There is no way around it, the ACC is awful. Clemson=clunk. Louisville = junk.
Bad coaches all around

All things considered and short notice Nubyas did a really nice job of compiling some notes. He did a good job of highlighting some of the offensive line battles, particularly left tackle. I will continue to post post-practice interview videos and some more sights and sounds as I sort through it all.


Thursday practice notebook: Left tackle battle in focus

By Nubyas Wilborn
For Pitt Sports News
On a cool, overcast Thursday morning, Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi directed his players during the fifth of 15 scheduled practices for the 2025 spring football season.

Eli Holstein, the presumptive starting quarterback, and his teammates gathered at the UPMC Rooney practice facility on the Southside, creating an atmosphere filled with anticipation and determination.

As the players went through various drills, Coach Narduzzi emphasized the importance of teamwork and technique, focusing on refining their skills in preparation for the upcoming season. The sounds of cleats on the turf and the echoes of encouragement filled the air, showcasing the Panthers' dedication and hard work as they aimed to build a strong foundation for the 2025 season.
Members of the media were allowed to observe six periods of Thursday's practice session. Here are some highlights from the third padded practice.

* During the open segment, Holstein demonstrated a high level of confidence, delivering accurate passes to several wide receivers and tight ends. He appears to have a stronghold on the starting position, as he primarily worked with the first team.

* Julian Dugger, a redshirt freshman and a proud graduate of Penn Hills, is emerging as the frontrunner for the backup quarterback position on the team. In a standout performance during last season's GameAbove Sports Bowl against Toledo, Dugger showcased his skills by throwing two impressive touchdown passes and demonstrated his mobility by rushing for an additional touchdown. His combination of passing accuracy and athleticism leaves fans and coaches excited about his potential as he prepares for the upcoming season.

* Pitt running back Desmond Reid had lofty praise for Dugger after Thursday's practice.
"He's a dog," Reid said. "He wants to compete. He wants to win and it shows. Him being a younger guy didn't stop him from getting out there and balling. He's very talented.

* Narduzzi said the team had a good practice on Thursday with the team moving inside because of the weather.
"I'm happy with where we are right now," Narduzzi said. "We've done a great job of keeping guys healthy."

* Jeff Persi, a recent transfer from Michigan, and Kendall Stanley, who joined from Charlotte, are both vying for the crucial left tackle position on the offensive line. Their competition has been intense as they showcase their skills and adapt to the team’s system. Meanwhile, Keith Gouveia has solidified his role as the left guard, consistently demonstrating his strength and technique in protecting the quarterback and opening running lanes.In a time when many teams are abandoning spring games, wary of revealing too much and risking the poaching of players through the transfer portal, Narduzzi stands firm in his old-school approach. He clings to the traditions of the game, valuing the essence and spirit of spring practices while navigating the modern landscape of college football.
"We going to continue to do what we do," Narduzzi said. "We can't worry about what guys will take away. We're hoping we don't lose any of our guys but we understand how the portal goes. We do our best to coach our guys up."

* Last season, Braylan Lovelace recorded 53 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, and one interception resulting in a touchdown. Growing up about 35 miles from Pittsburgh, he was a Panthers fan and is now embracing a role as an ambassador and team leader.
"I let all the guys know that I'm always a phone call or text away," Lovelace said. "I want to help the guys get acclimated to the city and the program. It's an honor to wear the script Pitt across my chest."

Pitt hosts Duquesne in the season opener, Aug. 30.

The Pirates are away, but a bigger draw will clog the North Shore parking lots.

The barnstorming Savannah Bananas play at PNC Park the same day. The Bananas are entertainers like the Harlem Globetrotters. Apparently their two game set here is sold out.

I was hoping for a 6pm kickoff, a Pitt win followed by fireworks. Now I am not so sure about a night game.

Anybody have inside info on this?

Dude is going to absolutely dominate in the ACC. Big, big, big time hire for NC State. Canned a Final Four coach 11 months after extending him to become a Top 10ish program. Wade is elite.

I still feel mildly betrayed that chris, etc. pulled a robert irsay in the middle of a weekend and bounced. best wishes to them... i dont see myself going over there with any immediancy on principle. i'd imagine this board has had many defectors outside of those who just renewed a yearly subscription and like me are too lazy to call for a refund. with all that being said, paul is a welcome addition and i enjoy reading his analysis especially with a son that has been thru the program. i appreciate the dumping ground for political and off topic discourse as well. i'd like to see some names for the premium boards to add some character and maybe run a contest for who can come up with the best ones. i am not creative nor clever hence suggesting it be outsourced. keep up the good work

Really impressed by the athleticism of Arkansas, Calipari put together an impressive roster with NIL resources in his first year. Excellent game with Kansas currently.

Is up next..this league suxx big time

For the last 20 years, the home page in my web browser of choice has been one site.

This site.

That’s a long time. And when you’ve spent that long in one place, it really does feel like home. It’s comfortable. You know where everything is. You know how to do all the things you want to do and you’ve figured out all the ways to work around things that don’t do what you want them to do.

You know the people. You know the places. You know the buttons to push.

But sometimes, a change is in order. Sometimes, it’s good to start over with a fresh approach and a new way of doing things.

As such, today will be the last day for Panther-Lair.com on the Rivals network.

There will be another time and place to talk about that change and where it will lead us. For now, I want to say something very simple:

Thank you.

Thank you for coming to this site every day for the last 20 years. Thank you for reading the articles and watching the videos. Thank you for responding to the things we post. Thank you for carrying the conversation on the message boards. Thank you for the praise and the push-back. Thank you for being driven by your passion for Pitt sports, so much so that you came here every day to read about it and talk about it and sometimes argue about it.

It has been a lot of fun.

We’ll see you soon.

Should or will we?

Here is an article from Karl about Peters Twp tight end Lucas Shanafelt and his thoughts on Pitt:


Lucas Shanafelt isn't unfamiliar with Pitt, considering he grew up in the South Hills and has visited the South Side facility before, but his visit last weekend felt different.
Shanafelt -- a 6-foot-4, 235-pound three-star tight end from Peters Township -- visited Pitt last month, spending time with Pat Narduzzi and tight ends coach Jacob Bronowski, and a couple of coaches from the recruiting department.

This time, the players were there, all the coaches were there and everyone knew his name.

It was the first padded practice of the spring for the Panthers, with a few dozen of the top targets in the class of 2026 in attendance, but the coaching staff made him feel like a priority.

"Me and coach Bro have a great relationship," Shanafelt told Pitt Sports News. "We talk pretty much every day, and he was with me pretty much the entire practice. Obviously, he was coaching, but he was pretty fired up throughout the entire practice. He brought great energy, and he just kept coming over to check on me. He sat with me at lunch, walked with me everywhere else throughout the facility. He’s been awesome."






Shanafelt liked what he saw from the tight ends during Saturday's practice, watching Jake Overman leading a young room that includes Max Hunt and Malachi Thomas,
Shanafelt fits the mold of the modern tight end, serving as a big-bodied wide receiver at Peters Township, but he's versatile in what he offers as an athlete.
"I think he sees potential in my game and me playing receiver, there’s not much of me blocking, but he's pointing out all the things that I do well on defense that kind of can translate to the blocking game," Shanafelt said. "And then he likes the way that I catch a ball in front of me, all that stuff, speed at the top and ends of my routes and just the competitor mentality.
He's being recruited on both sides of the ball, and while he would be happy at tight end or defensive end, he's told Bronowski that where he plays -- exactly -- isn't going to impact his final decision.
It's about the cultural fit, the academic fit and where he feels most comfortable as a player at the end of the day.

Pitt is high on his list right now. He holds offers from Akron, Buffalo, Cornell, EMU, Delaware, Fordham, Harvard, JMU, Kent State, Liberty, Miami (Oh.), Navy, Penn, Pitt, Princeton, Toledo, UConn and West Virginia (with interest from half a dozen Power Four programs), but the most recent visit to Pitt felt different.
There was a different type of energy as he watched Saturday's practice, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
And there's a different sort of energy when it comes to the WPIAL emphasis this cycle. Shanafelt, along with four-star defensive end Reston Lehman (Peters Township) and three-star defensive tackle Lincoln Hoke (North Allegheny) is a major local target.

"I definitely noticed that," Shanafelt said. "I mean me and Reston are really good friends, so we definitely have been talking to all the guys who have like opportunities to go play at Pitt. Everyone seems pretty excited that we are getting the opportunities because I know it's kind of fluctuated up and down with the opportunities that the WPIAL has been given. But it’s been cool."
Shanafelt has thought about how cool it would be to be a "hometown hero," but that's not a deciding factor either. He's focused on checking out all of the schools interested in him, which includes Duke this weekend, Rutgers and Purdue next and Stanford and Penn State down the line. And, of course, Pitt again in April.

"Pitt is obviously one of my top contenders, but most of the schools I’m visiting, I don’t have offers from, so I can't obviously really touch on that, but Pitt has definitely shown me the most amount of love," Shanafelt said. "And then a few Ivy schools. Like Harvard has been in constant contact with me and I have a good relationship with all those guys up there. So, other than that, like I said most places I'm visiting I don’t have offers from, so Pitt’s love that they've been showing me throughout the last couple of months definitely means a lot to me."

I have 93.7 as a preset on my radio in my truck. 2-3x a week when I start the vehicle up, the preset will automatically change to 100.1. I know both are KDKA radio.

Does this happen to anyone else?

I'm hearing that Freshman QB Mason Heitnschel is lighting it up in Spring practices and doing really well versus our defense.

Sounds like we may have found a nice diamond in the rough.

With Eli, Julian and him in the QB room, we are sitting pretty well depth-wise.

Login to view embedded media ">

Just sayin’.

Heck of an ending to the first game with Alabama st opting for a homerun prayer inbound pass instead on the traditional quick drive up for the three. Lucky bounce and go the win.

Now Unc looking good to start the game. Go ACC.