EXCERPT:
For the third year in a row, Pittsburgh will open spring practice with a new offensive coordinator, but Matt Canada -- who comes over from NC State -- is familiar with the Panthers and ready to keep the momentum of last year’s eight-win campaign going. We caught up with Canada to talk about his plans for the Pitt offense......................3 More Questions at the Link..........
..............Q. What’s your approach for James Conner’s availability in the fall? And what has his presence meant for the team these last few months as you get set for spring?
A. We’re planning to have him. You talk about a great story and a great role model for all of us. There’s a lot of us who wake up and this is hard or this is tough. In the offseason, we have our offseason workouts, and there are always the guys who do better than others in those. But if you have a day when you’re not thinking you should be going full speed, you look at James out there, and what he’s doing. He could not be doing anything and no one would say a word. He’s in the middle of treatment. He could say, "I’ll see you on the first day of camp," and we’d all say, "Great." We’re just thankful he’s back. But for him to be working the way he is, it’s just a great lesson in life. Football’s not even part of it. The way he’s attacking it, the attitude he has, his desire to get better -- he’s studying film on his own time. It’s very, very impressive. That’s why he’s a great player and a good guy, and for the guys on our team -- really for anybody -- here’s a guy that doesn’t do anything but all he can do. It’s a really exciting thing for me to even be around him.
LINK:
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/91290/matt-canada-feels-comfortable-in-new-home-at-pitt
For the third year in a row, Pittsburgh will open spring practice with a new offensive coordinator, but Matt Canada -- who comes over from NC State -- is familiar with the Panthers and ready to keep the momentum of last year’s eight-win campaign going. We caught up with Canada to talk about his plans for the Pitt offense......................3 More Questions at the Link..........
..............Q. What’s your approach for James Conner’s availability in the fall? And what has his presence meant for the team these last few months as you get set for spring?
A. We’re planning to have him. You talk about a great story and a great role model for all of us. There’s a lot of us who wake up and this is hard or this is tough. In the offseason, we have our offseason workouts, and there are always the guys who do better than others in those. But if you have a day when you’re not thinking you should be going full speed, you look at James out there, and what he’s doing. He could not be doing anything and no one would say a word. He’s in the middle of treatment. He could say, "I’ll see you on the first day of camp," and we’d all say, "Great." We’re just thankful he’s back. But for him to be working the way he is, it’s just a great lesson in life. Football’s not even part of it. The way he’s attacking it, the attitude he has, his desire to get better -- he’s studying film on his own time. It’s very, very impressive. That’s why he’s a great player and a good guy, and for the guys on our team -- really for anybody -- here’s a guy that doesn’t do anything but all he can do. It’s a really exciting thing for me to even be around him.
LINK:
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/91290/matt-canada-feels-comfortable-in-new-home-at-pitt
