Narduzzi on COVID, Yellen, the DT depth and more

Pat Narduzzi spoke on Monday about last week’s COVID scare, how the players are handling camp, Joey Yellen being eligible and more. Here’s a full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: I hope everybody’s doing good and staying safe. We just got done with a good one today and every day’s a new day in this world of COVID and not being normal. But we’re taking it day by day and our kids have done an outstanding job.

We haven’t spoken to you since Jaylen made his decision. Could you talk about some of your conversations with him before and after, and if you’ve had any similar discussions with any other players in the meantime?
Narduzzi: We had plenty of discussions. He had discussions with Coach Partridge and myself. The one thing about Jaylen is, he’s a great communicator. So we had several discussions. He really thought it over. He did a good job thinking things over about what he needed to do. Not to rehash; we all know what happened there. We wish Jaylen the best. He had some things family-wise that he had to take care of that were pretty important to him and to me. It was like, I might have to kick him out the door to go take care of it, as much as I didn’t want to.

We talk about, family is the most important thing. Period. Their family and our family. These kids have two big families. It’s just important our kids do what they need to do and he felt like that’s what he needed to do and I back him up 100%.

The back end of your question, there’s ongoing discussions. You’re always - I mean, these kids have so many things on their minds right now. I addressed this two nights ago, like, on game day, the night before the game and Thursday, our last practice, I always talk to the guys about getting their mind right. Get your mind right. I worry about these kids, because there’s so much to think about right now. They’re reading about what’s happening in the Big Ten and Pac 12 and why are these doctors saying that and they’re saying this. So there’s a lot of concern out there in this world, period. We’re in a pandemic world. I think the kids have a lot of things on their minds.

Nobody wants to have a problem. You know, who are you trusting? And I really believe our kids really trust this place here. We’ve done an incredible job - again, UPMC, let me just tell you, some of the protocols they’ve put in place, I can’t say enough and thank them enough with what they do and how they do it. We’ve been very careful here and we’ve been smart. You heard about that - I don’t know if I’d call it a sudden change; a little issue, I believe it was Thursday. It seems like it was three weeks ago. Every day is a different day, I’m telling you. It’s weird.

These kids have a lot on their minds, okay? Today, I made everybody say “mind” before practice out there in our focus period; you guys have seen that in the past. Get your mind right for this practice. Lock in for the next two hours and think about nothing else. Because there’s a lot going on, as you guys know. I have a daughter that’s in school right now, she moved into Nordenberg, she’s got a lot on her mind. Her roommate’s got a lot on her mind. They’re looking like, what is going on? People running around with masks on. It’s a scary place right now. I think that’s what people are doing. So there’s a lot of people who have things on their minds.

Do you expect any more opt-outs before the season starts?
Narduzzi: You know what? I have no idea. I really don’t. I don’t have on my watch right now, on the clock. I hope not, but we have to protect our kids and if a kid doesn’t want to play and if a kid is scared for any reason, I’m like, you have to do what’s best for you. Everybody’s got different feeling. I’m 54 years old, I’ve got no fear. I want to coach. I’m ready to go. I’ve got no fear, okay? But everybody’s different. I’m looking at eight faces right now and everybody’s got a different thought; there’s someone on this view right now that’s scared. I don’t know who it is. I’m not going to call one of you guys out…

Everybody’s got different situations that we all have to make sure that we’re cognizant of.

The decisions that these kids are making right now, are you considering these final? Or is there a situation where a guy can say right now, ‘I don’t think I want to play,’ and then he sees in a couple weeks everybody playing and things went well so, ‘Maybe I want to get back in there.’ Is that something you have to decide as a team or are you getting guidance on that from the NCAA?
Narduzzi: No, the NCAA - Who is the NCAA? I don’t even know who they are. They’re nonexistent. I don’t think the NCAA can fine me. I think the ACC can fine me, but I don’t think the NCAA could. So I don’t know.

But this is not about anybody - the NCAA is not making decisions; these kids are making decisions. And I’ll make a decision with the kid, with his parents, whatever it may be, on what’s best for them. If a kid’s got to take a leave for a couple days and he’s got to get his mind right, he’s got to think about some things, then he’s gotta go. If a kid says, ‘Hey, I’m going to opt out’ and then he wants to come back and play, how can I say no? I can’t say, ‘No, you can’t come back.’ What’s he going to do on campus all day going to class? He’s going to be miserable.

So, we’re in times right now that nothing is - today, we weren’t supposed to practice. I kind of moved the days around. I moved the days around based on what’s going on, what’s our feelings, and it’s all about feelings. There’s no sense going on that field if we don’t have our minds halfway right. So I just have to adjust. The calendar - the calendar, I’ve thrown out. I just have to stay one day at a time. And I want to take it that way with the kids.

I don’t want guys opting out and three days later they’re coming back, but hopefully we do a good enough discussion prior to that they don’t have to leave and come back. If they come back, it’s like, somehow there was a bad miscommunication. But if there’s a miscommunication - I’d like to, before they leave, make a good decision and be firm in where they are. I think that’s going on across the country. I’ve talked to a few coaches and it’s like, every day it’s something else.

Does it feel like you guys are a month away from the season at this point? Has that settled in or not?
Narduzzi: It’s settled. As soon as we started camp, we’re ready to go. You’re wondering what’s happening with the opener. We’ve got time. I’ve spread these practice days out differently obviously knowing that we weren’t opening up on Sept. 5. We were able to open up - the NCAA, maybe that’s what they do: they just set rules. That’s about all they do. They said we could start camp as if we were starting Sept. 5, so we have some days. I expect to still change things up. We do have days available, but I want to make sure they’re there because I want them later on. I’d rather, when we get closer to game day, kind of lightening it up.

Like, our plan is, the week before - my plan is going to change, too - our plan is to practice Tuesday - not the game week, but the week before game week - we’ll practice on Tuesday, not practice on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, not practice on Friday and then practice on Saturday, just to spread it out, get them fresh. But if I have to adjust the schedule, we’ll see it as we go.

You mentioned Sept. 5; it looks like you lost your opponent for Sept. 12. Do you think you’ll try to find another team to fill in there or are you thinking about the 19th as your first week?
Narduzzi: You know what? We’ll take that day by day, as well. Obviously, we’re looking. We’ve got some inquiries. My biggest concern is the health and safety of our kids. I get concerned about these teams that can do what we ask them to do. The ACC protocol are going to get more strict, not less strict. So they will be a little bit more stringent and I’m not sure if some of the teams can do what we want them to do. I’m not going to sit here and hope on a Friday before they get here - ‘I hope they did that.’ That can’t be. So we’ll play that by ear and I’ll let Heather Lyke make that decision.

Whenever they tell us to play, I’m playing.

Can you walk us through what happened last week? Is it safe to assume that the kids who showed symptoms tested negative and that’s what allowed you to return to practice?
Narduzzi: Yeah. Yeah. So here’s our protocol. On my phone, we have a thing called “Teamworks” and every day I get this COVID thing and I fill it out. And our kids have done an incredible job, let me just tell you: they’ve done an incredible job.

So in the morning, if you’re coming to Pitt to practice, everybody that comes in here - equipment guys, managers, trainers, the protocol set up by UPMC and everybody has to do the same thing. So they fill out this four-question questionnaire when they come in. If they don’t feel good, we say, ‘Do not come in the building,’ okay? Don’t come in the building. So they’re not allowed to come in. Call the trainer, the trainer gets the call - ‘Hey, I don’t feel good today.’ ‘What’s your symptoms?’ ‘I got a headache.’ Well, headache is one of the symptoms of COVID, correct? What’s one of the other big symptoms?

Fever.
Narduzzi: Fever. Yep. We take the temperature every day coming in. Another big one is body aches, okay? So after our first day of pads, we’ve got guys that have had headaches and we’ve got guys that have body aches. If we stuck you guys in a collision sport and put a helmet on and shoulder pads, you know, I know back in the day when I played, I had a headache and body aches the next day. And the next day. And the next day. But you know what? You’ve got to take it for real. So when our kids got that and Dale Thornton has done a great job - I get more text messages from him. I’m sick of him, to be honest with you. But we get a lot of text messages. I’m getting these text messages like, ‘Holy cow.’ And there’s symptoms and there’s other symptoms and you can’t say, ‘Oh, it’s because they had contact yesterday.’ It scares you. You have to be safe. It’s like, poof, shut it down.

We had a team meeting because everybody had just got there and I just shut it down. Right after the team meeting, I shut it down. I went and got each group and we got them in the locker room, one position at a time, just to get up. Don’t take a shower, grab your stuff and get out, just so they didn’t go take a shower - I wanted to get them in and out as quickly as - go back to your apartments for the rest of the day.

Long story short, we had them get tested that day. Less than 24 hours, again, thanks to UPMC, they got the results back, which, thank God that Allegheny County’s doing right now. I think there were 71 today, which, if it’s up in the 300’s, it’s going to take a lot longer than that. But they got them back to us and they were all negative. So that was why we were able to come back and go. You have to be safe and it’s only a practice. That’s why I said the calendar changes; you just kind of do what you need to do from there.

If you’re checking that app and you got an alert, is that almost frightening because the season hangs in the balance every time that thing dings?
Narduzzi: You know what, I’m not worried about our guys down here. As crazy as it is, this is - I tell them every day, this is the safest place you can. I have to thank Kevin and our chefs. We have Billy that runs around here and Brad, he’s wiping doorknobs all day, arm rests, everything you touch. There couldn’t be a safer place than where we are. We’ve got people cleaning doorknobs. It’s incredible.

After practice today, I said, ‘Listen, you guys are going back up on campus. Wash your hands. There’s nobody cleaning doorknobs up there. Be careful.’

What we’ve done down here is great. I told them the other day, what I’d like to do is put them in the indoor, line up mattresses around the place and we’d just bunk them right there. Take the doors, shut them, lock them up and not let them out and keep them in our little paradise down here. But again, UPMC doesn’t want to do that either. They’re not going to be in that little cocoon - they have to go out. This is kind of life here.

I think a great recommendation by UPMC is, hey, you’ve got to go out. We just have to teach them how to act and I think our guys are well, well trained.

It feels like the state of college football is changing by the hour, maybe by the day right now. You mentioned the players have a lot on their shoulders right now. Have you sensed a dip in enthusiasm or motivation? How have practices gone so far with the players going through a lot of stuff?
Narduzzi: That’s why I said, get your mind right after those two hours there. But I think it’s going pretty good. I think once we get them out there, it’s just that safe place out on the field. I think they enjoy playing football. And as long as I don’t feel like they’re anxious and thinking about too much - and I want everybody in. I’m kind of an ‘all in or we ain’t in.’ I want to be together out there.

We did one Blue-Gold practice where we went two squads. The kids didn’t like that at all. So if they don’t like it, I’m not doing it. UPMC didn’t like that anyway. All of our protocol says don’t try it, but I wanted to see what it was like. I’ve never done it before ever in my life, where we’ve put half the offense and half the defense out there and practiced and then they leave and we come have another one. We had two-a-days but with only one of the groups.

What was the rest of that question? I don’t know if I answered it.

Does anybody want to talk football?

The other announcement was Joey Yellen getting eligible. What do you expect for him? Competing for the backup job? What are you looking for from him this year since you know he can play for you?
Narduzzi: There’s going to be a quarterback battle there. We’ve got three really good backup quarterbacks to Kenny. Kenny’s our starter right now, but we’d love to have two guys ready to go that you felt like, man, either one of those guys is good. We’re in a COVID situation right now and who knows. Someone tests positive on a Wednesday, which will be one of our days that we test in the ACC; you never know what’s going to happen. You just have to get as many guys as you can at any position, and if there’s some crossovers, if someone’s got to play two ways, you have to play them two ways, whatever you have to do. That’s kind of where we are at this point.

I don’t know what’s going to happen up on the hill once school starts and these kids are running around, but I hope they’re safe. That’s what I’m worried about. I’m not worried about our guys. I’m worried about what happens elsewhere.

But we’re fired up about Joey being out there. He ran the two-minute drill today, took the offense down and kicked a field goal in the two-minute, so he looked sharp in that drill and just gives another - I would think he’s a little bit more juiced up today, just knowing that he’s good to go. Just another opportunity.

How’s the team look?
Narduzzi: Hey, a football question. We look pretty good out there. We had probably three live periods today, but we’re doing some good things. The defense is playing well, like we expect. The offense is running the ball a little bit better. We’re throwing the ball well. It’s hard: they’re going against a good defense, so it’s hard, but I like where we’re at right now. I like what we’re doing, I like the scheme we’ve got going on, I like the attitude, so we look good. There’s some good football being played.

What do you tell the defense, specifically the D-line, about losing Twyman, what that means and what the opportunity is for a couple guys?
Narduzzi: It’s an opportunity for those other guys, and don’t think that they’re not [wide-eyed]. I think we’ve got a great scheme, I think we’ve got great coaches and I think we’ve got depth on the D-line. You’ve got Tyler Bentley, who’s really stepped up, and you’ve got Calijah Kancey, who’s a guy you guys haven’t seen much of, but he’s electric. So there’s a lot of guys going, ‘A spot opened up for me.’ And whether it’s Keyshon Camp getting hurt or Weaver hurt last year, it’s just another one of those, ‘Hey, I got an opportunity.’ And look what Deslin did with his opportunity last year. Look what Patrick Jones did with his opportunity. We moved Patrick from the boundary to the field, and now Patrick and Weaver are fighting for that. They both want to be the “flash” end. They all want to be to the field. So there’s depth there and I think any time there’s injuries - which are going to happen in this game of football - or there’s an opportunity that someone’s going to take to move on, it’s just more opportunity for every guy.

Those guys have stepped up in there. Tyler Bentley. Devin Danielson’s been really good so far. Who am I going to forget and feel bad afterwards? David Green, Central Catholic guy, has been playing really well. So I’m happy with those guys in there. It’s not like the cupboards are bare and ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?’ We play a lot of D-linemen; all of those guys will play for us this year. All of those guys played for us last year except Kancey. But I think he may have played a little bit on maybe special teams. I know he redshirted but he may have got in a few snaps. Wait until you see this guy. This guy is electric. This guy is fast. He can rush the passer.

Two weeks ago you talked about a 22-day streak of no positives. How long did that streak last and is there still one going?
Narduzzi: EJ’s going to yell at me. We’re not allowed to talk about it, okay? I’m not allowed to talk about it anymore. But it’s a really good streak. That’s all I’m going to say. I can’t talk numbers; I’m not allowed to. But I already said UPMC, I’m fired up about them, and they’ve done a heck of a job. Our kids have done a heck of a job. And I’m happy with where they are. I’ll get concerned when school starts. That’s my concern. Got to keep them away and make sure they don’t get the cooties.