University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Football Spring Drills: Day 13 Recap
4/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Coach Pat Narduzzi
On today's practice:
"Practice 13 today was a really good day. Thursday we have a shorts day, and obviously the Spring Game on Saturday, but we are pretty ready for that. I think our guys are ready to wrap it up. We had a good practice again today and had a 134-play scrimmage Saturday, so we really got after it. Saturday was a good day. We've got a couple guys banged up; but overall, we came out of it really well. As a head coach, the main priority is coming out healthy and being smart and making sure we don't go too far. One hundred thirty-four plays, a lot of work and we finished with overtime, which was not planned. It was 53-53 and a great day all-around. Probably one of the best scrimmages I've been around."
On last Saturday's scrimmage:
"On first down, the offense ran it from the 25-yard line and took it down the left sideline away from the scoreboard. Great run by Chawntez Moss, with a late hit out of bounds by an offensive lineman. So we had to back it up which gave them more adversity, which you like. You're thinking, 'Oh, the defense is going to win this one,' but then the offense pulled it away and [DeAndre] Schifino had the touchdown to win the game in overtime. I didn't want to go any longer, but it was fun. [Ben] DiNucci and Max [Browne] played really well and the young guys played okay. The quarterbacks that were running with the ones played pretty well."
On his tight end corps:
"Devon Edwards will be out there. Schifino and [Nathan] Bossory will get work."
On injuries keeping players out of the Spring Game:
"Nothing major. Knock on wood, but we have been lucky. You know, you read the newspaper and see guys that are out for the year with ACLs and it's a priority to get through Saturday. You have to get your work done, but you want to stay safe with it too. We will find out as we go this week, but they have four days to get their bumps and bruises and twisted ankles ready to go and I think everybody wants to go and we will probably hold some guys just in case."
On quarterback Ben DiNucci:
"He is just a young kid. Redshirt freshman last year, and he has a long way to go as far as years playing here at Pitt. It takes a while. It's not easy to come in here and be the guy. To be honest with you, I'm a little surprised he is as far along as he is right now. It is hard to continue to get better and learn the offense. He is just so much more composed in the huddle than he was a year ago. And so is [Thomas] MacVittie. With those young guys, that's why it was important for us to get an older guy."
On quarterback Max Browne:
"We will see Saturday how far along he has come, but I am happy with where Max is for sure."
On the running backs:
"We really have four. Kyle Vreen and [Shawn] Wood have also gotten a lot of reps and gotten better as spring has gone on. So we will have guys to carry the ball. All four will get as many reps as needed to try to win the game. When I was at Michigan State, we tried Le'Veon Bell out, but there were no reps that would get him out. He wasn't going to be like, 'I'm the guy. I'll take my 10 carries and get out of here.' That guy was going to take it all the way to the fourth quarter to win, and that's what our guys are going to do—compete. We obviously have short numbers, but our depth is good enough that we can split it up and go blue and gold."
On placekicker Alex Kessman:
"He did okay. He had one in regulation that bounced off the left upright and then bounced off the right upright and fell out, no good. But overall, a little wind and a freshman in Heinz Field, it was average. He was 6-of-10, but two of the misses were 45 and 47 yards, and those aren't easy field goals."
On Brian O'Neill's move to left tackle:
"He started off really slow the first three or four days, but he has really turned it on. It's totally different one side to the other. It's a different stance than one he worked on for two years now, but he is pretty good at left tackle right now."
On defensive linemen Keyshon Camp and Amir Watts:
"They have come a long way. It has been up and down, but both of those guys have been impressive. As a matter of fact, I've been bouncing back and forth with who is running with the ones because they have both been impressive. Those are two guys I see right now as starters. Again, I could name four starters. Obviously, [Jeremiah] Taleni is playing really well, but those two guys are playing well. Good class of defensive tackles."
On the linebackers:
"I like [Quintin] Wirginis inside and Elijah Zeise has had a really good spring. I mean really good. He had a great scrimmage the other day. Oluwaseun Idowu is playing really well; probably a guy we have not mentioned enough is Anthony McKee Jr. He's a sleeper and has really played well. He is a guy that has really come a long way and I was hoping he was playing special teams last year; we couldn't get him ready mentally, but he has come on strong. He's going to play a lot of football for us."
On the amount of time it takes a player to learn:
"That's high school football, that's college football, that's English in your freshman year and English in your junior year. Some guys pick it up at different times and that doesn't mean they are good or bad. It is part of the process and it's not easy, but that's a thing you understand. Guys are going to get it at different levels and that's why you never give up. Coach [Mark] Dantonio used to always say, 'Don't throw your trash out.' Guys are always ready to go."
On the stakes for the Spring Game:
"We are playing for steak and lobster or hot dogs and beans, so certainly it is something to play for. They don't want to eat hot dogs and beans."
Offensive Coordinator/ Quarterbacks Coach Shawn Watson
On quarterback Max Browne:
"He's got a lot of experience and, because he has a lot of experience, he has made an easy transition. He has been in similar offenses that are taught in similar ways to how I teach mine. I think the major thing for him was getting the verbiage. Once he got that, he has been really good. What he has done a nice job of, really since the first week when he got through some rough spots and I think a lot of that is tempos and whatnot, is being comfortable. You can tell he is comfortable and just managing the game. He doesn't make impulse decisions or take sacks. He finds check-downs and gets us in the right play and makes sound run-pass decisions. He leans on his experience and I think everything is falling into place for him."
On the progress of the players learning his offense:
"I really started to feel like we were making some headway last week. You know, we were beginning to get in to a rhythm. You can tell the players were comfortable in what we were doing and how we were doing it. Since last Tuesday's practice, I felt like we were really becoming us, the 2017 version of the Pitt Panthers."
On running backs Chawntez Moss and Qadree Ollison:
"I think what you see right now is that it is very competitive in terms of reps. Both of them feed off each other. I thought they did a nice job of running behind their pads and running after contact. The competition has been awesome. They are good for each other."
Defensive Coordinator Josh Conklin
On the performance of Elijah Zeise this spring:
"He's had a really good spring. It's unfortunate the injury he had last fall in the first game because I thought his progress was going to be really remarkable. When he came in this spring, he picked up where he left off. He's bigger, he's stronger, he's more explosive and he's starting to use it a lot better, which is encouraging to see. He's had a really good spring; he had a really good scrimmage and gives us some more athleticism. He's a guy who can run, especially to the boundary, and in our system that guy has to be able to run with the wheel routes and do those things. I think he will be a really big dimension for us going into the fall. Keeping him healthy will be important."
On if he sees an opportunity for more impact plays from this year's linebackers:
"I don't know if I would say I see more. I think the more comfortable they get in the defensive system, they will understand where they fit. You can take it to the second or third teaching progression where you worry about gap control defense and teach these guys to get to your gap. Then you progress to seeing an offensive lineman coming to you and have to decide, 'can I snap underneath him and still get to my gap or can I use his body to cancel out the gap?' Those are the things that take time for guys to learn. With the athleticism we have at that position, they can do some of the higher-level things, which is encouraging to see."
On the competition at linebacker:
"We are using Elijah [Zeise] at both the Star and the Money position. It's been Seun [Idowu] and [Anthony] McKee at the Star linebacker. We've been using Elijah and [Saleem] Brightwell at the Money. We felt like Elijah has a good feel at the Star position because he played it last year, so we wanted to try him at the boundary to get as much athleticism as we can. We've done the same thing at safety. We felt Jordan Whitehead had a lot of reps at boundary safety. He fits that position really well because he erase a lot of things and doesn't have as much coverage responsibility. We felt that if we can get him in the field [safety position] this spring and get a lot of reps there, once we figure out our best safeties, we can decide where to put each guy. If we need to move him back to boundary, we can do that. We've done that with [Jay] Stocker. Some of the younger guys, you don't want to mess with their minds because it's a bit different but some of the older guys you can do that with."
Linebacker Quintin Wirginis
On if the linebacker group is starting to take shape:
"Yes. These guys fly around. They want it. They're hungry, just like the rest of the defense. They're starting to really get it, too. The Spring Game is going to be a good tool for us moving forward."
On Saleem Brightwell being dynamic at linebacker:
"Saleem has always been that kind of guy, just a baller. We got a bunch of those guys on the defensive and offensive sides of the field. Saleem is a baller and he is starting to really get it. He's putting the pieces together. I have kind of taken him under my wing when watching film, teaching him a lot of the stuff I learned from older guys in my past. I'm excited to get after it with him on Saturday."
On if Chase Pine is taking over the role that Wirginis played last year:
"I don't know if it's a specific role, but all the linebackers are very versatile. They can be put in different positions. Chase is ready to player wherever he can. If he needs to go in all three positions, he will and that goes for the rest of the guys in the room as well."
Quarterback Max Browne
On the process of getting in sync with the wide receivers:
"Process is a perfect word for it as far as getting to know what guys do well and what routes are their go-to routes; I think overall the corps is great. Ones, twos, whatever it may be, the corps is great for sure, and I think we've shown this last little bit we are in sync, making big plays and that's exciting to see."
On the competition with the young quarterbacks:
"Ben [DiNucci] is doing great. Thomas [MacVittie] and Kenny [Pickett] are doing great as well. They are playing good ball. This is a deep QB room; we have four scholarship guys who can go out there and get the job done. I think as a whole we are playing good ball, which is great for our team because, to be successful as a team, you have to have a quarterback that is doing its job, and I think we are all showing that we can do that."
On what he's seen from Aaron Mathews:
"When I first got here, his mold was kind of the high school quarterback who is making his way to receiver and he's been doing a great job. You can see he's big, tall, athletic and can run a little bit. I've hooked up with him on a bunch of deep balls, which is great to see the explosive plays using his size. He's just an athlete. You mentioned getting him in the slot or wherever it may be, I think utilizing what he has to offer will be a mismatch for the defense."
On how his transition to left tackle has gone this spring:
"It's gone well. I am really happy about where I am now and where our offensive line is right now. It was definitely an adjustment the first couple of practices, switching over from right to left tackle. After practice three or four, I got the rhythm of it. Now it's about fine tuning the details and getting better every day."
On if he expected the move to left tackle coming into the spring:
"That conversation happened with Coach [Peterson] right around bowl season when you look to the future a little bit—definitely not looking past the game, but you start to think a little bit about what it's going to be like next year. He [Coach Peterson] said 'I don't want to plant anything in your head too soon, but start thinking about a left-handed stance a little bit.' Then after the bowl, it was more of an every week reminder to keep working on my left. Right before spring ball, we had a conversation about if I felt comfortable with it, which I did. I understand the importance of the position and why they want to have me over there."
On what the first few practices at left tackle were like:
"It was definitely an adjustment. I kind of expected just to get it because I've made a bigger transition before, but the finer details needed to be honed in a little bit. I think I did that by the second practice in pads; I was able to get my footwork and hand placement down. It's an everyday process and that's something that we try to keep in our minds, that it's an everyday thing trying to get better. I'm playing now at the level I want to play at as opposed to the first couple practices."
Offensive Lineman Alex Bookser
On Brian O'Neill's move to left tackle:
"We knew going in that was going to be the best thing for him. The first couple of days you could tell he was not doing too well. He came home one day and said, 'I don't know what I'm doing out there.' Next day he went out there and had a great practice. He had to realize that he had to make the right adjustments and do the right things. He is capable of playing wherever he wants, and now I think he is doing a great job."
On the experience of the offensive line:
"I don't think that matters. Experience is games played, but you look at a guy like Jaryd Jones-Smith who doesn't have all the starts that guys like Brian [O'Neill] or Alex [Officer] have, but he has the confidence like they do and I think that is the most important thing. Everybody is confident enough to perform and make the calls like they have been playing for four years."
On the younger offensive linemen:
"They have all taken huge steps forward. It was a group of really raw freshmen, but the steps they have taken this spring have been enormous for a lot of them. Justin Morgan has been playing really well. Jimmy Morrissey and Brandon Ford have taken big steps forward and so has Tony Pilato, just to name a few. They have all been making big steps in their footwork and the technique, and I have been relay impressed with and proud of them."
Linebacker Chase Pine
On where he projects to play:
"I would say I am more in the middle. Mike linebacker is what Coach Harley has been emphasizing, but we have a lot of schemes so I don't really know as of now."
On what he learned while redshirting last season:
"Being on the scout team last year, I got acclimated to the speed of the game. I got my muscle up. The play calling is something that I did not get as much time to learn, but Coach Harley has prepared me well. He is putting time in to help me."
Punter Kirk Christodoulou
On how Ryan Winslow has helped him adjust to American Football:
"It's good. He [Winslow] has been a big influence for me and been a big help. It's great coming here and having someone who's been here for four years and have that experience to guide me through, show me how it's all done and get my knowledge of the game up."
On how much American Football he has experienced before coming to Pitt:
"Coming here is the first live snap I've ever taken. Working with Pro Kick Australia taught me the fundamentals of punting and how the game works, but actually taking a real snap and having people rush at me is completely different."
On his ability to throw the ball if the coaches asked:
"Throwing the football? (Laughs). We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Since I've been here, I am starting to get used to it. But everyone thinks I throw it like a girl."
