Pat Narduzzi met the media before Pitt's practice on Wednesday and talked about the final week of camp, the tight ends, veteran players and more. Here's a full rundown of his remarks.
Narduzzi: We’ve got a beautiful day for another practice here. Today we’re in shells, tomorrow we’re in spiders. No, excuse me, today we’re in spiders, tomorrow we’re in shells. And then Friday we have a rehearsal scrimmage over at Acrisure Stadium, just kind of getting ready to go and then obviously that luncheon at noon on Friday.
Izzy got a lot of time on Hard Knocks last night. Have you gotten a chance to watch him?
Narduzzi: No. You can send me little clips from it, I guess. I didn’t - I don’t get to see that stuff.
Do you get a lot of contact with any of the guys from last year’s class?
Narduzzi: We’ll text back and forth. Obviously the guys that were here this weekend, but it’s been a week or two or three since I’ve talked to those guys. But we’ll shoot them one.
Ryan Baer has shown a lot of talent and promise as a leader, but he also seems very flexible on the offensive line. Where are you thinking he can fit in the most for you?
Narduzzi: It’s still a work in progress. He’s played both guard spots, he’s played both tackle spots. I would say right now he’s probably that sixth wheel that can really go and play anywhere. He’s lately getting reps at tackle so we’ll see, but he started off at guard, so he’s done both, which is good.
What’s the importance of having a guy like that over the course of a season?
Narduzzi: It’s really important. You’re going to need more than five guys. He’s done a nice job. Jason Collier’s had a great camp. BJ Williams is another one on the offensive line that’s a true freshman - not many true freshman can come in and do what he’s done, and he has not hit a wall at any point, so we’re happy with where he is, too.
How are you feeling about your tight ends at this point in camp? And in particular with Epps, how has he looked over the last couple weeks?
Narduzzi: We’re excited about our tight end room - as excited as I’ve been. Gavin Bartholomew has done a great job. Karter Johnson’s been good. Epps has done a heck of a job. I think he gets better every day. He’s like the new guy, the new terminology, he’s the first one, so there’s days when he’ll swim and look around, so I think his best ball is ahead of him as we start to move through this. I think every week he’ll get more comfortable, because there’s a lot of terminology in an offense. And then Jake Renda has done an outstanding job. Jake is a guy who can do a lot of different things. He’s kind of a guy that’s a mismatch - he’s tough enough, he’s been physical enough to be in the box and block, and he’s also athletic enough to go out wide and run receiver routes.
Is Matt Goncalves still playing mostly right tackle or is he seeing time at both?
Narduzzi: He’s both spots. Yep, he’s both.
Kyle Louis was talking about how he’s starting to feel more comfortable in your scheme and learning how to use his eyes better; that’s one thing that he’s been coached on. Who do you feel are some of the younger guys that have better eyes, that play the speed that you want but not try to play hero ball and get you guys in trouble sometimes?
Narduzzi: That’s a tough question. There’s a bunch of those guys. Kyle’s done a nice job. He’s had a good camp. He didn’t have a good spring ball; I don’t know if you remember that, because he got hurt playing basketball. I always tease him every day about that.
But he’s had a really good camp. He’s going to play a lot of football for us this year.
Jordan Bass - you look at Bass and Biles, those two young guys at that position, just sticking with that position, are guys that can make plays.
Do you see Louis more as a Money or a Star linebacker?
Narduzzi: I think he can play both, but right now he’s getting a lot of work at the Star. But those guys are interchangeable. If you’re a backup - we tell those guys all the time, we’re going to play the four best and it doesn’t matter, we’re going to swing you around and get you in the game.
How is the punter competition coming along?
Narduzzi: The competition is good. Jeff and Caleb have done a nice job competing all camp. I think we’re getting close to saying what’s going on there and we’re excited about the competition there. We feel like we can win with both of those punters. It’s going to be a competition all year long, I think.
You mentioned Jason Collier and said he had a great camp. It seems like there’s a handful of guys - him, Deandre Jules, Nate Temple - these fifth-year guys who seem to be doing well in their last year. Do you like seeing those guys emerging as a fifth-year player who maybe hasn’t played a lot?
Narduzzi: Yeah, we talk about it all the time. As a senior, as a super senior, whatever you want to call them, you’ve got to be playing your best football. There are more times where you see that happening, that guys start playing their best football at that time. They know it’s the their last go-around and we’re excited about all of those guys. Our older guys are playing well. We need that to happen, leadership-wise.
Daniel Carter had a great spring; what kind of role do you see for him this fall?
Narduzzi: Yeah, he’s obviously got that fullback role that he’s majoring in that. But he’s a guy that you can put back there in pass protection and you can hand the ball off to him. Last year, running the bellies with him. So his fullback role hasn’t changed, but he’s probably gotten a little bit more involved in the tailback spot. He’s slimmed down a little bit, so when you look at him, he’s more of a tailback. But just because he lost pounds, doesn’t mean he has lost horsepower. He’s more explosive than he was blocking a year ago.
Is he the kind of guy that goes to Frank and goes to Andre and says, ‘I can carry the ball’?
Narduzzi: They all want to - you want to carry the ball. We all want to carry the ball. But we’ll just see how that goes and see what happens when he does get to carry the ball. He’s been impressive carrying the ball in camp and he was last year carrying some of those bellies, as you guys know.
What kind of camp has Daejon Reynolds had?
Narduzzi: Daejon’s been, you know, quietly having a good camp. Just solid. Much better than he was in the spring. But every day he just gets a little bit better. He had a spring under his belt and he’s a big, physical receiver that’s done a nice job blocking down the field and he’ll go get the ball as well, so it will be fun to watch him this season.
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