Pat Narduzzi met the media before Pitt's practice on Wednesday and talked about the Panthers' quarterbacks, the safeties and more. Here's video and full rundown of his remarks.

Narduzzi: Another work day. Thought I'd put my work shirt on here today. But make sure they know we're working, you know. We’re at practice 18 or 19, I don't even know what number we're on, but you know, when I threw up the practice schedule at the team meeting today, I got some, ‘Uhhh,’ and you're to that point in camp where you get that and I said, ‘Hey, I don't want to hear your ‘uhhh.’ We're going to work today, we've got to get 3% better. We've got a lot of stuff to correct.’ So we had a good day yesterday.

This is the third week you've been with these guys. Have you noticed a different approach, different attitude than you saw last year?

Narduzzi: You know, it's funny you say that. Yeah, I do see a different attitude. We've talked about the edge. I just don't see as much clowning around. It's not that - like, these dudes are a little bit more serious than the last year. You know, is there a reason why? I have no idea. But I just see there's not as much, like even walking off the field, the guys are just serious walking off the field. Walking on the field just seems to be more locked in, I guess. So, just, every team's a little bit different, you know.

I told the guys earlier in the year, earlier in camp, you know, it's team 135, it's 135th edition of Pitt football. And, you know, 2024 team, there'll be one team. It's you. What are you going to do? And we've got a lot to prove.

With the way things went last year, do you feel like you're taking more time looking at these position battles and that quarterback just because of, you know, trying to get the right guys in there?

Narduzzi: Yeah, I mean, you know, it doesn't matter what position it is. But you're always doing that. I can't tell you we're taking more time. But last year, I think we assumed too much. The offense assumed. And, again, it was a bad job. And I put that on me.

Have you seen any separation between the center and guard position in terms of who's going to start?

Narduzzi: Yeah, I think we're getting closer there. I think Lyndon Cooper's got the lead on that spot, I would say, at the center spot. And at the right guard spot, B.J. Williams has had a nice camp. He's gotten better along the way. But, you know, Carretta has really done a great job at, fighting for there. And Terrence Moore is going from guard to center. He thinks he can play tackle as well.

I feel like we need to stay healthy, but we got some guys to fill in there as well.

Are you trying to cross-train Terrence at guard and center? Or is he battling for that left guard spot?

Narduzzi: He’s battling for it, but he's cross-training as well. I mean, it's a little bit of both, right? But, you know, we've played a lot of football games with Terrence Moore. So, you know, Lyndon's done a nice job there.

Maybe this is something that will play out over the year, but are you seeing a benefit to your defense practicing against tempo?

Narduzzi: Yes. I think we've done a pretty good job against tempo. More than the tempo, I just think we get a better look at all the stuff that most offenses we face do on a daily basis. Not necessarily the tempo, but I feel like our offense - our defense would like the offense to slow it down a little bit so they can focus on fundamentals. So that can sometimes mess you up because, you know, we don't mind the tempo in a game. That doesn't bother us because we will teach and coach that up. But what they want to make sure is they get the fundamentals and slow down, get perfect alignment, all those little details, which I get. But, you know, we like to get it at a fast tempo.

But the thing I think our defense benefits is seeing all the stuff that we're going to see during the season. I think going into the season, we're much more, you know, prepared for these spread offenses and all the gun runs and all that stuff.

P.J. had the three picks last year and it seems like his helmet's full of those takeaway stickers this summer. Where does he fit in with that safety rotation right now?

Narduzzi: You know, P.J.’s a football player. He's got the best ball skills back there. He's got a nose for the football. He finds a way to catch it all the time. He had another beautiful one yesterday. P.J.’s a football player. So, I mean, we’ve got a three-man, four-man rotation back there. We talked about the depth of that unit back there at the safety position and kind of where that depth was a year ago, so I'm happy with where it is. It's nice to keep those guys fresh. You know, they're getting attacked. They run a lot. And we’ve got a lot of faith that P.J.’s going to catch the ball when it comes his way. And that's important.

Is Brookins number four?

Narduzzi: I would say Brookins number four. But, you know, he could be number three. He could be number two. Brookins is a good football player, and we'll just see how the season goes. But he's a football player.

I told him, you know, I don't want any spring All-Americans. They really don't count. And fall camp All-Americans don't count. We're going to find out what happens when the lights turn on here, come August 31st.

Has Cruce been having a good camp?

Narduzzi: Cruce Brookins is having a great camp. He's having a great camp. Like he did spring. He's done a nice job. He'll probably be the starting nickel back as well. I would anticipate he's going to be a really good football player. We're excited about him.

Is Cam Lindsey still standing out to you at the linebacker position?

Narduzzi: Cam is. I mean, he's younger. He's got, you know, Kyle Louis up there. Kyle Louis stands out to you. But Cam Lindsey - all three of those freshman linebackers, you know, Brewton, Jeremiah Marcelin and Cam Lindsey, those are three really good linebackers.
At this point in camp, you can always kind of go, ‘oh, golly, maybe made a mistake there.’ There's no mistake there at all. They're all three of those guys are dudes. They're all going to be guys that you guys will be asking about for the next four years.

You've typically gone with just two safeties. It was Damar and Paris. It was Brandon and Erick. Do you think you'll have a deeper rotation there this year than you have in the past?

Narduzzi: No doubt. I mean, last year we had a three-man rotation with Javon, Donovan and P.J. This year, we’ve got four guys. It's nice to keep fresh. You get that fourth quarter, you know, and I have to look back and think of who those backups were at those different years with Damar and Paris back there and all the different guys, who their backups were, and if we felt good putting a guy in or not. I couldn't tell you who that third guy was. But we feel good about all four of those guys, guys that come in and help us win football games.

If it's a passing situation, I want P.J. in the game.

I assume you're going to let the team know the winner of the quarterback derby before you tell us. Are you going to make us wait until warm-ups on August 31st?

Narduzzi: You know, I assume, Jerry, the assumption and your assumption, my assumption - the assumption is I don't know. I haven't really thought that far. I'm worried about practice today and pads and making sure I get these guys to give me everything they got today and give their coaches everything they got. So the assumption - you can assume whatever you want.

Do they bring different skill sets to the table? Do they give the defense different looks? The quarterbacks?

Narduzzi: Yeah. Yeah, they do. And, again, they've both been outstanding. I mean, I don't think you're going to be disappointed in whatever you see out there. I think you're going to be happy with what you see. I don't think our defense is easy to go against every day with all the different stuff we do. And Bates does more stuff in practice than he would do in a game. I was kind of busting him, like, ‘You're scared to do it in a game.’ But he won't be afraid to do it during practice. So I tease him about that.

But we're looking for that consistency. It's like one day, one's really, really good and the other one's good. And then the next day the other one's really, really good and the other one's, you know, good. But we want them to be great all the time. So that consistency and, again, I think we'll see some more things as we go through game plan week and how do they pick up the game plan. How do they adjust it against a different defense? Because that's going to be the key for everybody. It's not just the offense or defense. Just a quarterback position, linebacker. How do you pick up and adjust? The older guys adjust to a new game plan every week better than the younger guys do.

Have you started game planning for Kent State specifically this week?

Narduzzi: Yeah, we've gotten in yesterday. We had one period. Today we'll have a period and a half, I guess. Fifteen minutes, that's it. But I don't want to get too deep into it too early. We could have started a week ago. Sometimes kids get bored. I don't want them to get bored. I want them to be anxious about it. So little by little we'll just wean into it. Then we'll really get into the thicker things Sunday and going into Tuesday.