Panthers return to draft system for Saturday
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was talked into doing last year’s spring game as offense vs. defense. It allowed both the coaches and fans to see the first-stringers go head to head. This year, it’s going back to what the Panthers have done in the past.
Narduzzi was already leaning toward going back to the draft model — the seniors are split up and then draft players from each position group — but his decision was cemented when multiple players came up and asked him if they were doing a draft.
“I just didn’t like it last year,” Narduzzi said. “I think it’s just another day of practice. I guess that’s one of the reasons I was going to a draft anyway.”
Don’t expect a lot of matchups between the guys at the top of the depth chart. Because the players are drafting the teams, it’ll be a mix of ones, twos and threes. Fans are not going to get the best look at what this Pitt squad is going to look like, but it’s going to shake things up. “It’s just to have some funcompetition, split it up, ”Narduzzi said. “There’s some adversity. Quarter-backs got to work with a dif-ferent center maybe than hehad in spring. It gives every-one an opportunity. May be the backup right guard is making plays with a lefttackle or it gives you a defen-sive end working with a D-tackle or a safety that’s working with a different core that he doesn’t nor-mally work with. It gives guys an opportunity to prac-tice with somebody else, play the game with some-body else and maybe learn something from it. ”It’ll still be exciting for fans because it’s the firsttime they’ll get to see new of-fensive coordinator Kade Bell’s scheme.The offense is installing anew style, giving the defense a chance to shine because there aren’t too many differ-ences from previous years. Freshman Sincere Edwards said he wouldn’t consider it an advantage forthe defense simply because of how young so many play-ers are. “We have a lot of newfaces on defense, including me,” Edwards said. “So, inmy opinion, I feel like it’s kind a even because youhave guys on defense who’re learning the playbook andyou got guys on offense, even older guys who are stilllearning the playbook. ”Nate Matlack, a defensivelineman transfer from Kan-sas State, is excited for the chance to play a spring game. He never had one while playing in Manhattan, Kan. While a senior, he won’t be one of the players running the draft on Wed-nesday. Mostly, Matlack’s just ex-cited to show what the line-backers have in store for the upcoming season.
Playing for a starting spot
Edwards had a goal when he committed to playing for the Panthers: He wants to be a true freshman All-American.
It’s one of the reasons he decided to forgo his second semester in his senior year of high school. It’s also why he’s trying to learn as much as he can from veteran Dayon Hayes.
The fifth-year player has spoken highly of Edwards, saying Pitt got “lucky” with the freshman signing.
“Coming in early and you know Dayon is going to be one of the people who’s wanting to lead next year, so you hear that from an older cat, that makes me proud,” Edwards said.
Edwards has been leaning on fellow freshman Francis Brewu, as both of them are hoping to be key players on the defense this year. Edwards said those two and some of the other young players — including Zach Crothers — have been staying late at the facility to go over the playbook every single day.
“The three guys that came in this winter are super talented,” Matlack said. “They’ve already come ready to play, and you can tell that they’re physically ready to play, too. I’d say we have a lot of up and coming guys that are going to be really special players here soon.”
Narduzzi took a moment to shout out Edwards and his emphasis on toughness during spring workouts. Narduzzi joked that if you lined up a group of people, Edwards would run through everyone with zero hesitation.
“For freshmen, he is a different level guy right now,” Narduzzi said. “He’s reckless. Some guys would be a freshman coming in and cautious to look around like, ‘Am I allowed to do that?’ He plays reckless and practices reckless. I can’t wait to see him in a game.”
Settling in offensively
While a majority of the offense is working on learning the new offense, transfer running back Desmond Reid has a bit of advantage. He is already familiar with Bell’s style after playing for Bell at Western Carolina.
Reid was part of the Catamounts’ offense that led the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in total offense with an average of 504.1 yards per game.
“I try to tell them looks I think we’ll get into, like a certain play or a certain coverage and try to tell them, ‘Be ready for this,’ ” Reid said. “The running back room, we’re getting it and we’re all close. It’s a brotherhood. The offense, we just have to keep coming together, but we’re gonna get there, for sure.”