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The goal for the Pitt football team hasn’t changed from last year. They still strive for an ACC championship. This year, they just have a different way of saying it.
The phrase ‘The Pursuit’ has been thrown around quite a bit leading up to fall practice. The players and coaches have often used the phrase as a hashtag on twitter. For the team photo, every player wore a blue shirt with the phrase stitched on it. It’s even painted on the concrete on the entrance to the outdoor field. It’s a constant reminder of the team’s goals, head coach Pat Narduzzi said.
“It’s just our catchphrase for the season. We’re on a pursuit,” Narduzzi said. “Our kids know where they want to go and we call it ‘The Pursuit’.”
A catchphrase isn’t going to get Pitt to that goal, but improved play will. To that end, Narduzzi sees a heightened understanding from his players of the playbook and general concepts.
“Our kids know what they’re doing. There’s more recall in what we’re doing,” Narduzzi said. “They can go out there and really run the practice themselves. They know the offense, they know the defense, they know the tempo we want.”
With a year down and a full Narduzzi recruiting class on the roster, Narduzzi likes where his roster is it. He’s got more depth at several positions, some of which he didn’t have at last year, like defensive end. That’s created a number of battles for playing time in fall camp.
“We’ve got some talent, now we find out who can stay healthy, who can mentally stay in the game and who physically can do the job,” Narduzzi said.
From Narduzzi’s perspective, it’s that depth and greater knowledge that makes this team better fit to win an ACC championship. The latter reason is what has the players believing. Plus, the team is closer than it was last year, safety Jordan Whitehead said. They have improved chemistry as a team, he said, as well as with the coaches.
James Conner called Pitt’s championship aspirations “very realistic,” though noted that the talk is all for naught without the results.“Like coach always says, you have to be more than you say,” Conner said. “You have to do more than just talk about it. We’ve got the pieces.”
Though the team is trying to keep the hype to a minimum until they back it up, that doesn’t stop fans and media from doing as much. Conner said he and his teammates don’t hear much of it.
“It’s easy for the whole team to stay focused and locked in,” Conner said. “We’re not really paying attention to the outside noise and all the media stuff.”
Keeping their minds from averting is important, especially with new offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s offense to learn. The team had the spring and summer to acclimate itself to Canada’s style, which has helped ease the transition, offensive lineman Adam Bisnowaty said.
“I think the biggest thing, with Coach Canada coming in, we had spring ball and summer,” Bisnowaty said. “That really helped us a lot with getting ahead of the program with plays and stuff like that.”
Along with the extra time, having senior leaders like Bisnowaty has been key in learning the offense. It’s that leadership that makes the team’s goals realistic, Bisnowaty said.
“[We have] a lot of leadership coming back and I think that’s just going to drive this group,” Bisnowaty said.
The end goal— an ACC championship— is something Bisnowaty relishes. For him, setting his sights any lower would be an injustice.
“That’s our goal, and if it’s not our goal I think we question why we’re here,” Bisnowaty said.
