Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi spoke to the media following the team’s annual Blue-Gold game on Saturday Acrisure Stadium. Here is a complete rundown of everything Narduzzi had to say about the spring game, spring practice, moving forward, and more.
Narduzzi: First thing is, I think we came out really clean. We had some guys banged up going into it, a couple of guys with bangs, nicks, and stuff, but overall came out really, really healthy. I think we had a great spring. We had a great breakfast this morning with all of our families. I don’t know, 300-400 people, with our moms, dads, sisters, and brothers. I would say probably four or five dads came up to me and said, ‘Coach, looking at the last two scrimmages we're more physical, more aggressive, I love it’.
So just hearing from parents and talking about what we had done, what they see compared to maybe last spring or last fall of camp and scrimmage. Because, obviously, they have full access unlike you guys do. I’m happy with where we are. I think we’re only going to get better. I think we have a lot of playmakers who didn’t even play today, which is exciting. You got a chance to see a few of the guys out there today with a lot of stuff not in on offense or defense, so Questions.
What did you see from Nate and Eli specifically today?
Narduzzi: Again, I haven’t looked at the stats here. I’m looking here, Nate is 12-of-16, threw a TD. Eli was 10-of-23, so a little under 50%. Both of them managed the huddle I think well. We threw one pick and it could have been a sack too if we go back and watch the videotape. It might have even been a sack before he threw it, but you’ve got to protect the ball. But I thought both of them did a nice job. Obviously Nate was with the second offensive line, so I think it’s impressive what he did just with the 2s being up there and getting the ball out quick out of his hands. We’ve got some playmakers out there.
Do stats even matter in a game like this?
Narduzzi: No. I mean, it’s hard. Can you imagine having all of the weapons on offense on one team together? Those are things you look at and you look out there and we got 22 Pitt players out there. We’re low on numbers. We even had a couple of defensive ends go in and play D-Tackle for the first time in the game today. I think Zack Crothers and David Ojiegbe that never played D-Tackle before and just said, ‘Hey coach I’ll jump in there and do whatever, let’s go.’
Will Nate Yarnell still be QB1 at the start of fall camp?
Narduzzi: Yes he will be.
You called him a gambler earlier this week with some of the deep shots he’s taken. How do you feel he processed the field just watching the eye test of his decision making?
Narduzzi: I called him a gambler because in practice you have to…it’s practice, right? We know sometimes they might throw an interception at practice, their taking chances and seeing what they can do and what they can't do. You didn't see him take many chances today. He had a nice touchdown pass at the end. I’ve seen Nate and he just continues to grow. You look at what he’s done in a short period of time. I’ll go back and this is the first opportunity since he's been here to get reps with the 1s and to me that's the most impressive thing. He just keeps learning. He'll have this offense mastered by the end of summer camp.
For some of the guys that didn’t play, could they have if this was an ACC game?
Narduzzi: I think Rodney had just one carry then we blew the whistle. I think he had two plays. I thought they’d throw it to him, but they handed it off to him. But could we? Probably not. They might have been a week away from playing. Like Terrence Moore is a week away, so is Branson Taylor. Probably a week away and we weren't going to risk it and we could have pushed them back, but maybe Poppi (Raphael Williams) plays a little bit, but we weren't going to do that anyway.
What strides have you seen the quarterbacks make since practice No. 1 of the spring?
Narduzzi: Getting the ball out of their hands quickly. I mean, I think you saw some of the quick, get the ball out, they’re blitzing, throw the ball and get it to a tailback. Get it to Desmond Reid or whoever and get it in space and don’t try to be the hero and think you can throw the ball down the field. So just their feet in the pocket. And again, the thing you can’t measure is just their knowledge in learning this new offense. Just imagine if you have a brand new occupation, that’s basically what it is. It’s a whole new ball game. It’s different stuff and all the quarterbacks did a great job of picking up. They’ve got a lot to put together.
Is it a shock value to see your offense get operated like this?
Narduzzi: Not at all and I don’t even know why you’d even ask that. I want to score touchdowns. I want to be explosive. You can do it out of any offense, but we chose this offense. Football is comfortable. As a defensive guy, I’ve seen this, like I see it. I’ll never forget and you can call (Mark) Dantonio tomorrow. We used to sit there and we had the same pro-style offense at Michigan State and we’d be watching cut up togethers and he’d be like, ‘Pat, look the offensive line didn’t block anybody and they gained 10 yards.’ That’s spread offense and we used to just laugh, but just spreading them out and running the ball. I’m good with anything. I’m a football coach. I’ve seen it all. 90% of the offenses we face is what we’re doing now and it’s a pain in the butt (to defend). I’m not talking the complete tempo, but just the spread philosophy and throwing the ball out there on the edge and Kenny Johnson gets a touchdown by just throwing a three-yard pass. We got a touchdown and that’s easy, just taking advantage of what the defense is giving you.
Have you seen too many growing pains with the new offense or just enough?
Narduzzi: Probably just enough. Again, I saw growing pains on defense, too. There’s growing pains with every player with the offense, defense, and then you look at the individuals. Our job as coaches is to develop our players. You develop an offense, you develop a defense, and then you develop the individuals in the offense or defense. That's what we do as coaches, and there’s always pains. I couldn’t be happier. Jesse Anderson came up and made a tackle so quickly, probably mid third quarter, Jesse Anderson No. 16, and I was so happy because you see and there's times he misses that tackle. He'd break down and the guy would make him miss and it was like, ‘Oh Jesse, stop slowing down' and Jesse just went up there and had the most beautiful tackle. And that's how it’s done and he’ll just grow from there. That’s what we do as coaches, to watch those guys and to watch him make that tackle. That’s as good of a touchdown and he’s going to continue to get better. He may miss one, too. McMillon missed one out there today. That's why we coach, to make those guys better and continue to teach them.
Do you think some of the newness going on is invigorating?
Narduzzi: Yea, breathe of fresh air. No doubt about it and our kids feel that too, that’s why I’m so excited. When your kids are excited about doing it then I get excited as a coach, for sure.
Of the younger receivers that aren’t Kenny Johnson, what have you see from that group?
Narduzzi: Growing pains. Zion, it was fun to watch him run around out there and catch some balls and Lamar got that (touchdown). I was talking to his dad Lawrence at the breakfast this morning and he’s awesome. I said, ‘I’m going to kick him in the butt, just check out his effort today because it can be up and down’ and today he’s up. The family is there, some fans out there, but he’s got to turn that on when nobody is watching. But Lamar’s got a chance to be really good. Zion’s got a good chance to be really good. Those guys can help us this year, we’ll see how far they grow.
What is the next step in the evolution of this offense?
Narduzzi: I don’t know if there is a next step, it’s just polishing it up. It’s continuing to polish. Our kids are still learning. There’s a lot of conversions going on out there. There’s a lot of learning still to go. We’re not even close to where we can be. This is just the first install. We’ll have a summer install, as far as just in the middle of the summer going over the same thing on both sides of then ball. And then we’ll have fall install and then we’ll be ready to go.
How would you rate Kenny Johnson and Gavin Bartholoemew’s performance today?
Narduzzi: It was good to see Gavin…Gavin had a nice sideline catch on a 15 or 20-yard out. It was a seven route that he had to break off in the flat. Then he had a nice catch over the middle and broke a couple of tackles. Gavin was great and Kenny Johnson, those guys are superstars. Those are two big-time players that make us a lot better. When they’re out there for four 15-minutes quarters, a lot of things can happen. Konata Mumpfield too. Those guys had a nice day today.
