Accolades begin to pile up for Calijah Kancey

Calijah Kancey has proven himself to be one of the best defensive players in college football in the 2022 season, and on Wednesday the Pitt junior defensive tackle was recognized as such. Kancey was named one of four finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is handed out to the best defensive player in college football.

The other finalists include Will Anderson from Alabama, who won the award last season, and also Chris Smith from Georgia, and Tuli Tuipulotu of USC. Kancey is looking to become just the second player in Pitt history to win the trophy, which started being awarded back in 1993. Pitt great Aaron Donald took home the honors in 2013, and Kancey has done everything he can to emulate the former Panther with his play this season.

“Calijah is a worker," Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said of his defensive tackle during his Monday press conference. "That guy, all he does is work; he shuts his mouth and he plays ball. He's always got a smile on his face. He's always happy. He's always trying to get better."

Kancey was an excellent player in 2021, but he is actually playing even better this season. He has 14 tackles for loss this season, which matches his season total from last year in four less games, and he also has a team-high seven sacks. The junior defensive tackle also has 9 quarterback hurries and 29 tackles overall. Kancey has helped spark a Pitt pass rush that leads the nation in sacks with 37 through 10 games played.

Narduzzi has been coaching defense for a long time, and was quick to acknowledge Kancey is the best interior defender he has ever coached.

"As a D-Tackle, No. 1 without a question," the Pitt coach said following Pitt's game on Saturday. "I didn’t get a chance to coach Aaron Donald, but he’s one of those guys. I think everyone thinks they’ve got an Aaron Donald, but he truly is one of those guys that is hard to block."

In that game on Saturday, Kancey was a force very reminiscent of Donald himself. He registered three sacks in a commanding 37-7 win over Virginia, a game in which Pitt only allowed 144 yards of offense. For his individual performance, Kancey was named the ACC Defensive Linemen of the Week.

“It’s an honor," Kancey said when he learned Narduzzi called him the best defensive tackle he has ever coached. "I want to give a special thank you to Coach Narduzzi. We got to get up to the quarterback and get tackles for loss in the backfield, which just feels great.”

Kancey has helped lead a powerful surge for the Pitt defense in November. Pitt is 2-0 this month with wins over Syracuse and Virginia. They have accounted for 14 sacks as a group, and as a defense they have only allowed one touchdown. In fact, Pitt's defense has scored more touchdowns than it has allowed over the past two games.

“We all just feed off each other’s energy which is really motivating," Kancey said after Saturday's game. "We all talk about how we’re going to celebrate when we get the sack, and that encouragement we really build off of together.”