Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh took more than his fair share of abuse from Ravens fans over the years. So, at least everyone knows he has a thick skin. After his first season at Pitt, many were at least thinking, if not whispering, similar things. It’s hard when Cavanaugh was the QB to lead the last Pitt team to a National Championship. Pitt fans want him to succeed, but given the rather large overlap of Pitt and Steeler fans, there is a strong familiarity with what the Ravens’ offense was like — and the fear of that. Still, unlike far too many OC’s who catch grief, Cavanaugh at least admits he needs to do better.

“I take credit or blame for a couple of the losses,” Cavanaugh said. “I thought I called some poor games offensively, and I didn’t give our players a chance to execute some plays. … So, I’ve got a lot of improvement to make. It’s not just the players.”

But that doesn’t mean Cavanaugh and the Panthers didn’t learn from the experience.

“I learned a lot the year we won the Super Bowl in Baltimore (with the Ravens),” Cavanaugh said. “I made mistakes, but I’m also not usually someone who dwells on the great things that happen, either. I can be critical of myself and the people around me, and I want to improve all the time.”

He’s bothered by wasting the redshirts of QB Bill Stull and FB Conredge Collins. I’m not sure there was much choice for either of those. While neither did much, it matters to start playing the freshmen these days. Stull was and still is the back-up QB. He needed to get even a toe dipped in to start understanding just what being on the field at Div. 1-A was like. Give him the reasons and information to really know what he needs to do to progress.

I think what Cavanaugh needs to do a much better job of doing is recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the players he has, and as he says, “give our players a chance to execute some plays.” If anything drove me completely nuts last season, it was the inability or unwillingness to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the players. To use them in the best way within the system. You don’t necessarily have to change the system you want to run, but you do have to run the plays that work well with the players’ abilities.

One of those players is Senior WR Joe DelSardo.

Last season, however, DelSardo made just three starts. His stats fell dramatically: 15 catches, 156 yards, zero TDs.

“At first, obviously, it gets to you. But you’ve got to get past that and be mentally strong,” he said. “I kind of looked at it as another challenge. It motivated me to work harder, get back on the field and regain that position.”
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DelSardo knows he faces an uphill battle to gain coach Dave Wannstedt’s trust to be on the field in clutch situations. But DelSardo never gave a thought to forgoing his senior year of eligibility.

“It was too great of an opportunity to pass up,” he said. “You can’t let one setback affect everything that you’ve worked for. It’s one more challenge, one more obstacle to defeat.”

DelSardo is a reasonably sure handed receiver, willing to sacrifice the body and take a hit, who is smart but not that fast. He was used horribly last season, not at all to those strengths. Rather than putting him somewhere in the middle of the field or on a slant-in — where he could use his body to shield a defender from the ball — he was being sent down the sideline to either stop and turn for the ball or button-hook. Given his lack of speed, it wasn’t too difficult for a corner (or even a safety) to stay close and then break on the ball.

Apparently, another Conredge Collins story was needed to write about playing fullback.

“In high school, I didn’t do too much blocking,” Collins said. “It’s hard, taking on that inside shoulder from a linebacker. It’s hard to take on a block when he hits you in the middle of your chest.”

There has been a marked improvement in his blocking skills this spring. But the veteran linebackers still see a bull’s-eye on Collins’ chest when they tear into the backfield during practice.

“I got caught by Derron (Thomas), Clint (Session), H.B. (Blades),” Collins said, shaking his head and laughing. “I got caught by all of ’em a couple times. They get on me a little bit, like, ‘I got you today.’ But I tell them, I’ll be here every day. It’s a learning experience.”
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Cavanaugh plans on getting Collins more involved by using him in some one-back sets. Collins also has good hands, which means he could expect to see a few passes come his way.

With tight end John Pelusi recovering from knee surgery, there are only two tight ends in spring practice. That’s given Collins a chance to go in motion more often and catch a few more balls than he would have otherwise.

“Basically, right now, I’m just blocking and catching the ball out of the backfield,” he said, with a shrug. “I’m doing all right.”

Of course, for Collins or anyone in Pitt’s backfield to have any success, the O-line needs to be better.

Pitt’s offensive line is still a work in progress, but coaches and players are optimistic that the unit will be one of the team’s strengths by the time the season begins.

“We have some guys with experience and we got better from the beginning of the season to the end last year, so we want to pick it up where we left off,” Pitt offensive line coach Paul Dunn said. “We’ve really tried to emphasize to the players that we don’t want to go back to the beginning, like where we were in the spring last year. The kids are working hard and that’s always a plus.

“We are still very young on the left side of the line, but we have a chance to plug some holes there and I think by the time it is all said and done, we are going to have a good group. I’m excited about what I’ve seen.”

Chris Vangas who was giving Joe Villani a battle for the starting Center position strained the MCL in his knee. He’s out for at least a week, probably the rest of spring drills, if Pitt is smart and cautious.

The players believe they are getting better.

Fifth-year senior Joe Villani returns at center, but he was a first-year starter last fall. Senior John Simonitis is a four-year starter at right guard, and he provides stability to that side with redshirt junior tackle Mike McGlynn.

“We’re doing a lot better, John and me, and we’ve been working harder on our twist games on the line,” McGlynn said. “Hopefully, it turns into some big plays and no dumb mistakes. But we’re working hard and getting better all the time, so I think we’ll be pretty good when the season starts.”

The left side has sophomores C.J. Davis at guard and John Bachman at tackle. Davis recorded starts in the final six games, while Bachman did not debut until Game 6 and was the main backup to senior Charles Spencer.

“I feel a lot more comfortable with the offense this year, and everybody’s coming together around me,” Simonitis said. “So, I expect us to be better this season. When you get new guys in there, it’s tough to make all the calls. But me and Mike have played together for three years now.

“It’s helped us a lot. And we’re on the same page, pretty much, on every play. … I think we’ll have a good line no matter what, but John Bachman is a young guy with a lot of potential. I think he’s doing all right, but he’s working hard. He’ll do well, and we’ll be all right as an O-line.”

I don’t think we’ll have a clue about the O-line until the actual games begin. The good news, with Pitt’s schedule it is likely we’ll know quickly.