Narduzzi on intensity, defensive standouts and more

Pat Narduzzi met the media after Pitt's practice on Thursday and talked about team energy, leadership, the receivers and a lot more. Here's the full rundown of his remarks.

Narduzzi: Another great day. I mean, I just got done telling the guys, I love the intensity. These guys are competing. I talked to one of our new GA’s, Malcolm, who played at Minnesota and was at Akron and I said, ‘How was the tempo?’ He’s like, ‘Coach, it’s not even close.’ That’s what we’re all about. Our kids play hard, play tough and compete with each other. It’s back and forth and I just love coaching these guys. It’s two hours of fun.

Cignetti said the other day that Christian throws a beautiful ball. What does he mean by that?
Narduzzi: Just when you watch him throw it, just watching him, he’s a passer, he’s got a great arm, he’s a good passer. We’ve got all kinds of things, but we’ve got a lot of good passers. He’s a good quarterback.

What’s different about Rodney this year?
Narduzzi: You know, we’ve got a scrimmage on Saturday, so we’ll see. But I think probably just maturity right now. Just kind of, he’s the guy, he feels like he’s the guy right now. C’Bo’s fighting his tail off and C’Bo’s right there as well, so he better not get too comfortable. But I think just knowing that, ‘Hey, it’s my show right now’ - it’s him and C’Bo together, which is better than having three or four guys sitting in there. But just more maturity, he probably knows what he’s doing a little bit more and just carrying himself a little bit different.

How does Derrick Davis look?
Narduzzi: Derrick Davis looks good. He’s having a - we’re happy he’s here. I can tell you that. Coach Powell, Coach Cignetti have been awful excited about just what they’ve seen. We’ll see pass protection here as we go on and how he picks it up, but overall, after five practices, pretty happy with where he is.

On the note of maturity, how would you say Bub and Konata have done mentoring the younger receivers?
Narduzzi: I’d say they’ve done an excellent job of really just taking care of that room. Those two have stepped up and have been the leaders since January, since we got back to school in January. They’ve taken it over. Bub’s a little bit more vocal and Konata’s kind of doing it by example. Konata plays his tail off.

The other day when we talked to Nahki, he talked about the new era of defensive linemen, the younger guys who have stepped in for the guys who have departed. Have you noticed these guys seamlessly stepping in, have you noticed shades of the old mixing in with the new?
Narduzzi: Yeah, there’s no question about it. They’ve been trained. It’s not like today is their first day. The new era really started in bowl practice when those guys said they weren’t playing in the bowl game. But it started then and they’ve stepped it up. Like I told you the other day, Nahki’s playing well, Sammy’s playing well, Jimmy’s growing up; he didn’t even make it down to the bowl game because of the weather issues in Buffalo, if you remember. They’re all growing up and we’ll find out. We’ll see what they’ve got here come September.

It seems like Bam Brima looks the part. Do you see him potentially taking a step this year?
Narduzzi: Well, the first thing is, is he lining up on the line of scrimmage? In the bowl game, he was like two yards off the ball playing D-end. So he’s fixed that. But Bam is a big - he looks the part. He’s looked the part for three years. He’s growing up as well. He’s so much more trustworthy right now, whether it’s playing D-end or D-tackle. Bam’s going to play a lot of football for us.

In the middle, you have big shoes to fill with SirVocea. How has Shayne - I know he played some middle last year, but how has he done so far this spring?
Narduzzi: Shayne did a great job against UCLA. He had that whole game and played it probably sparingly in the last three or four games of the season. Shayne’s done a great job. I think he may be a natural Mike. SirVocea could play all three. Shayne can play the Mike and play the Money, or the boundary linebacker spot. Shayne’s done an outstanding job of communicating and leading our defense right now.

Bangally made the big step-up last year. How is Solomon doing? They kind of were a package, it seemed like, then Bangally got more time.
Narduzzi: Yeah, he’s done well. He just keeps growing everyday, I think. You’ve watched him grow throughout the season. He’s taken steps here in the offseason and through the first five days.

I’ll tell you the other guy that’s been impressive: Braylan Lovelace. For a true freshman, he’s going to be going to prom here in another month, go back up to Leechburg. But he’s been impressive at the linebacker spot. He had a great kind of chasing down, I think, Rodney at one point and just had a great angle. It was like, ‘Oooof.’ For a freshman, he is way ahead of the curve.

You have three starting cornerbacks all returning. How would you say the younger guys behind them on the depth chart are handling finding opportunities to get on the field?
Narduzzi: I’ll tell you, that’s another good question because you’re watching these guys grow up. Ryland Gandy is doing a nice job. He got in a fight in one-on-ones today. I think it was his fault. He started it. But two guys we’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting is Tamarion Crumpley and Noah Biglow have really stepped up. They’re markedly better right now than they were at the end of the season. I would almost say they were disappointing, like, ‘What are you two doing? What are you guys waiting for? Step it up.’ I think they’ve really grown up and gotten a lot better during the first five days of camp.

Where is Rashad Battle right now as far as his comeback?
Narduzzi: Rashad, he’s doing good.

That’s a Jerry question.

He’s a little bit banged up right now. He’s close. We’re just being smart.