University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Football Camp: Day 17 Coverage, Quotes
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
2016 Pitt Football Camp, Day 17 Coverage: Quotes
Head Coach Pat Narduzzi
Opening statement:
"Practice No. 19 is today. Yesterday was solid; we had a really good practice. We've got a lot of work done today as we continue to move forward to that opener September 3rd. I've got one little change in the roster that I'd like to let you guys know about. Chris Wuestner, one of our seniors, has decided to transfer. He wants to play more. We totally understand; as a senior, he has been through a lot in five years. We granted him that opportunity. We think it's important for him to feel it out and reach his dream of playing more wide receiver. He's a guy that looked like he was going to play a lot of special teams for us. We wish him luck in his future endeavors."
On where Wuestner is transferring to:
"We don't know yet. We'll help him wherever he wants to go. We don't have an idea right now but he graduated, got his degree from Pitt, which is a great thing. He can go just about any place he wants to."
On the clarity at backup quarterback:
"We need to see a lot more. There is still a battle going on. It's an interesting battle. I think guys are getting better. Every day you see a little bit more of what you want to see. The guys have had opportunities to find out what they can do. When you get into game week it might be something that plays out then, depending on how the game is going or what the situation in the game is at that point. I feel much better about it now on practice 19 than I did on practice two."
On the development of Quarterback Thomas MacVittie:
"Thomas MacVittie has done a nice job. He's a guy that throws the ball well and can run. He's going to be an exciting player here in the future."
On the current shape of Running Back James Conner:
"Did I expect him to be in this shape? I expected to see it—without a doubt. He's the kind of guy who has got a smile on his face every day. He had another scan the other day. We expected it to come out clean, and it came out clean again. He feels great, so we're excited."
On the progress and the plan for Defensive Back Damar Hamlin:
"Well right now he's dealing with a minor thing that we just can't get right. We actually brought in a specialist to look at him. We saw enough early to know he can help us, but we've got to get him back on the field. He probably is not going to help us in the opener. Is he going to help us during the season? We're going to work on that."
On the expectations for Defensive End Rori Blair:
"With Rori, the knowledge of the defense is key. I think he's got a good feel of what's going on. I think he played quite a bit last year. He started most of the year. I think he played a majority of the year—just wasn't as productive. Maybe other teams were doubling him and that allowed Ejuan [Price] to get loose, I don't know. Maybe they didn't know who No. 5 [Price] was. But Rori [Blair] played a lot. Sometimes you get the glory and sometimes you don't. He's a tough player and he's got a great motor. We're expecting big things from him this year."
On the progress this program has made in the past year:
"To me you find that out on game days; it's hard to see it in practice every day. You don't know. You're playing against each other; you're hitting each other; you're sick of hitting each other; you're cheap shotting each other; you're loving each other. You just don't know. That's why you're looking forward to playing that first game of the season. I think you really find out where you are at that point. I love the chemistry and the unity our team has right now. We have an unbelievable group here, I really believe that. It has to come together on game day. That's when you really find out."
On the upcoming schedule the next few days:
"We've got Fan Fest this evening [in the Great Hall at Heinz Field]. We're going to take our team picture today as well. Tomorrow we've got the kickoff luncheon. We will give the players off on Saturday, and then Sunday we're back on normal game week preparation. The coaches will be here in the morning and the kids will come in at noon. It's game week; it's on."
On the significance of Friday's rehearsal scrimmage:
"The rehearsal scrimmage will not be a physical thing; it will be more of a mental thing. We're going to teach them how to come out of the huddle and how to stand during the national anthem. It will be mostly a game operations practice, making sure they understand how things go, teaching them how we come out of the tunnel and where we come out on the field, here they stretch and where they line up—most of those things. There's a lot of freshmen out there doing it for the first time and there's a lot of older guys who forgot from last year. We'll just review all those situations to make sure we're primed up and ready to go."
Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada
On his offensive coaching style:
"We are not doing anything off the wall. We are just running our stuff. We have a very quality football team with very quality football players. To win games it's blocking, tackling and taking care of the ball. We are running traditional stuff, and we are going to do what we can to always find matchups and find ways to help our players maximize their talents. That is all we are trying to do; that is our job."
On how the wide receivers have performed in camp:
"All of the wide outs have stepped up. Those guys have played well. Dontez [Ford] has come back. He was out for a good portion of the spring, and he's played pretty well. [Rafael Araujo-Lopes] has been very solid, and Tre [Tipton] has been very solid. All of those guys have done a good job working at it and going through things. I think we are moving in the right direction and getting better. Aaron Mathews is coming along as a true freshman. He has played very well. All the guys on the edge have done well. Everybody has good days and bad days, ups and downs. We are moving in the right direction."
On being a play caller and working with the talent Pitt has on offense:
"We are always going to try to maximize our talent and use what our players do very well. We are very fortunate that we have very good players. We have guys who make plays and do things that we want them to do. We have multiple personnel groups. It's always predicated on how the opposing team's players play and what they give us. We have a player capable of attacking their plan and being able to make plays for us. It's all part of the package. I'm happy with where we are and how the camp has gone. I'm really pleased on how our guys work."
On the depth of Pitt's offensive line:
"We are very fortunate with as much depth as we have up front. We have some really quality offensive linemen. Most places have three, maybe four guys, and we are certainly deep up front. I'm happy with the way it's shaping up front."
On Quarterback Bo Schneider being on scout team:
"It's always great for a guy to learn. He played last year where he was [at UCF], and now he's ineligible. He can't do anything but be on the scout team since he transferred. It will be good for him and it will be good for the other guys to get a good look. It's important to learn toughness and you learn a lot things on the scout team. He needs to come back and restart, retool and get to work on fundamentals."
Defensive Coordinator Josh Conklin
On Pitt's ability to rotate on defense this season:
"I think that at numerous positions we can for sure. At defensive line we are going to have eight or nine guys that are ready to go and play. At the Mike linebacker, the Money linebacker and the Star linebacker, you have six guys that can play—and not only can play, but deserve reps. I think they've done a good job and they've earned it. In the secondary, I think we have three safeties that we feel good about and that are ready to go. We have some guys that we are still bringing along and I think that at DB we have three or four guys that can take reps as well. Hopefully we can get a lot of reps out there and get some guys rotating through based on the game and adjust accordingly."
On players competing for reps:
"I was talking to the defense a couple of days ago and I've been really impressed. At this point in time, you hear a lot of coaches say that the third week of training camp is what defines who you are as a team. Defensively speaking across the board, there weren't a lot of mental letdowns. We've had guys come out and they were sharp; it's because of that competition and the great competition you get at every position. It definitely plays a huge factor when you have guys who want to compete and guys who obviously want to get that starting job."
On the defensive back competition:
"I think Dane Jackson has had a good camp. I think Ryan Lewis has had a solid camp. I think Phillipie Motley has had a good, solid camp. I think you've got three guys there. Unfortunately some of the young guys got a little banged up, so we just need to continue progressing them along. I think the older guys had a solid camp and if we can get three or four guys and maybe develop a fifth or sixth guy, we'll be in good shape."
On Dane Jackson's play:
"Dane Jackson has been a complete surprise for me and that's just as transparent as I can be. Last fall and last spring we thought that maybe he's a wide receiver or maybe he's a safety, but he had a great summer. We came out here in the first two practices and said 'this kid is different.' He's moving different and that is a credit to our strength and conditioning program. He's acting different and he has a confidence about himself. He had a great two-and-a-half weeks; he's a little bit tired right now. He took 60-some reps in the scrimmage, which was a lot, but it was good to see. He's been incredible. We've actually moved him into our delta package at the safety position to start grooming him to be just a bit more involved for if we need him down the road."
On improving depth at the defensive line:
"Obviously the injuries have hurt us, losing [Justin] Moody hurt us and losing Zack Gilbert hurt us. The two young guys had a really good scrimmage. Amir Watts has a really good motor. I think they're going to be what we thought they were. They're not there yet. They're not going to be a finished product, but I think they can give us good, solid reps. They're guys who have to play because of our lack of depth at the defensive tackle position. They have the skill set. Sometimes you bring guys in and you feel uncomfortable putting them out on the field because they may not be able to hold up structurally, just with strength and power. Both of those guys have proven against a really good offensive line that we have here that they can hold up. Is it perfect? It's not perfect, but they can hold up and they're explosive. They can do some things."
On a new drill run at practice:
"We always do some kind of TTO, which is a team take-off. Today we did a drill called "Four Dogs, Three Bones." We like to have a little fun with it, so we put three bags out there and had them running around chasing the football. It's kind of like musical chairs; the guy who doesn't get the bone and tackle the bag, he's the one who has to do pushups at the end. We had a little bit of fun with it and get the guys going here on the last day."
On his feelings about the defensive unit going into the game against Villanova:
"I feel good. I think that the guys have put in the effort. We've tried to start narrowing in the game plan yesterday and today. We've known it since May as a coaching staff. We broke [Villanova] down early and we've got a good feel. I think the players have a good feel. The nice thing for us defensively is that starting with Villanova, then you go to Penn State and Oklahoma State, we're going to face a lot of spread teams. I told the team, we talked about goals on Sunday and I said, "Going against our offense is tremendous because we get to see a lot of different looks and they put a lot of pressure on you." So I think our guys are confident going into the season. Now the smiles come off though. It's fun because there is nothing at stake when you step off the practice field and go in and watch film; but next Saturday the stakes matter, mental errors matter. It's time to go out there and get it done."
On Villanova's offense:
"I think they're very similar to our offense. They do a lot of motions and jet-motions. They have a good counter scheme, a gap scheme of counter and power. They do a nice job with the inside zone. Their quarterback is a solid player who can make some throws—definitely a confident kid back there. They're counting on you to miss a play in space, like a lot of teams are, to get a big chunk of yardage. We have to do a great job of reducing space on the perimeter and see if we can get a stop."
Defensive Lineman Rori Blair
On camp this year compared to last year:
"I would say there has been more competition. We've been working harder and the team is closer. We've been working toward our bigger goal which is a championship."
On defensive line depth:
"The more depth we have, the harder we can play. We don't have to slow down between plays and try to catch air. We can all just go."
On how he performed last season:
"I feel like I contributed in different ways and that I did my part and tried as hard as I possibly could for my team. Now that my shoulder is better and healthy I can take on a bigger role to help the team more than I did last year."
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