Given the expected youth and lack of quality depth on the lines, the health of the starters will be vital. One of the things that hurt Pitt’s D-line last year was Clint Session being in and out of the line-up with various injuries. He’s worked to get faster and drop extra weight.
Session was moved last spring from inside linebacker to outside linebacker, a position he had not played in some time. Then in summer camp, a knee injury prevented him from being a factor early in the season and he had a bothersome shin injury that hampered him in midseason.
After making 11 starts as a sophomore on the team that won the Big East and went to the Fiesta Bowl, Session was relegated to part-time player status last season who contributed just 28 tackles in eight games.
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Session spent the offseason watching what he ate and worked on his speed with a track coach in Florida. He came into spring practice 12 pounds lighter than the end of last season and feels good physically.“This is the most comfortable I’ve been since I’ve been here,” he said. “I feel like I can really help this scheme. Coach is expecting big things out of me this year. He’s expecting me to be a leader.”
Bonus points for Clint referring to himself in the 3d person in this puff piece. Just something that has been missing from early stories on players this spring even if he was inconsistent in slipping in and out of it.
“Last year was tough, but it was like a stepping stone,” Session said. “I’m just happy it’s over and out of the way, and it’s a new year. It was tough going through that, but it’s a new year now. And I really don’t want to talk about last year. We’re looking toward this year, now.
“But it definitely was motivation for me. It almost was a wasted year. Clint Session’s name wasn’t out there helping his teammates, and he wasn’t out there contributing to the team. So, you always want to bounce back from that. It’s the last year to get a chance to have a winning season.”
Session primarily worked on improving his speed, and he trained at a camp specifically geared toward speed work when he went back home to southern Florida in the offseason.
“I believe I’ve gotten faster, because that’s mostly what I was working on in the offseason,” Session said. “Just trying to be fast. I did some running at home with some guys, and I know it’s paying off.
“I got a trainer back home (who is) a speed trainer. He put me through some hard drills, and hopefully that can get the best out of me. You pull a sled and pull guys with ropes, so that’s what I did to improve my speed.”
Of course it isn’t just Session. The whole line has to be better.
“For us to make some strides as a football team, that position is critical,” Wannstedt said. “I don’t care what level you’re talking about, those guys up front have to perform — and perform at a high level. We were inexperienced last year. That’s scary. Now we’re a year older and that will benefit us this year.”
A couple of local players are hoping to earn starting positions and shore up the line. Corey Davis, a 6-foot-1, 300-pound sophomore from Peabody High School, played in six games last season and recorded five tackles. Craig Bokor, a 6-3, 290-pound redshirt freshman from Hopewell, did not play but hopes to be a part of the rotation this season.
“We have no choice but to improve from last year,” Davis said. “It can’t get any worse.”
Bokor said the coaches have tweaked the defensive scheme this spring. Last season, he said, the defensive linemen played a read-and-react style that took away the natural aggression of the players. That philosophy is gone, replaced by a full-steam-ahead, play-making mentality for the four down linemen.
“They just want us to get off the ball,” Bokor said. “We want to put the linemen in the backfield. They call it capturing the lineman’s heels. We just want to be powerful and physical.”
Sounds good, and god knows they need to be more aggressive off the line. Lots of questions, though, as to whether they will be better. I vaguely recall last year the offensive line talking glowingly about being more aggressive and attacking with a more run-oriented offense, rather than playing to pass-block. That didn’t work so well.
