Kessman, holder eye perfection
Pitt punter Kirk Christodoulou peered over a cameraman’s shoulder Tuesday afternoon and saw placekicker Alex Kessman sitting in the third row of the team room, staring him down. Christodoulou is Kessman’s holder.
“I’ve got to get the laces out and everything. Make sure it has the correct tilt. Kess is a perfectionist, as we all know,” Christodoulou said, cracking a smile. “I try not to make him too upset.”
Kessman chuckled, but Christodoulou wasn’t kidding. Kessman is a perfectionist. So is Christodoulou. And that’s what Pitt needs in 2019, for its specialists to be, well, perfect. Or at least as close to perfect as possible.
“That’s what training camp is for,” Christodoulou said. And so far, through 10 practices, special teams has largely been a positive for the Panthers. Coach Pat Narduzzi called the unit “sharp” Tuesday, though improvements are needed.
Kessman, a third- team All- ACC selection in 2018, returns to kick field goals after hitting 13 of 17 attempts last
season. The redshirt junior converted four from 50 yards or longer but also missed 2 of 4 between 30 and 39 yards.
Kessman said, “The long kicks will come.”
But the mid- range ones need work.
“How do you go 4 for 5 beyond 53, and then 50 percent from 30 to 39? It’s all up here. It’s all in my head,” the kicker added. “I have to have the same approach that I have for the 30 to 39s that I have for the 50 to 60s.”
Kessman also mentioned the need to improve his accuracy from the right hash. The Michigan native said he missed one field goal from the left hash in 2018 but converted only 60 percent from the right. Why is that?
“For a right- footed kicker, it’s easier — if anyone plays golf — to draw the ball [ right to left]. And when you draw the ball on the right hash, you’re going to miss it left, 100 percent,” Kessman explained.
“The goal is to kick the ball dead- straight, but sometimes it comes outwith that draw, and I have the tendency to hit that draw if I do mishit it. On the left hash, I can get away with a mishit. On the right hash, I will not get away with a mishit.”
So, Kessman’s checklist consists of shoring up the 35- yard chip shots and eliminating that mishit draw from the right. The holder plays a role in that, too, but Narduzzi said Kessman will decide who replaces Jake Scarton as the holder. And the redshirt junior already has his guy. “It’s Kirk,” Kessman said. “No doubt.”
Starting quarterback Kenny Pickett has taken reps there, too, and he appears to be the backup. But it’s on Christodoulou to set up Kessman — something he understandably struggled to do in the Penn State game last season.
Scarton was unavailable, leaving Christodoulou three days to prepare. It wasn’t enough, as the former Australian rules football player botched two holds — one on an extrapoint, another on a missed 35- yard field goal.
“Everyone’s asking how the Penn State game affected him, you know, that’s last year. It’s in the past, and we’re looking to the future,” Kessman said, defending Christodoulou. “For people to judge him off of one game in a hurricane with three days prior of holding, it’s pretty unfair.”
Special teams coordinator Andre Powell agreed.
“It was really a coaching error because at that point I had not solidified a backup,” Powell said. “He didn’t respond well to it at that point. And I think that game affected his punting for several weeks.”
In the three games after the Penn State debacle, Christodoulou averaged 38.7 yards on 18 punts. Over the course of the 2018 season, that would have ranked 96th in the country. He rebounded, though, as the Panthers emphasized directional punting down the stretch, which they will continue to do in 2019. The right- footed kicker’s 46.1 yards per punt average in November was the best in the ACC.
When asked about specialteams play in the Saturday scrimmage, Narduzzi wasn’t pleased with Christodoulou.
“I expect more out of him. He’s not a rookie anymore,” the coach said of the punter. “We have to get him a little more consistent. He’s had consistent days. But when it’s game day, when it’s scrimmage day, we expect you to wake up that morning, feel good and punt it well.”
Scrimmage standout
While Narduzzi was less than pleased with Christodoulou’s performance Saturday, one player in particular impressed the coach: defensive end Deslin Alexandre. That is a good sign given the devastating news Pitt got Friday regarding that position.
Rashad Weaver, thought to be Pitt’s best defensive player entering fall camp, is out for the season with a right ACL injury. Weaver — the leader in sacks and tackles for loss in 2018 — went down on Thursday, leading defensive coordinator Randy Bates to say Friday, “It’s Des’ turn.”
“That guy played his tail off. That’s a guy that really stood out to me,” Narduzzi said of Alexandre. “That’s what you expect when something like that happens, for someone to step up and take over. And he did.”