Pitt training camp notebook: Pat Narduzzi hopes spot in preseason rankings puts chip on team’s shoulder

While Pat Narduzzi claims he doesn’t follow the media coverage his team receives, the Pitt coach certainly has no issue using the press as a form of motivation. Coming off a 9-4 campaign in 2022, the Panthers reported to training camp on the South Side on Tuesday and participated in their first official practice Wednesday morning in preparation for the upcoming season — a season that some media members feel won’t be as successful as years prior.
The ACC released its preseason poll Tuesday afternoon, which had the Panthers picked to finish in a tie with Duke for sixth place in the conference. Despite numerous key players from the past few seasons departing for the NFL, expectations within Narduzzi’s program are much higher than a middle-of-the-pack showing, which was made clear during his first press conference of the 2023 season.
“I hope it puts a chip on their shoulder,” Narduzzi said Wednesday afternoon at the team’s facility. “I mean, we’ve never been picked to finish first. It’s the same thing as last year, the same thing as the year before.”
A look back shows Narduzzi was right. Throughout his nine seasons at Pitt, the Panthers have never been viewed as a favorite to win the league at the start of the season. Pitt’s highest spot in the preseason conference rankings throughout Narduzzi’s tenure came last season, when it was picked to finish second behind Miami in the Coastal Division and fourth overall.
“Everybody thinks — again, without mentioning names — everybody thinks that they're better than you,” Narduzzi said. “That's kind of how it is. There's some other really good programs out there. Whether you beat them or not, we're going to be better this year. We were bad last year, but we're going to be better this year. They all have excuses of why they didn't win. We just keep plugging away.
“We just keep playing football. Our job is to win one game at a time, as you guys know, and just coach our football team and try to be good in August here. Once Sept. 2 comes around, show people what we got.”
Importance of culture
While Narduzzi fielded questions about notable offseason topics like realignment and NIL last week in Charlotte, N.C., at the ACC Kickoff, he was asked Wednesday about the Northwestern hazing scandal and how he goes about ensuring such things don’t occur in Pitt’s locker room.
“We had meetings yesterday,” Narduzzi said. “That's no different than we had in 2015, talking about Title IX stuff, hazing, all that stuff. I can pull out a manual from 2015 that we go through with all our guys, and it's talked about all the time.
“We remind our guys what's happening, whether it's a gambling thing happening out at Iowa State, whatever it is. I'm always keeping our guys in the know. Our guys are on TikTok, Instagram. They have no clue what happened at Iowa State yesterday with the 26 violations or whatever you want to call it out there. I'm always informing our guys what's going on so they're aware. Like, good thing we don't do that. It's just a constant reminder. But having a good culture, you've just got to keep it going because it's day by day.”
Healthy and active
Narduzzi started his press conference highlighting his team’s health, saying the Panthers are as “healthy and probably as fast and as strong” as they’ve ever been heading into camp. Narduzzi also took time to admire the progress his program has made over nine seasons, saying the overall quality of players on the roster has gone up a level.
“When you look at it even compared to last year and 2021, just our average squat by position and bench and all those numbers, you kind of go, ‘Whoa,’ ” Narduzzi said. “We've got a strong football team. I think we've got a fast football team. I had a couple of 4.2s during summer. I feel good with where we are right now.”
Young pass catchers impress
As reported in the Post-Gazette’s analysis of Pitt’s wide receiver room, Narduzzi mentioned that multiple true freshmen receivers will see time on the field this fall.
“I think we know who our top two are with Konata (Mumpfield) and Bub (Means),” Narduzzi said, “but who's going to be that third receiver, fourth receiver, fifth receiver? We've got four true freshmen that are all talented. We saw Izzy (Israel Polk) in the spring and Lamar Seymore in the spring. All of a sudden, Kenny Johnson comes into town. Zion (Fowler-El) had a heck of a day today, I think. He's a football player. ... One of those freshmen is going to play for us, maybe two. I don't know which one it's going to be, but they're going to play this season for us. There's that competition.”
From quarterback to coach
Similar to how the Pitt offense will likely be run this fall by a former WPIAL product, the Panthers coaching staff will include a former area standout, as well. Narduzzi confirmed during his presser that former Aliquippa star and walk-on quarterback Eli Kosanovich has transitioned to a student coach role for the team this season.