University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Football Camp: Day 16, Photos & Quotes
8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
2016 Pitt Football Camp, Day 16 Coverage: Photos & Quotes
Head Coach Pat Narduzzi
Opening statement:
"Good morning. Practice No. 18 today. We had a good one yesterday. It got a little tense out there; guys were flying around. We've got to practice with more maturity out there. That's my overall takeaway from yesterday's practice. There were too many guys laying on the ground; we're trying to keep people healthy. We're playing on the edge right now. They have #ThePursuit in mind, but they need to have the smart pursuit in mind as well. I'm happy with where we are going into Day 18. We have a little more game preparation stuff in. We're working in some opening day stuff and continuing to progress."
On bringing the Pitt Band to practice yesterday:
"We tried to bring the band in last year, but they were grinding up in Bradford. The Band is such a major part of what we do. We go to them after the game and sing the fight song. We are working on getting our players engaged with their players; because that's what they are, they're players too. We're letting them know we're together with them, and it's a team."
On finding a balance between the players being fiery but remaining smart:
"It's hard to do because everyone is competing out there. We try to eliminate cheap shots. There may be one or two of those a day out there where it gets chippy. It's usually the young freshman that doesn't know how to control his emotions when he gets out there in the heat of the moment, so we try to coach that up. We just have to be smart. You can't lose a guy to something like that. That's not what we teach."
On if there have been any classic training camp brawls:
"No. Our guys have been pretty good. We've got great chemistry. The kids know how to act. We talked about it the first day, I said 'who's going to be the guy on offense, and who's going to be the guy on defense,' and everybody looked around the room and pointed at each other. It didn't happen until practice six and it was really, really small. Mostly it is good players who are good guys that you know on game day are going to show up."
On what Offensive Lineman Adam Bisnowaty brings to this team:
"Bis [Bisnowaty] is obviously an eagle for us; he is unique. He's a fun guy; he tells it like it is. The guys look up to him. He is a leader on this football team."
On the development of Linebacker Elijah Zeise:
"Elijah [Zeise] has made improvements. He made major improvements in the spring. Now you're seeing little improvements throughout camp. You'd like to see it go even more. I know it's hard; he was a receiver just a year ago. He's been there [at linebacker] for six months, maybe. He's making strides. He's going to play for us. We're going to continue to make him a better player."
On how Zeise is grasping the playbook:
"I think he is. We threw a lot at him. He's going to be even better when we start getting into a game plan of what we're doing. Right now the game plan is large, but it's going to get smaller. We try to nail down every scenario and every situation in fall camp so when they hear it during the season, whether it's week one or week eight, they've heard it before and aren't surprised by anything. We'll continue to rep it throughout camp."
On when the decision was made to move Zeise to Linebacker:
"We had talked about it previously. In bowl practice he was a linebacker. He wasn't full time, and maybe mentally he was unsure, but he needs the reps. We saw what he can do in bowl season. We lined him up there and I said 'let's try it.' He looked at me like I was crazy, and then he proceeded to make the next three or four tackles in a row. He can play the game."
On how he differs from Linebacker Oluwaseun Idowu at the Star position:
"I don't think there's a huge difference there. Oluwaseun [Idowu] moved from safety; Elijah [Zeise] moved from receiver. They are both very athletic and both guys can run. They can both make plays in space. That's what we ask that position to do, and they both have the ability to do it. We're interested in seeing how they react on game day. They are both going to get opportunities to show what they have."
Defensive End Ejuan Price
On overcoming injuries and performing at a high level:
"I'm a really confident guy, but I try to stay humble. Anything can happen at any time. I'm just busting my tail at practice trying to put the best product on the field every day and hopefully that will get me where I need to be."
On the difference between his first camp and his sixth:
"I think my work ethic is much better than it was when I first came in. I understand things now, coming up and seeing how Aaron Donald worked and K'Waun Williams worked. I think that put something in me and taught me how to work. I definitely learned something from those guys."
On the changes in the program:
"The culture is definitely different. How we approach everything is how we do anything. We take everything seriously, and we're all a positive group. There's no negativity and any challenge that we get, we look forward to defeating it. I think that's the biggest change."
On the optimism of this year compared to last season:
"I think we were a pretty confident bunch last year, but I think that the difference is that we trust each other more. The players and coaches are all on the same level. When you first get in with some new guys it can be shaky at first, but they are who they said they were. We love them and we're a big family now, so we definitely have that trust this year."
On how he looks out for the younger players:
"I try to give them advice and tell them things I wish that I had known when I was their age. I just have to keep them level-headed, humble and point them in the right direction."
Linebacker Elijah Zeise
On the competition at linebacker and earning playing time:
"You just have to stay focused. There are spots up for grabs and I have to try to get everything done. I'm giving it my best try."
On his transition to linebacker:
"In the spring it was definitely an easier transition than I thought it would be. Now that we're in camp and there's a lot more stuff to learn, it kind of stumped me a little bit. There are times when I've been feeling frustrated, but there's a lot of great players in that room and I just continue to learn from them and take their example to help with the transition."
On the complexity of the Pitt defense:
"It definitely gets pretty hard because with offense it's pretty black and white. You know what route to run and all that. On defense, it's a lot of reacting to everything and keying all your reads on every play. It's a lot more involved than an offensive playbook."
Linebacker Oluwaseun Idowu
On coming to Pitt as a walk-on and now competing for a starting spot:
"It's a process and something to work through. Every day is a grind, but it makes me want it that much more coming from that position. I try to work hard every day and just get better and that's where I'm at now."
On playing linebacker with fellow North Allegheny alum Elijah Zeise:
"It's cool because we went to the same high school and graduated in the same class. He played offense and was an offensive guy, so I never thought I would be on the same side of the ball as him. When I heard about the move it was kind of crazy, but I thought it was cool. It's just like playing next to your brother; we help each other out. Being from the same high school we share that bond and we lived together our freshman year, so coming into this it's easy to help each other get better and better each day. It's nice to have him next to me."
On how camp has been going for the defense:
"It's going well. They [the offense] scheme against us and we scheme against them and try to beat each other. We compete every day, and it's nice to get better and see different things from the offense and finding weaknesses in the defense to fix."
On what playing safety has also taught him that helps at linebacker:
"When you're lining up and seeing the formation you have an idea of what the call might be, so you already know what you're looking at. It's like looking top down, but a little further back. You pretty much already know the calls, so that's more knowledge to add to that position."
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