Pat Narduzzi didn’t sound like a coach worried about August wear-and-tear on Friday morning. Pitt is 13 practices into camp, 17 days in, and Narduzzi said the group is handling the humid stretch the way he wants.
“It’s kind of like a normal August morning. We’ve had a humid camp, I think, which I love as a head coach, just getting the heat out here.
But practice 13 today. The boys have been in camp for 17 days now.
I reminded them this morning andI think things are going well.”
The one thing he’s watching closely is energy. Narduzzi said he hasn’t seen any real dip yet, but he expects a loud, high-octane day at practice and made it clear the staff can’t let the team drift in the final stretch.
“Not yet, but today will be one of those days that I think you’ll see - hear the noise. Somebody’s coming out all jacked up - but that’s our job to get them going.
We’ll talk about where we can be and what we can do. So I feel good with where we are right now, but we can’t lose these last couple of days.
Can’t take a step backwards.”
When the conversation turned to safety, Narduzzi described a spot with plenty of bodies and a little healthy movement as the staff tries to sort out the best combination. Cruce Brookings remains the anchor, but Cole Woodson has been moved over to the field, while Josh Guerrier, Allen Bryant and Tony Forney are all part of the mix. Shawn Lee has also taken reps at field safety.
“At that safety spot, you know, it’s a group of guys. I mean, think about obviously Cruce Brookings is going to be a dude out there.
But then when you look at, you know, to the field - made a couple of changes just a little bit because we’re just trying to make sure we get our best players on the field is. We’ve even moved Cole Woodson over there because we know he knows the boundary, just giving him a chance at that field.
You know, Josh Guerrier has done a nice job. Allen Bryant’s done a nice job.
Cole Woodson, we’ve kind of put him - like, looking for someone to really take that thing and just do it, making Cole move over there, made everybody go, ‘Oh s***, I better freaking get my stuff going.’”
He said the shuffle has had the intended effect.
“So, you know, then you saw Josh move it a little bit faster. So everybody needs a little nudge. I think we’ve got good players that I think, you know, again, we’re going against a really good offense, too.”
On Lee, Narduzzi said the staff has already tried him at field safety as well.
“He’s gotten reps at the field safety spot, too. He likes it.
He knows what he’s doing. So he’s another guy.
We’ve got options. We’ve left ourselves open to options, too.”
Narduzzi also kept the details of Pitt’s third-down package close to the vest. He wouldn’t go into specifics about the group formerly known as the Delta defense, and he made it clear the staff has adjusted the name and the structure.
“What’s the name of it? We changed the name of it.”
“You know what? It’s a great question.
Were you in our meetings today or something like that? You know, we have a new package.
I’ll leave it at that. How about that?
That’s a good answer.”
He said the changes are new enough to have him excited.
“Can’t tell you the adjustments that we made, but there’ll be some new things here, which I’m kind of fired up about.”
Narduzzi credited Brookings not just for playmaking, but for what he brings every day.
“You know, he was a good player a year ago. And I’d say the one thing about Cruce right now, it’s just his leadership and his work ethic.
That guy works. He’s got a little ding right now, but he’ll be fine.
But it’s his work ethic and his leadership that stands out to me about that guy. Like, he’s a no-brainer, the dude on our defense.”
The other major topic was the uncertainty around Desmond Reid and Justin Holmes, with a restraining order issued in Louisiana on Wednesday. Narduzzi said the situation is too unsettled to pin down anything right now.
“Yeah. You tell me, I don’t know.
I mean, the whole thing’s chaotic. I think it’s all going to get thrown out.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, but, you know - man, I have no idea. I can’t tell you.
I’m worried about this. You know, we had a head of officials in here yesterday, Gary Patterson.
I got too many things to think about that I’m worried about stuff. You know, if you see him, when you see him at practice, Chris, then we can talk about it, but until then, like, it’s all chaotic.”
Still, he said Pitt will always chase the best possible roster if an opening exists.
“No question about it. You know, 113.
We have 113. Make sure your numbers are good.”
“But I would say, you know, I’m always going to get the best roster we can, right? We’re not going to - I’m not ever going to, like, go, ‘Oh, this guy would disrupt the locker room.’
You know, if Aaron Donald would want to come back, guess what? He’s coming back, okay?
I’ll take Aaron Donald back today, knowing we all want to win out here. That’s our goal is to win, and whoever can make us better, I’m always gonna get the best 113.
Just to get to the 113, you should see the bartering in the staff room about which guy it is. Is it him or him?
Who are we gonna get? Who’s gonna help us be better, period?
And that’s what it comes down to.”
He also brushed off the idea that locker-room chemistry would stand in the way.
“So there’s no egos in that locker room. Everybody wants to win. That’s the key.”
On Ben Kaufman’s injury, Narduzzi said the roster mechanics are a question for Chris LaSala and that Pitt isn’t spending time on the paperwork side of it.
“I don’t know. I don’t know the answers to that question.
It’s a question for Chris LaSala. We’ll let him deal with that.
But we’re not thinking about numbers right now. Ben’s on our football team.
He’s one of our 113.”
He closed by saying he doesn’t handle the roster math himself.
“I don’t know how that works. I think if he’s on your team, he counts as your number.
I think, I don’t know. I don’t deal with that crap.”
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