MORE FROM THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING CAMP - Spring report: What stood out on the first day of camp? | Slideshow: Newcomers in camp | Narduzzi on the newcomers, the offensive installs and more | Video: Narduzzi and the team leaders speak after the first practice | Slideshow: Pitt takes the field for the first practice of spring | Spring camp 2022: The projected two-deep
A reporter asked Pat Narduzzi about last season following his team’s first practice of spring football on Monday.
The Pitt head coach jokingly fired back, “What happened last year?”
That appears to be the mantra of the 2022 Pitt football team as they begin their quest towards defending their ACC title. Pitt is coming off its best season in decades, and while it is hard to ignore the not so distant past, the team is trying to turn the page and start fresh in 2022.
“It’s a new season; it’s a blank page,” Pitt senior linebacker Sir’Vocea Dennis said of the team’s outlook at the start of spring ball. “The start of 2022, and we’re just ready to get after it.”
Pitt is coming off an 11-win campaign in 2021 and captured the program’s first-ever ACC Championship. The team returns a roster loaded with experience. The Panthers have 47 players with either junior or senior eligibility.
The quality of the returning players is also a factor. Pitt brings back a pair of All-Americans in Jordan Addison and Calijah Kancey. The Panthers also have the most returning players in the league that grabbed All-ACC honors a season ago.
When asked if there’s added pressure or more expectations heading into next season, sophomore tight end Gavin Bartholomew was quick to brush them aside.
“I think every year your goal is to win the championship, so I don’t think it’s anything special coming off of it,” he said of the expectations entering 2022. “It should be the goal every year.”
Spring football is usually about getting an early look at some position battles and a chance for some younger players to showcase themselves. For an experienced team like Pitt that will enter the season with expectations, the primary focus is of course to stay healthy.
Narduzzi admitted as much, but there are also other factors at play and both sides of the ball have areas they need to work on during these 15 practices.
“Each position has a ton of objectives that we want to get done,” the Pitt coach said of the goals of spring ball. “But offensively is different than defense. Defensively we want to replace the guys that are out there and find out where our weaknesses are. Offensively, you are combining two offenses together and trying to make the best you can. So that’s the objective, is to get knowledge of the offense and finish it up there.”
While the team is trying to put last year aside, there are still valuable lessons that can be taken from the historic 2021 season. The veteran players who have been around recognize that.
“We’re just trying to fine tune the little details, the little things that got us there, and continue to do those same things to get there again this year,” Deslin Alexandre said of what the team can do to replicate last year.
There is a long way to go until the season opener on September 1st, but for the Pitt football the focus is on that game and the season ahead, and not what happened in 2021.
