can go for two hours straight if I had to. But they are being smart with everybody. They are the bosses; when they say that's enough, that's enough."
On the running back room:
"Anybody who gets a carry is going to do some great things with the ball. It's a very talented room. I feel like we have the most talented running back room in the nation. All of those guy's run so hard and we just pick each other's brains each day and compete. I'm excited for it."
On his reception coming out of the tunnel against Villanova:
"I'm just going to embrace it all. I know we will have a great audience. It will be a memorable day. My doctor will be in the building, along with some of the nurses. My family and friends will be there, along with my friends from Erie, so it's just going to be a great day."
On his emotions leading up to the Villanova game:
"I'm excited to make my return. I take every game the same. There's a job that needs to be done. Anytime we go out to Heinz, my emotions start flowing. There was a chance of me never playing football again, so I always get a little emotional thinking about it."
On moments in camp that he felt like he was "back":
"The first time I was being contacted again, getting wrapped up again by our great defense. Everybody over there has been roughing me up and getting me ready for the season. They are not taking it easy on me. Those are my boys though."
On handling the high expectations this season:
"2014 was a long time ago. I don't put any pressure on myself. I'm just going to go out there and compete. Every day, I give it everything I have. To me, God already has a plan for me and the numbers are already set. As long as I give everything that I've got, I have no regrets."
Quarterback Nathan Peterman
On what it is like to have Offensive Linemen Dorian Johnson and Adam Bisnowaty in the huddle:
"It's awesome. I kind of spoke about Bis [Adam Bisnowaty] a little bit in my senior speech, just saying how he makes it easier out there. When we're in the huddle, he just kind of eases things and cracks a few jokes here and there. It makes it really easy going out there and it kind of takes some stress away."
On the kind of leadership that Dorian Johnson provides in the huddle:
"He leads by example. He goes and gets his job done; and if he doesn't, he's accountable to it. He's not going to shy away that he messed up or anything. He's had a lot of experience and he's a very skilled player being there, being calm and ready to go. Everybody feeds off each other in that huddle."
On what they need to improve on from last season:
"Scoring points—we definitely want to do that more this year obviously. We think that we can be a very high-scoring offense, and that's our goal. We need to finish down there in the red zone. We need touchdowns—100 percent on touchdowns, no field goals. We've got to protect the ball always. We've got to keep working on those things and keep finding a way to punch it in."
On what it's like to watch Running Back James Conner return this season:
"He's a lean, mean, fighting machine. Look at him over there. People are scared of him. He's an intimidating guy. He's been fun to have out there, and in all seriousness he's brought a great attitude and really just a great mental approach to the whole game for the whole team to really rub off on. The guys feed off him like I said, and I'm excited for this season with him."
On if he would call Pitt's offense a spread offense:
"I think we do a little bit of everything. We're just trying to score points out there. Coach [Matt] Canada is very creative. He does a very good job of mixing things up and making it hard for the defense. I think we'll have opportunities to score out there this year."
Offensive Lineman Dorian Johnson
On his preseason All-American recognition:
"I think it's an honor that people think so highly of me, personally. But it's just all speculation. It's a preseason award, so at the end of the day it doesn't mean anything right now. I need to make it happen on the field."
On the optimism surrounding the team:
"I feel like guys have completely bought in this year. We always talk about being ACC champions, and we talked about it last year too. I feel like some guys believed it, but not everyone had the same mentality. This year I feel like all the guys have bought in. We're going to try and go out there and win every single game that we can. We have great coaches here; we have guys that care about us—from the head coach to position coaches and strength coaches. Everybody's attitude has just changed. We have power. We have depth. Everybody wants to win. We're tired of coming up short, so everybody is striving for the same goals."
On his humble approach and where it comes from:
"Probably from just being an offensive lineman, to be honest. We never really get much recognition. I've been a lineman my entire life. That's probably where it comes from. That and my family. My grandpa was a big role model in my life; he kind of has the same personality that I do. He played football at Belle Vernon as well, but didn't go on to play in college."
On the offensive line being a strength of the team:
"I think it should be. We have depth but we also have a lot of other great players. We have great depth at running back and quarterback. Nate [Peterman] is a great quarterback. We have great receivers and all-around the defense is great. I think that the line should be a great unit, but it's coming from everywhere else too."
Offensive Line Coach John Peterson
On what Adam Bisnowaty brings to position meetings and the locker room:
"Bis [Adam Bisnowaty] is a very passionate player who has a lot of great game experience and leadership qualities. The neat thing is to watch Bis and Dorian [Johnson]; they're experts at their position and now they are really coaches on the field."
On Adam Bisnowaty and Dorian Johnson having contrasting personalities:
"That's the fun thing about any position. Our offensive line always has a lot of characters."
On how Dorian Johnson leads by example during games:
"Part of being an offensive lineman is to listen. He has to be focused in that huddle, listening to the quarterback and the details of what is being said, get to the line of scrimmage and dissect the defense. I look for more of their body language and how they're carrying themselves. It's a group that is confident and excited to get into the season."
On Jaryd Jones-Smith:
"Jaryd is doing well. He's a young guy still with a lot of talent. Every day and every period he gets better and better. I anticipate him to play a role and be very active."
On Alex Officer still competing for the starting job at center:
"He's still running with the No. 1s. He is a very versatile guy too. You see him play guard and center also."
Defensive Back Avonte Maddox
On how he can improve as a cornerback:
"Probably do more work at the line [of scrimmage]. Other than that, my speed is up there; but if I can win off the line, then I'll be even better."
On how his success last season helped his confidence:
"My confidence is always high no matter what happens. I have a lot of self-confidence, and it's going to always be high. I can't let it get too low and I can't let it get too high."
On what has helped his development as a player besides his speed:
"I think watching film. You can't go wrong with watching film. You can always learn something new, unique and better by watching film both about yourself and someone else."
On playing with an edge because of his height:
"Yeah, I do; I like it. Of course everyone wishes they could be 6-foot-3, but a lot of people aren't blessed to be, and I don't really care. I like to play with an edge. I'm smaller, so it makes me feel better when I beat you."
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