The Pitt defense has been synonymous with the play of its defensive line. The Panthers' relentless pass rush has gained notoriety throughout all of college football in recent years for being one of the best units in the country.
The group has produced All-Americans like Patrick Jones and Rashad Weaver, who were both drafted along with Jaylen Twyman. Heading into the 2022 season stars like Calijah Kancey and Habakkuk Baldonado are on just about every preseason list you can think of and are high on some draft boards as well. There’s no denying the talent in that room, but don't forget the Pitt secondary has been building something special in recent years as well.
Pitt has had a cornerback drafted in each of the past three seasons. Since Pat Narduzzi has taken over the program in 2015, six defensive backs have been drafted. Jordan Whitehead won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a few years ago. Avonte Maddox recently signed a 22.5 million dollar extension with the Philadelphia Eagles. Dane Jackson earned multiple starts with the Buffalo Bills in 2021, as did Jason Pinnock with the New York Jets. Damar Hamlin appeared in 14 games with the Bills as a rookie, and Damarri Mathis was a fourth round pick by the Denver Broncos back in April.
The group may not receive the outside recognition throughout college football, but the members of that room know what the production has been and also the standard they are looking to continue.
“Definitely that’s a tradition,” senior cornerback Marquis Williams said of the Pitt secondary. “You’ve got Damar Hamlin, Dane Jackson, Jason Pinnock, Damarri Mathis. All of those guys were in our room and we looked up to them like big brothers. Each year as you look at it each one of them went and it’s a tradition like you said.”
The current group of Pitt secondary players have plenty of experience and each one of them are looking to be that next guy to break into the league. Brandon Hill saw the guys that came before him, and wants to follow in that path.
“It’s the blueprint; it’s just like the big brother stuff,” Hill said of all the players that he has played with now in the NFL. “They left that hope with us and we’re trying to keep that tradition going.”
The tradition certainly has a chance to continue in 2022. Hill is coming off a second team All-ACC selection a year ago. After registering 81 tackles and two picks, he was recently named to the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back.
His partner at safety, Erick Hallett, is also returning after starting the past 18 games for this program. Hallett’s two-interception performance against Wake Forest earned him MVP of the ACC Championship game.
The corners also have experience. Marquis Williams brings 22 career starts into his senior season. AJ Woods and MJ Devonshire both played significant roles last season, and at times each had game-changing interceptions. Devonshire’s pick in the rain sealed a win over North Carolina, while Woods posted the longest interception return in ACC Championship game in history with a 73-yard catch and run that helped set up a Pitt touchdown to clinch a conference crown.
These players feel it's not starting over in 2022, but rather picking up where they left off last season.
“With them being able to understand how each other kind of thinks within the play is always a great attribute to be able to communicate during the play,” Pitt cornerbacks coach Archie Collins said of the experienced returnees. “The guys make a lot of the plays playing off of each other based on the check and how to understand to change the check based on what they got.”
Safeties coach Cory Sanders agreed. He said Hallett was texting him prior to camp after watching a lot of the 2021 season, and the two agreed it was a big improvement from game one to game 14.
“It is good,” Sanders said of the experience factor. “You’ve got a lot of returners outside of Damarri and guys that have been in the system which really helps out with that.”
In fact, Mathis is the only player from the secondary moving on after last season. Pitt only brought in one defensive back in the class of 2022, Ryland Gandy, so a lot of the focus is about continuing what they have been doing, not teaching anything new.
“We’ve got a lot of depth, we’ve got a lot of chemistry back there in the secondary,” Williams said of his group heading into the season. “We know we lost Damarri Mathis, but even last year everybody was ready and mixed up and ready to play. A lot of people played last year and got comfortable. We’re very confident in our secondary no matter who it is that can go out there and make plays.”
It’s hard to deny the success of former Pitt defensive backs in the NFL right now, and the players and coaches agree recruits are starting to see that.
“I think now more than ever the recruits are noticing we have an elite secondary and an elite secondary coach and our defense is really good, where a lot of fast, physical DBs can have a chance to achieve their dreams,” AJ Woods said.
The coaches feel prospective recruits can see that first hand at practice. Both Collins and Sanders bring a lot of energy to the field, and the players respond to that style of coaching.
“I think they practice with great energy, enthusiasm and competition,” Sanders said of his group. “Recruits get to campus and they see our practices, they love that energy and how those guys play: the guys getting drafted, as well as what the guys are doing and continuing to carry that on that are here as well, really it helps us recruiting just the overall culture of what the defensive back room.”
That culture is expected to continue in 2022 according to Hill, one of the leaders of the team according to many of his teammates.
“We just to be on top of each other and hold each other accountable because when everyone is gelling like that, there’s not going to be too many mistakes,” he said.
