Spring football was a little different for Owen Drexel this year. After spending the past four seasons serving as Jimmy Morrissey’s backup, the 6’3” and 305-pound senior went through spring drills as the No. 1 center.

Morrissey had started 46 of the past 50 games at center for the Panthers. He was a team captain and an All-ACC pick in each of the past three seasons. The void he leaves is a great one, and Drexel understands that he has big shoes to fill.

“For me it’s the leadership vacancy that Jimmy was,” Drexel told reporters ahead of the spring game last week. “He’s a great leader and I really had to step in and like Coach always says, the center is the leader of the offensive line and I just really wanted to be that for my guys to put them in the best position to win every rep.”

Morrissey was not only the leader of the offensive line for the past few seasons, but one of the top voices in the entire locker room as well. Drexel is now trying to go from a backup to having those same responsibilities and he feels he was able to step into that during spring ball.

“It’s actually come really natural to me this spring, but it’s been built over a long time especially learning from a guy like Jimmy,” Drexel said.

The New Jersey native never really got a full rundown on what to do from his predecessor, but after observing him all these years, he feels he has a good grasp of what it means to be a leader, and also a good player. Early on in his career, Drexel didn’t put in the necessary extra work, but he feels that changed and he’s spending as much time as he can inside the Pitt practice facility.

“Like when I was younger I wouldn’t always spend the time I needed to here that I do now,” Drexel explained. “I’m here all day year-round, so everything I need to do to get better and make my guys better.”

Drexel performed well in Saturday’s spring game. He lined up on the Gold team and helped lead them to a 30-0 victory. Gold racked up 396 yards of total offense, including a strong showing on the ground with the team averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

That experience was big for Drexel, but so was the Boston College game during the 2020 season. Some injuries forced him into the lineup at center that day, and it shifted Morrissey to playing right guard for the game. Even with Morrissey out there alongside him, Drexel had the chances to make the calls at the line and be the anchor of the line.

“That was awesome for me,” Drexel said of his first career start. "I never really got my opportunity for my first couple of years here, so last year was huge for me really getting my feet wet and playing ACC football.”

Drexel’s biggest thing is having trust with his teammates and coaches. He felt he earned that in his lone start a year ago, and believes he’s been building it up this spring as well.

“Trust is built over time, so it took me a long time to build that up with my guys, but once it’s there it’s hard to break,” Drexel explained. “These guys play their tails off for each other, it’s awesome.”

In a day and age in college athletics where the transfer portal is a prominent part of the game, Drexel never really entertained the thought of leaving Pitt. He came on in the class of 2017, and has only appeared in nine games total with just one start to his credit. Despite being behind an All-ACC center, Drexel believed he was in the right place and one day he’d get his opportunity.

“For me personally, it never really crossed my mind because of the great culture we have here,” Drexel said of potentially transferring early in his career. “I got my two closest friends in the world: Carter (Warren) and Gabe (Houy), Jake (Kradel). These guys mean so much to me, I’d really be out of my mind for a long time. I can’t leave those guys, they’re like family.”

Drexel has embraced his new role as both a starter and as a leader. He wants to teach the young guys to have that work ethic from an early age, something that took a year or two for him to understand.

“I try to teach them don’t be the first one to leave, you always want to be one of the last, especially when you’re a hog.”