For Pitt coaches, 'body of work' separated Browne in QB race
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There was no single event, no defining moment that separated Max Browne from Ben DiNucci in the competition for Pitt’s starting quarterback job.
No before-and-after performance in a practice, no big pass in a scrimmage, no lightbulb going on in a meeting; it wasn’t that sudden for head coach Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson. Rather, the decision came from 17 training camp practices, 15 spring camp practices and countless summer days in between spent at the Panthers’ South Side facility.
So when Narduzzi made the formal announcement on Tuesday that Browne would be starting, Watson made it clear that everything since Browne’s arrival in January went into it.
“We just wanted to judge a body of work over a long period of time,” Watson said Tuesday. “Both the guys did a great job in competition against each other and we wanted to really evaluate it over time, because that’s how you can really tell what you’re getting.”
That slow-burn approach of letting the competition play out organically - Narduzzi said last week he would name a starting quarterback “when it’s evident to everybody” - probably made Tuesday’s declaration more of an external event for fans and media than an internal event for the team.
Browne said Tuesday that he felt like his anointment was coming soon; chances are, most of his teammates felt the same way. In fact, Watson said he thought “the team started feeling” Browne in recent practices.
“It’s a body of work over a consistent period of time,” Watson said. “So what tipped it is, just consistency of performance, probably. No ‘probably;’ that’s what it was. You get to a point and you can just feel that Max really started to take off.”
“I had a feeling it was going to come,” Browne said. “I was playing good ball. I was excited to get things rolling and not get the questions here and there or texts from people and stuff like that. So that part’s good, but nothing really changes.”
That means continuing the process that got Browne to this point. He arrived in January as a graduate transfer from USC, where he started three games last season before ceding the job to Sam Darnold, who has emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate entering the 2017 schedule.
Since getting to Pitt, Browne has worked to become not just a member of the team but also a leader. And just like his claiming of the starting quarterback role, the ascension off the field hasn’t been sudden either.
“I’m sure he’d probably mention this: it’s been a work in progress for him,” Watson said when asked about Browne’s position as a leader. “He quietly earned his way into everything that has happened.”
Narduzzi said that when Browne arrived, it was a “slow follow” for the rest of the team. But he has seen the Sammamish, Wash., native grow into that role, and he expects to see even more of that in light of Tuesday’s announcement.
“I think he’ll step up even more now knowing that it’s his job,” Narduzzi said. “The offense relies on him and it’s his job to take this offense forward and move it.”