If Pat Narduzzi heard the name Rashad Battle during a media scrum this offseason, you would see the Pitt head coach immediately exaggerate the idea of ‘knocking on wood’ and talking about the senior cornerback staying healthy.

It makes sense.

Battle, for the most part, has been fighting off multiple injuries since the end of his freshman season. As an incoming four-star recruit out of Georgia, he got in the field in all 11 games for the 2020 season. In 2021, he appeared in seven games. Then three in 2022, and did not see any action this past season.

If you are counting, he has missed 22 consecutive games, but on Monday, the redshirt senior was listed as a starter at cornerback in Pitt's initial depth chart of the 2024 season, which represents a significant step in his return to action.

“I've been impressed with Rashad,” Narduzzi said of the Pitt cornerback. “He's a senior. And, you know, he's been through a battle, okay, through his career here at Pitt. I'm excited that he's stayed healthy and excited to see him play.”

Battle has 22 career tackles in 21 games played. He was briefly moved to safety in 2021, but all along, cornerback has been his better position and he will head into the season as one of the team’s two starters. For his part, Battle credited simply being on the field for helping him regain his spot on the depth chart.

“It was great just being able to stay healthy and being available because that's the best ability is your availability,” he said. “So it was cool. I worked my tail off for it as well.”

There is no such thing as having an ‘injury bug’, or ‘prone’ to injuries, as some often say, but some guys have worse luck than others, like Battle. The senior cornerback has made it a point to not leaving much up to chance this year, and wanted to do everything he could from a preparation standpoint to stay on the field.

“I'd say, the biggest thing was probably body prep,” Battle explained. “Just having a routine and changing my body composition as well, eating better, hydrating better, going to sleep on time, going to sleep earlier, just doing the small stuff that's really big.”

Those little details helped get him noticed this offseason by the entire coaching staff.

“I think Rashad's another guy who's been hurt a couple times, he's waited his time, he's worked his tail off to get back, and it's his time,” said defensive coordinator Randy Bates. “And I think as I watch him play, he's a mature guy, he's not as experienced as Brandon George, but he's got the same number of years under his belt, and it makes a huge difference.”

That experience has led him to being a leader for this team, despite missing as much time as he has. Battle knows the defense as well as anyone, even if the playing time has not been there over the past two years. Given that Pitt lost most of its experience at corner, he has filled a natural void.

“I try to take care of the guys,” Battle said of his efforts to be a leader. “I try to lead in the right direction, try to do the right thing and set a good example.

When Battle takes the field on Saturday against Kent State, he will be lining up as a starter opposite sophomore Ryland Gandy as a starter. Senior transfer Tamon Lynum figures to also be in that rotation as well, but it’s a gratifying step in Battle’s career to be back in these types of conversations.

There were some long times away from the game, and he used those stretches as motivation to work his way back to this point.

“I did a lot of meditations, just a lot of praying, and just telling myself, ‘this is what I want to do,’” he said. “ So just being focused and being locked in on just one day at a time, one hour at a time, one rep at a time. It's just really relying on that.”