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Pitt signed an impressive group of freshman defensive backs this year, and secondary coach Renaldo Hill spoke to Panther-Lair.com about the newcomers.
How have the freshmen looked running around and learning things?
Those guys, they’ve been as good as advertised. Just the ability and the size that they have, it definitely shows when we’re out there practicing. I think the biggest thing is just them continuing to get the information and being able to apply it on the field. But with young guys, sometimes you just emphasize playing hard and getting to the ball; we can clean up the other areas.
But they’re doing a really good job of picking it up and taking it to the field. You expect to see a lot more mental errors from young guys, but there hasn’t really been too many from this group.
Damar and Therran, especially, really came in with the expectation of playing. Have you seen that in their approach to the film room and the playbook?
They’ve definitely been professionals about studying their playbook and constantly asking questions. I love that they ask questions, because we don’t want anything to be unturned. I think they do a really good job of doing that, so when we do get on the field, it’s not, ‘I thought this, Coach, or I thought that.’ They’re getting their questions answered and that’s what you like to see with those guys.
They even get with the vets, even when they get back over to the dorms late at night. So they’re staying on it. You like to see guys attentive like that and want to make their way and be a part of the defensive back group here at Pitt.
The thing that was always said about Damar was that he was pretty sound in his technique. Have you been able to see that?
Yes, he definitely picks up on the drills; you can see that in his movement and you can tell that he’s been really coached well. Those guys at Central Catholic, they do a great job preparing those guys for the next level. You see it from Day One when he came over here. But he has continued to work on it. We always talk about maximizing the opportunities that we have when we’re over in this building; those guys are making the extra effort to get out on the field early before practice and they’re doing post-practice. We always talk about no traffic jams at the end of practice, where you have the whole field to use for yourself, and those guys are really taking advantage of that. It shows up when you see those technique things in practice. So I’m excited about this group.
Has Therran impressed you with his athleticism?
Oh yeah. He’s very athletic. I think the biggest thing with him is just constantly staying in the playbook and picking up on the little details, things that the older guys get, and that eventually will come over time. But you can’t deny what he can do athletically: he can run, he can jump, he can change direction. He has the whole gamut there. It’s just for us, as coaches, to continue to try to increase his football knowledge.
Can Henry Miller stick at cornerback?
He shows the signs. When you have a big 6’2”, 6’3” guy out there who can just stick one arm out and knock a guy to the ground, he doesn’t have to get vertical. He has a skill set that, I tell him, a lot of guys would die for. But I definitely believe he can play the position and I think he can play it at a high level.
What about a guy like Phil Campbell? It almost looks like he’s big enough to move to linebacker.
He’s a big guy, but I think he’ll hold his own at safety. But we always talk about guys being flexible, being able to do multiple things because that only increases your value on this team and then you see how the NFL runs - if they have a safety who can play safety and corner, that’s two DB’s that they don’t need on their roster. So when you have guys like that, it allows you to do so much more as a football team and it’s definitely a plus for us.
All of this talk about freshmen; are you excited to see the upperclassmen and see how they respond as camp goes on and the freshmen start to push them a little bit?
Oh yeah. Competition only creates a better group for us. We invite it every day and I try to mix up the rotations every day so guys don’t get comfortable. I have to make sure guys are getting looks and that they can showcase their ability and their ‘want to play.’ And if you get in there, you better maximize the opportunity, because if not, the next guy is ready to jump in there and take advantage of it.
So those guys understand the importance of their reps and we’re just making sure that they’re focused and locked in each day.
