Pat Narduzzi covered a lot of ground after Pitt's first practice since spring break, and here's the full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: We got some good work in today. Obviously, practice four, 11 days off, had spring break last week. Started off a little sloppy with some false starts and that kind of thing, which I thought we would get overall, but the intensity, guys were having fun, no fights today, but they’re competing and that’s what I love. I just love that they come out and compete every day. The offense did a nice job running the football today, so we’ll let you talk to Izzy. He did a great job running, him and Rodney. Vince has done a nice job. I haven’t seen our run game look like that for a couple years. I think you guys will eventually be impressed there. And defensively, we have to do a better job stopping the run. We’re seeing more run game than we have in the last three years, so it’s really good work for our defense to become tougher and better against the run, which usually we’ve been good against the run. So overall, just happy with where we are in practice four.

Have the coaches put a little more emphasis on the run game this year than maybe in previous springs?
Narduzzi: I think so. We don’t have Kenny Pickett back there. Obviously, in making the hire, we thought the running game’s got to be more important. I think we made the last hire - the pass game’s got to be more important when you lose Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall, you lost a lot of your running game and your offensive linemen, so I knew the passing game was important. And I think running game’s going to be more important for us this year. You guys have seen the run game a little bit, but it’s got to get better like we’ve tried to get every year for the last three years.

How do you balance that when you have Jordan coming back, you’re excited about Kedon, you’ve got Gavin, so many weapons -
Narduzzi: Right, well, we’ve got Izzy and we’re going to spread it out. Jordan Addison’s going to get the ball, okay? As well as some other guys out there. We’ve got some weapons all over the place, but I think that’s going to make a defense go, ‘What am I doing?’ It’s not going to be one-dimensional. We want to be two-dimensional. I think you always want to be that way. It will open up more big passes in the pass game.

When you look back at last year, what areas do you feel like Izzy improved the most?
Narduzzi: I think all around, as a total back, really. It’s not just pass protection which, obviously pass protection got better. That’s one that you really see., But he ran the ball well and he made plays when he got the opportunity. Just going back to the championship game with that jump cut he made. Just his vision, I think, overall has been a lot better.

Are there things he needs to do to protect himself a little more? It seemed like he got banged up.
Narduzzi: Who?

Izzy.
Narduzzi: Yeah, I mean, he scored a touchdown down here in what we call the red zone lockout period that was physical and he didn’t have a problem. So we’ll look into that, but you really don’t talk about the contact. I think some things are weird; you get hit in weird way. So we hope that’s not an issue.

How much does bringing back an intact offensive line help with the run game?
Narduzzi: . It helps - everything helps. We’ve got some weapons on offense, I think. When you can be two-dimensional and you have an offensive line that not only can protect the quarterback but can also generate a run game, then the offensive line is critical. It’s never just one guy. It’s never just a tailback. And those tailbacks will tell you that.

The last couple years, you’ve talked about how certain running backs have needed to grow into certain things. Like, two years ago, you told us how Vincent Davis was growing into pass protection. Last year, that was Izzy. Now you’ve got those two guys back and Rodney back. How have you seen them approach the entire role of being a running back on your team that involves all the different responsibilities?
Narduzzi: I think that every position you can speak the same for. Running backs, again, they’re learning half of a new offense and there’s a lot of things that are staying the same but there’s still other stuff that’s brand new that they’re learning. So they’ve all been mature in approaching the game and getting in extra work, watching extra tape and getting in extra work if they need to. See, practice is over here and there’s guys down there catching the ball, running backs. I mean, guys are getting extra work in, even after practice is over, so they’re all working on their game.

You’ve talked about the freshman wall; do you think that Rodney ever hit that last year?
Narduzzi: I really don’t. Not for what you would guess. Rodney just kept grinding it out. He was pretty strong as far as not hitting that freshman wall, for sure. I would say he’s one of the better ones.

Has Nick shown any effects from the injury? How’s his progress?
Narduzzi: No, Nick looks great. We’re not hitting him, but his progress is good. He’s got enough screws in that collarbone right now, but he’s healthy. We don’t want to test that with contact.

But he can’t go through a metal detector.
Narduzzi: Oh no. He’s got to have a special pass.

What have you seen out of the guys behind Gavin at tight end this spring?
Narduzzi: You know, Jake Renda has gotten bigger. You know, Cole Mitchell. Kyi is about 75-80% right now. We could let him go but we haven’t. And Kaymar has done a nice job as well. So it’s a continuing evaluation but we’d like to play some 12 personnel, two tight end, three tight end sets as well as our four wideouts. So we just have to mix it up.

Was it good to see Kenny Pickett here today?
Narduzzi: It was great to see Kenny Pickett here. I saw him yesterday, he was in, and he’ll be here all week getting ready for Pro Day and throwing with our seniors in the evening. Just getting timed up and ready to roll.

Lucas Krull was here as well. I know Damarri was out here today as well. They’re all starting to stroll back, which is good to see them out here at practice.

How are your linebackers shaping up?
Narduzzi: You know, it’s a work in progress. It’s not going to happen - we’re not going to click our fingers and let it happen. But we’ll watch the tape, but there were some good things last Friday or 11 days ago Friday, whatever it is. It’s a work in progress. It’s not where we want to be right now, I can tell you that. We’ll just keep getting better.

When you’ve got guys like Kenny, Damar and Lucas making their way into the NFL, when they come back do you look for opportunities for them to talk to guys like Aaron who have had an impact in the NFL?
Narduzzi: We’ve had those guys come back and they're around our kids all day. They’re in the weight room, they’re in there post-practice, our kids are around those guys all day. So it’s good to have them come back. It’s good they want to come back, too. That’s the culture I think we’ve built.

Who are some of the early enrollees who have really stuck out to you?
Narduzzi: You know, ‘Nata has been really good at wideout. He shows that he’s going to be playing for us. Early enrollees, Slovis has done a nice job as well. You guys will eventually get a chance to watch him; you guys see him in pre-practice. Early enrollees, Shayne Simon’s been - Shayne’s going to play a lot of football for us. I’m happy with where he is. Again, he’s learning a whole new defense for him. Early enrollees, I may miss somebody - all of them have been pretty impressive.

Addison Copeland is a work in progress; he’s just learning. The guy that has made some nice plays out here is Ryland Gandy. I notice him at corner, just playing with good technique, and for a freshman, if he doesn’t hit the wall, he’s going to find himself on the field. Oh, the other guy is Pope. Marquan is doing well. He’s getting a lot of reps and a guy that, we love his athletic ability right now. We love his ability to pick up the defense. He’s a good learner. He’s smart.

I probably missed a couple.