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Pat Narduzzi met the media Wednesday morning to talk about Kenny Pickett, Paris Ford and more. Here’s a full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: We had a good one yesterday. It could always be better, but we’re looking at getting three percent better today.

With you offense last year, how much do you think Shawn was trying to do the things that had worked really well for you guys two years ago?
Narduzzi: Maybe not enough. I don’t know. I think every offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator, for that matter, has got to put his stamp on what we do. We’ve got some adjustments this year, but we’re going to continue to do what’s going to help us against a certain defense. It’s not necessarily what you want to do, but sometimes what an offense or defense will give you.

Do you feel like maybe he tried to force it a little more than he was comfortable with?
Narduzzi: I don’t think so. I think it’s just trying to find out where you are, personnel-wise, and what you do well. I think when we went down to Duke, we kind of found out who we were last season. But that was last year, and I just watched yesterday - we had a team run period yesterday, the offense did a great job against our defense, who I don’t think is too bad as far as a unit you’re playing against. So I was impressed with the way we ran the ball yesterday in a certain period.

Kenny was telling us yesterday he hasn’t thrown a pick all camp. Is that accurate?
Narduzzi: Geez, where’s some wood at? You got some wood here? Wood podium here? You know, Kenny’s been really good, he’s sharp, he doesn’t make bad decisions, he scrambles with the ball when he needs to; he’s got a great pocket presence, as good as I’ve seen, just knowing when to get out of there and not throw it. So he doesn’t force the ball; we want that - just ask me that sometime in December, and I’ll be happy.

That’s true then? He hasn’t thrown one?
Narduzzi: That’s a fact.

Since the spring game?
Narduzzi: That’s a fact. And that probably wasn’t his fault either. So we need to look back at that last play.

Is that okay for your secondary, though?
Narduzzi: Yeah, that’s fine with my secondary. We talk about ‘critical to winning,’ and in the last three seasons here at Pitt, if we are plus-one - plus-one or plus-two or plus-three in the turnover margin, we are 88% win. I think we’re 15-2. So turnovers are critical and Kenny knows that, and we work hard at trying to get turnovers, force turnovers, but I think it’s a great job by our offense with him being smart at the helm there. And our running backs’ ball security, we’ve been pretty sound with that. As a head coach, our guys are working at it defensively to get them out, so it’s not a matter of trying or our guys dropping balls; they’re catching it, just not from Kenny right now.

How’s Paris Ford going?
Narduzzi: Paris Ford is doing a nice job. He’s getting better. He’s picking up the defense better in a couple different spots and I just had a little meeting with him last night, as a matter of fact, just to ask him about safety, to see if he knows what he’s doing there yet. But he’s still working on that.

Are you going to move him back to safety?
Narduzzi: No.

What do you tell Kenny about using his feet? Do you just let him go on instinct?
Narduzzi: I don’t tell him anything. I don’t tell him anything. That guy’s got instincts. Coach Watson works drills; you guys see some of the drills he does over there with rolling balls - you can teach all you want, he’s got a knack to him. I’m just watching, sometimes the pressure’s are coming, how he steps up and weasels around and gets out of them, I’m like, ‘Holy cow, that was…’

It’s different. You can coach all you want; when six guys or five guys are coming after you and you’re heated up, it’s different.

Have you ever seen a quarterback be that mistake-free throughout a camp?
Narduzzi: I don’t know. Not here.

And you weren’t watching it as much at Michigan State.
Narduzzi: Exactly. I wasn’t watching it anywhere. I wasn’t watching, you know, Ben, back in the day. It wasn’t my job. But that’s pretty amazing so far.

Do you feel like you’re starting to see some depth or starting to see two-deeps? Is that starting to materialize?
Narduzzi: Yeah, two-deeps are starting to materialize, for sure. We’ve started to narrow down kind of where we are. But there’s still work to do. There will be - I don’t want to say solidified, but we’ll have a pretty good idea where it is after Saturday’s scrimmage. That will be the last big scrimmage that we get into before camp; then we’ll start to taper it back and get healthy and prepare for game day.

Is there a true freshman on any of those two-deeps right now?
Narduzzi: Yes.

Who?
Narduzzi: It doesn’t matter right now. We’ll find out later. I gave you one yesterday. How many more do you want me to give you?

How many looks on offense is Paris getting?
Narduzzi: How many looks on offense is he getting? Why do you ask crazy questions like that? I don’t know. I haven’t counted them yet. But he’s getting some looks.

How is Quintin Wirginis fitting back into the linebacking corps?
Narduzzi: Like a glove. A tight one. He’s done an amazing job. I couldn’t say better things about Quintin Wirginis, how he’s returned from an injury, returned, you know, to really take over - I think he’s the leader of our defense right now. He’s a guy I think people count on. He’s been consistent. He’s out there. He hasn’t thrown a pick all camp either. Put it that way.