Narduzzi on the start of the final week

Narduzzi: 16. I guess it’s been a long time since you guys have been here. The last time I left you with Taysir information and then since then, I think we had a scrimmage Saturday. Productive, for the most part stayed pretty healthy, tackled well, threw the ball pretty good, wish we would have run it a little bit better but our defense is pretty stout. And then we had a nice practice at Heinz Field Sunday night, right after the Steeler Fest, and got some great work in there. The kids were obviously energetic, any time you can get into Heinz Field, which is not easy, it’s a great atmosphere to play the game of football and our kids need to be in that atmosphere.

What kind of position battles might have crystalized themselves in the scrimmage?
Narduzzi: You know, it’s a good question. I’d say we’re probably a couple days away from really making that decision. We’ll be working on Albany today, so there will be some of those where guys are looking around like, ‘Who’s on what we call the rocks, the scout team?’ But that’s not a for-sure thing. Special teams are still a major part; we got a lot of that done at Heinz Field. We worked every facet and Kessman’s been whacking the heck out of the ball. Golly. Knock on wood: that guy’s hitting 82% of his field goals right now. One of his 82% was (not) a 58-yarder that he decided to kick on his own in a team period. We gave it to him - ‘Where do you want it?’ He put it at 58 yards. I don’t know if I told you guys that - did I tell you guys that before? It bounced off the upright and almost went in. It would have been good from about 64.

Position battles, we’re still a ways away. If you ask me an individual battle, I could probably tell you maybe and give you a little insight on that.

I can tell you one position battle: we’ve got four or five or six good corners right now and they’re still battling. It’s probably going to be the guy that’s most consistent. I would say right now, if I had to name a corner, it’s Phillipie Motley who’s playing his tail off. We talk about, to win a championship, your seniors have to play the best football they ever have - No. 32 is doing that right now. He is playing his tail off, making plays and I’m happy for him and excited for that group. But the rest of those guys, they’re pegging away. Paris Ford’s done a great job. Damarri Mathis, Pinnock, there are some good players there and it’s like, you only get to play two. We’re not in Canada yet.

Other position battles…you know, there’s a battle everywhere.

How did Taysir look this weekend after the news Friday?
Narduzzi: Okay. Next question.

Did he get injured or something?
Narduzzi: No. He didn’t get injured. He did not get injured this weekend. I can tell you that.

Do you feel like your five up front on offense is pretty much identified?
Narduzzi: Yeah, I think we’ve got them identified. Are we where we want to be? No. Every day it’s a battle. But I feel comfortable. Very comfortable. I want to run the ball better. I think they’re doing a great job protecting Kenny in the pocket. That would probably be my first fear.

But as a head coach, you look at it and you go - D-Line-wise, Coach Partridge said it to me the other day after practice, he goes, ‘I’ve never had this many guys up front that can play.’ That’s a good thing for Pitt football, okay? Is it a fair evaluation? I mean, he was at Wisconsin for a long time, had some good players up there. Our depth is good. So it’s hard to read where you are, even with the run game - and again, I know we’re going to stop the run anyway. We’re built to stop it, and when you’re built structurally and then all of a sudden you’ve got guys up front that can play it, too, that helps you.

How many young guys do you think will be contributors on special teams?
Narduzzi: It’s still hard to tell on that, to be honest with you. It starts with who can help you on offense or defense, and then we’ll go from there. But there are going to be guys that you trust enough. It comes down to trust on special teams. They’re good athletes, okay? But you’ve got to be the trust factor for Coach Powell to be able to put them on the field and trust that he’s going to do the right thing. Like any other phase of the game, it’s not about how good you are athletically; it’s about how smart you are, how much knowledge you have and if you’re doing the right things, as far as just fitting into what we do schematically.

Where are the spots that you feel like the depth chart is pretty solidified, where you have a starter?
Narduzzi: Well, Kenny Pickett is the starting quarterback, if you guys didn’t know. We don’t have to make some big quarterback announcement. He’s the quarterback of our offense. And I’d say on defense, Quintin Wirginis is clearly the guy. That’s not because those guys behind him are doing bad. I mean, you go all the way to Wendell Davis - Wendell is playing really good. He’s one of those guys on special teams that you go…we’re going to get four games out of Wendell this year. If he redshirts - if, I say that, if, because I don’t know yet - but Wendell’s a guy who pays attention to the details. He’s one of those guys, his dad played and his dad must have gotten after him when he was younger. He understands the game of football, which is always beautiful when you have someone that grew up in the game. He’ll be a heck of a coach some day. Just for a freshman not to hit the wall and he’s pretty locked in.

But Quintin is the quarterback and that’s easy to say he’s the guy. Dewayne Hendrix has had an excellent camp. We’ve just got to keep that rolling. Those are some guys. Offensively, you know, the tailbacks are by committee; we’ve got a lot of good guys back there. Those are the ones you go, pencil those guys in for Saturday, Sept. 1. You’re going to see those guys out there.

I gave you three.

The tailbacks, it’s a unique situation because they’ve both been here so long, do you go into Sept. 1 and say you want one guy to get the first five or six or seven series or is it just kind of known that they’re going to be a two-headed monster?
Narduzzi: I think it’s going to be a two-headed monster, but just like anybody, you have good days and bad days. To me, those two are both starters. AJ’s crawling up the depth chart as well, and you kind of go, we have to get AJ some looks too because he does things differently than the other two guys do. But I think it’s really who’s got the hot hand and you kind of have to do it that way. Who’s feeling good? Who had the better week of practice? That’s kind of the carrot that you lay out there for who’s going to get their name on the scoreboard; after that, it’s who’s making the plays and who’s playing like their tails on fire? That’s what we want: a tailback to run through the smoke and not care what’s there. The guy that’s playing hungry and running with a chip on his shoulder is the guy I want carrying the rock.

Do you expect the receiver position to be similar in that regard?
Narduzzi: Yeah it is. It really is. I think we’ve got a lot of weapons out there. I think, more weapons overall than we’ve had. Obviously Taysir will add to that arsenal. But we’ve got guys out there that can do a lot of great things, so it will be. But there will be some guys that are going to have their name called over the loudspeaker and everybody wants to be that guy.

You mentioned Hendrix; what in particular stood out about him?
Narduzzi: The consistency. I think, just with the way he’s practiced - I can’t say he’s had a bad day. I can’t say that about every player. And again, Rashad Weaver, too; he hasn’t had a bad day either, really. So you throw him in there; there’s four I gave you now. He’s played darn good. But both of those guys - and I’m probably missing somebody else - but it’s a consistency of how they play and go about their business every day.