Pitt Spring Practice #13;  April 14, 2015

Some interesting stuff came out of yesterday’s practice. The first thing that caught my eye is LB Coach Harley talking about Caprara and Bradley. It certainly appears that not only does Caprara have a shot but that he may just win the SLB position outright.  I have heard he’s really showing leadership and FBI (Foot Ball Intelligence) out on the playing field.

Challingsworth has been in the news more and more lately and it seems he’ll be in the Top Three WRs going into the fall camp.  Good for him and he’s a local kid and a fan favorite.  Here is some of Jerry DiPaola’s article in the Trib today:

Tyler Boyd caught 78 passes last season for Pitt.  The next four wide receivers combined for 47, and that entire quartet is gone.  Somewhere in assistant coach Kevin Sherman’s “little pod” of young pass catchers, Pitt needs to find some help to prevent opponents from continually putting double-team defenses on Boyd.  It’s still early in the process — even after 13 practice days this spring — but Sherman has candidates.

Junior Dontez Ford appears to have won the starting job opposite Boyd (at least for now), while sophomores Zach Challingsworth and Jester Weah and redshirt freshman Elijah Zeise are chief among players competing for the No. 3 job. Challingsworth might be slightly ahead of the pack at the moment, a designation that could change as soon as Saturday at the Blue-Gold spring game.

P-G’s Sam Werner has a nice piece on the interior of the PITT defensive line.  It also highlights JR Tyrique Jarrett who is from the perennial local football powerhouse Taylor Allderdice HS

The more intriguing question, though, is who will be next to Render when Pitt opens the season Sept. 5 against Youngstown State.  Redshirt senior K.K. Mosley-Smith started the spring with the first team, but has since been passed by junior Tyrique Jarrett.  Jarrett, who played in only eight games last year, has drawn rave reviews from coaches this spring as a player who has taken a step forward.

“I’m really thankful,” Jarrett said. “I believe that this is a fresh start and this is a new chance for me. There’s big things out there for me.”  One of the biggest limiting factors for Jarrett last year was his endurance. At 337 pounds, he is one of the biggest players on Pitt’s roster. That size is an asset when it comes to clogging  running lanes, but could be an obstacle when it comes to staying on the field for long stretches.  Jarrett’s goal this offseason is to get down to 330 pounds or perhaps 325 by working hard at his conditioning and loading up on as many salads as he can.

“He’s a big man, and we’re going to do it by committee,” Sims said. “There won’t be four guys out there going 100 plays, but we expect him to carry a substantial amount of the load if he continues to develop in that direction.”

BTW – Jarrett is also graduated from Milford Academy which actually is a HS football powerhouse.  Here is a list of players the school has put into the pros and let’s not forget it is also the alma mater of one Javonte Pitts who may well be a starter in the defensive backfield this year.  Oh, and LeSean McCoy went there also.

Onto the practice stuff:

Pitt Live Wire Feature; this should always be a stop on a PITT fan’s morning web blink viewing.

YouTube’s Pitt Live Wire videos; if you want to go directly to the visuals.

Here is a video piece on Tim Salem who is both the TEs coach and the Special Teams coach. This video is a look at Narduzzi’s plan and for those who haven’t been in the team’s Southside building it is a nice look at the trophy room, etc.  A bit of trivia, all those Southside facility’s public spaces were re-done by Todd Graham back in 2011.

Then, Paul Chryst took space from the player’s clubhouse and greatly expanded the weight room as his infrastructure project and now it looks like Narduzzi is reversing that and expanding the clubhouse back to original size. Both coaches feel that the team needed places to gather all in a group and hang out together on their ‘off time’.  Chryst wanted it to be in the weight room and Narduzzi seems to want it to be the clubhouse and to stock it with games and such.

Here is Salem’s bio.

Coach Pat Narduzzi on today’s practice:

Video: Coach Pat Narduzzi

 “We’re doing good. This was really our last hard day of work today. They faded just a little bit near the end. We did a little scout period where you’re teaching guys how to be scout teams and be team players. Everybody has a role, so we taught that in emphasis today. It tailed off near the end of practice, but overall we’re 13 in.

Thursday will be kind of a Blue-Gold [Game] practice. We’ll have a very similar practice but it will be split up into those teams so they can get to work next to each other. The tough part about the spring game is it will be a vanilla spring game. We won’t be showing you guys everything, nor do we want to show Youngstown or Akron or anybody else.

It will be a vanilla spring game like most people do. The first year will usually be a little more vanilla than any of them because really no one knows what we’re doing. We’re looking forward to getting it going. We split up the staff today and we’ll see you guys tomorrow at 4 o’clock [for the spring draft].”

Note: The media was invited to watch the full Spring Game Draft at the Southside Team Meeting Room this afternoon. I won’t be up for that drive. PITT plans on making it fun for everybody involved.  This is a great idea by Narduzzi and the Media Dept and is another way to get the local media reps more face time with the staff and kids. It is also a good example of Narduzzi reaching out to strengthen their communications game within his guidelines.

On how the staff is divided for the spring game:

“We had the [coaching staff] draft this morning in the staff room. It’s divided right in half. Coach [Jim] Chaney will be one of the head coaches for the gold and Coach [Josh] Conklin will be the other head coach, and I’m the commissioner. We know who our honorary coaches are, so we’re excited about getting them back on campus.”

On doing a spring draft previously:

“We did it at Cincinnati and I think a lot of people do it. It’s an old-school thing, to be honest with you. My dad did it back at Youngstown State a long time ago.”

Wide Receivers Coach Kevin Sherman on Zach Challingsworth:

Video: Receivers Coach Kevin Sherman; Here is Sherman’s bio.

“He has stepped up and has done some good things over the past couple of weeks which I think is a good sign that he is progressing. He is getting better on a daily basis. We have to have guys that can step up and play at a high level consistently. We are trying to get everyone better at their craft. Zach has stepped up, but we aren’t done yet. We are trying to finish strong.”

On what Challingsworth has done better:

“Consistency. Knowing the offense. Understanding what we are doing. He is playing faster. Once you know how to align and know what your assignments are, you can execute on a consistent basis and you are going to help this football team.”

On the receivers starting with a clean slate:

“No question. I told them that everyone has a clean slate and that I wasn’t going to put a cap on anyone. Whatever their talents are, we are going to utilize those talents and we are going to improve upon those talents. We have to go out and work hard every day to get better at our craft and we have to get consistent.”

On other receivers who have shown progress:

“One guy that has really stepped up in my opinion is Dontez Ford. He has made some big catches. He has been a physical presence on the football field so I like how he is progressing. Elijah Zeise has done some good things too.

I am just looking for people to be consistent. The more we watch ourselves on video, the better we will get. The game will slow down for us because we have to get better with our eyes.”  

On Jester Weah:

“He has shown flashes. We know he is a guy who can run down the field vertically, but he is a guy I want to improve his all-around game. I want him to be a better perimeter blocker. I want him to be a better route runner. I want him to step up with those 50-50 balls.  We talk about that all the time—you have to step up and be able to make those plays. We are all learning from it. That is why we have video—to learn and teach. Putting those guys in those situations will only get them better.

Note: a “50/50 ball” is a pass where both WR and DB have to battle to the catch the pass.  Here is an excellent bit of info on it and the technique a WR should use when doing it.

Linebackers Coach Rob Harley on if the linebackers are getting the “meanness” that he wants:

Video: Linebackers Coach Rob Harley; Here is Harley’s bio.

 “I think so. If easy is what you want, and the way Coach Narduzzi runs it, then this is not for you. This is hard. You have to be mentally into it. We’re going to push these guys and I think they are getting to where we want. To answer your question: yes. Are they there yet? No. They’re getting a feel as to what we want, and that’s a big thing about having a new staff.

“Early on, we could talk about and preach it, but they didn’t really know. They have to take every rep like it’s a real game rep. I think they’re getting there, especially the older guys. They just need to understand that it never ends. It’s constant if you want to be great.”

On if anyone is separating themselves from the pack:

“[Mike Caprara and Bam Bradley] have been going back and forth. We just keep rotating and looking for someone to take the lead.  If someone doesn’t take the lead, then we’ll ask a freshman coming in to take it.(!)  They’re just holding the spots, some of them are by default because we don’t have anyone else.

It’s not that they aren’t doing a good job, but if we’re rotating them, then someone’s not seizing the job. Once they do seize it, we’re still going to push them.  “I like where they’re at. It’s not a cut on them saying that we’re rotating them. Part of that is to get them seasoned with reps with the ones and twos. Continuing to rotate them and get that great competition flowing.

“It’s a new system. We installed a handful of new things on defense to see how these guys were going to react. You always have to be on your toes and be ready. I think they’re in a good spot and they’re primed to go through the summer and continue to have a reference point. Now when we get better in the fall, it’ll be fast because of those reference points.”

On Jamal Davis:

“He’s gotten better in 13 practices. He’s a guy who didn’t even go through fall camp [last year]. He’s a blank slate. Everything we teach is for the first time and that’s a good thing. Right now, he’s a young player and sees a lot. His vision is really wide and we need him to zero in on what we want him to do. That just comes with maturity, reps, experience, and being in the system long enough to really understand it. He’ll get there.”

Zach Challingsworth on spring practice:

Video: Receiver Zach Challingsworth.  Here is Challingsworth’s bio.

“It’s been good. I got a lot more reps than last year and continue to get better each and every day. Coach Narduzzi said if you get three percent better every day then you’re winning the day. I think I‘ve done that throughout the spring. I’m trying to learn, get better and get in the film room.”

On the new staff giving him a good chance to gain reps:

“When they came in they said they weren’t going to look at any tape or worry about what the other staff did. They were just going to move forward—they’ve stuck to their word with that. They’ve given everyone a chance to make plays. It’s exciting when you go out every day and have the opportunity to make a play or catch that ball.”

On where he has improved:

“Everything. Getting in the film room with Coach Sherman, he’s on me all the time, ‘pushing my buttons’ as he says. Seeing the defense, playing faster and more physical in and out of routes, just trying to be more of a complete receiver…catching the ball and making plays.”

On how the college game is different from high school:

“More physical and more speed. The speed of the game was fast. When I came in as a freshman, my first snap of the game had my head everywhere. Now, it’s all slowed down and I can focus on my assignment and what I have to do.”

On having Tyler Boyd on the field with him:

“It definitely makes everything easier. He is who he is. People know him and they look for him. It opens up other receivers but at the same time, allows you to be more confident about yourself—knowing that you’re out there with him, and knowing you’re a strong receiving corps that can make any play that he can make, and vice versa.

“If Tyler and Dontez Ford aren’t in the game, someone has to step up. We all take part in that, cherish that, and we talk about it in the film room all of the time. We’re only as strong as our weakest link. So everyone has to be ready to step in the game.”

On if he has distinguished himself this spring:

“I would like to think so. All of the work I put in during the offseason in the training room and getting my weight and strength up. There are other guys like Jester Weah and Elijah Zeise who are broadening out too. So it’s not just me, or one guy. Everyone is moving forward.”

On his weight compared to when he first came to Pitt:

“It’s 205 now. I was 185 pounds coming in freshman year. I put on a lot more muscle. I’m excited once spring ball is over to get back in the weight room and continue to improve.”

Other Notes:

Three days until the Spring Game – who is going to tailgate where?

Imagine my surprise when I came across the video linked below.  I was on campus as a student in ‘73-’76 but as soon as we could walk my parents took us kids and our friends to the annual Pitt Greek Sing every year  It was a big deal for my Pitt faculty parents and the show was done in coats and ties, as we were dressed also, and staged like a real Glee Club chorus.

Now those two conservative, but also weird, parents of mine are doing 10,000 RPMs in their grave.

For those weigh room aficionados here is an article on historical college football S&C training I ran across doing some other PITT research. Buddy Morris from PITT and his strength prep theories are featured.