A little bit of rain overnight sent Pitt indoors Tuesday for the second practice of training camp 2015. Once again, the players were sporting just shorts, shirts and helmets; that will change on Wednesday, when the team puts on shoulder pads for the first time and a little hitting commences.
The coaches are still looking for maximum energy, though, as they work to clean up or, as Pat Narduzzisaid, break the habits the players developed over the summer.
The coaches can't really coach the players during the summer, so the players conduct their own workouts - walk-throughs, really - over June and July. That's all well and good, but the reality is that those workouts are not necessarily being run the way the coaches would have them run.
So when training camp starts, the first step is to break everything down and start building again.
"What you're really trying to do on that first day is break the habits of what they did all summer," Narduzzi said after the first practice on Monday. "They came out (in the summer) and they were the coaches; we all know how that goes. So they were out there probably two hours a week running their own drills and running their own offenses and defenses and probably doing it that way and not our way. That's why they call us 'Coach.' So really, the first few days you're trying to get them back to what you want them doing - the little things right."
Now, that's not to say the summer workouts were a bad thing. They give the upperclassmen an opportunity to lead the younger players and set a tone for the team. The coaches will work to set a tone, but there has to be a players' element, too, and the summer workouts go a long way in creating that.
As offensive line coach John Peterson said, the older players have a responsibility.
"Anytime you have a few guys that have played in games and they're so-called 'veterans,' they have a responsibility to pass their knowledge and help the younger guys learn and understand what it takes to play at this level."
So all of that is important, but Narduzzi's point still stands: despite a productive spring camp, the coaches approach training camp as a period of rebuilding. That began on Monday and continued Tuesday.
One of Narduzzi's biggest points of emphasis - as a coach - is fundamentals, and that's particularly crucial on defense, where the "simplification" of the scheme has been highly-touted. A "simpler" scheme - which is to say, less complex and more adaptable from a base formation - places an even higher emphasis on fundamentals, and so the coaches have taken a similar approach.
Of course, all football coaches emphasize fundamentals; Pitt's not an exception in that regard. And the first two days of camp have reflected that emphasis.
Impressive frosh
Tuesday's practice got started with a freshmen bag drill; basically the freshmen ran two-by-two through a series of bag shuffles and skips in something of a race. The first matchup was Jordan Whitehead and Tre Tipton.
As Whitehead and Tipton worked through side-shuffles, Whitehead pulled ahead by at least two bags, which is pretty impressive since Tipton is no slouch as an athlete. I mentioned yesterday that Whitehead looks the part - he looks like he has been in the strength and conditioning program for a year, at least - and his athleticism continues to really stand out. I think everyone is looking forward to seeing him in pads.
At the same time, sophomore Pat Amara made his first on-field appearance Tuesday, and that adds another body to the strong safety battle. The coaches told Whitehead they wanted him to play safety because he might have a better shot at getting on the field, but it's now a three-way competition with him, Amara and Jevonte Pitts.
Amara has experience, having played in 10 games and starting two last season. Pitts had a good spring and took advantage of the coaching staff's "clean slate" approach. And Whitehead is the highly-touted freshman with all-world potential. There's no obvious option from that trio.
DT options
Maybe it's because Rashad Wheeler committed Monday night, but I had defensive tackles on the brain Tuesday morning, and there are some interesting option for the coaches to consider.
Tyrique Jarrett was the most improved defensive player of spring camp, and he has continued to garner praise since then. At the same time, Khaynin Mosley-Smith and Darryl Render are returning starters, so they've got something working in their favor, too.
It's not out of the realm of possibility - in fact, it might be likely - that all three rotate. And that doesn't just mean Jarrett subbing for Mosley-Smith next to Render; the coaches seem to feel like there is enough versatility in the trio that Jarrett and Mosley-Smith could line up next to each other, in addition to the Mosley-Smith/Render and Jarrett/Render pairings.
And then there are Mark Scarpinato and Justin Moody and Jeremiah Taleni. Scarpinato has nice size and experience with the defense, while Moody and Taleni showed the new staff some flashes this spring.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Pitt can roll three-deep at defensive tackle, but they're not far off from that point, especially if the bottom two are Taleni and Moody or Scarpinato.
Suspension practice
The coaches aren't ignoring Tyler Boyd and Rori Blair, who are suspended for Pitt's season opener against Youngstown State on Sept. 5. They know both players have to be ready for the rest of the season, so they are getting plenty of practice reps.
But Boyd and Blair also aren't getting the first-team work they ordinarily would. They get some reps, but not nearly as many as they would have under different circumstances. Shakir Soto and Ejuan Price got the first-team reps at defensive end during early-practice walk-throughs on Tuesday, and while Boyd took some first-team reps during an offensive formation drill later in practice, he was replaced on the first team's second set of reps by Zach Challingsworth.
Challingsworth was listed as Boyd's backup on the pre-camp depth chart, so it stands to reason that he entered training camp as the receiver who would step in for Boyd. The competition will remain open, naturally, but I could see Challingsworth holding onto that job through the opener. He has always done a lot of things right; maybe Boyd's suspension will give him the opportunity he needs to show what he can do in a game.
Two-deeps
The coaches have largely gone with the same depth chart for the first two days of camp, which is to be expected. It would take something significant for someone to win or lose a job during pad-less practices. For the open positions, Alex Bookser continues to work at right tackle ahead of Brian O'Neill and Pitts took first-team reps at strong safety ahead of Amara Tuesday.
At linebacker, Matt Galambos was flanked by Bam Bradley and Nicholas Grigsby. Quintin Wirginiswas on the second team at middle linebacker and Mike Caprara and Jameel Poteat were on the outside. Depth at outside linebacker hasn't been talked about much, but that's another spot Pitt needs to develop over the next three weeks.
It looks like Ryan Lewis and Phillipie Motley are getting the first shot to back up Lafayette Pitts andAvonte Maddox at cornerback, although given the paucity of depth at that position, there's not a lot of competition for the reserve jobs.
Rachid Ibrahim is worth watching as well. He is one of the most underrated/overlooked players on the team, and while Chris James probably has more natural talent and Qadree Ollison (who is limited while he recovers from surgery on his pinky finger) is bigger, Ibrahim has been pretty solid in his career at Pitt.
Actually, "pretty solid" doesn't do it justice. Ibrahim has averaged 6.7 yards per carry on 60 career rushing attempts, and his 20 career receptions have averaged gains of 8.1 yards. James Conner is going to have an increased role on third down - which was previously Ibrahim's primary occupation - but Ibrahim could figure in more with the first and second-down offenses than he did in the past.
Media Day
Tuesday is Media Day for the Pitt football team. Narduzzi will speak at 1:30 pm and players will be available about an hour later. I've got plenty of things I want to write about over the next three weeks, but while we've got access to the players - and the whole team will be available - I'll put it out there for you:
Do you have anything you want to ask the players? Put it in this thread and I'll see if I can get some answers (within reason, of course).
The coaches are still looking for maximum energy, though, as they work to clean up or, as Pat Narduzzisaid, break the habits the players developed over the summer.
The coaches can't really coach the players during the summer, so the players conduct their own workouts - walk-throughs, really - over June and July. That's all well and good, but the reality is that those workouts are not necessarily being run the way the coaches would have them run.
So when training camp starts, the first step is to break everything down and start building again.
"What you're really trying to do on that first day is break the habits of what they did all summer," Narduzzi said after the first practice on Monday. "They came out (in the summer) and they were the coaches; we all know how that goes. So they were out there probably two hours a week running their own drills and running their own offenses and defenses and probably doing it that way and not our way. That's why they call us 'Coach.' So really, the first few days you're trying to get them back to what you want them doing - the little things right."
Now, that's not to say the summer workouts were a bad thing. They give the upperclassmen an opportunity to lead the younger players and set a tone for the team. The coaches will work to set a tone, but there has to be a players' element, too, and the summer workouts go a long way in creating that.
As offensive line coach John Peterson said, the older players have a responsibility.
"Anytime you have a few guys that have played in games and they're so-called 'veterans,' they have a responsibility to pass their knowledge and help the younger guys learn and understand what it takes to play at this level."
So all of that is important, but Narduzzi's point still stands: despite a productive spring camp, the coaches approach training camp as a period of rebuilding. That began on Monday and continued Tuesday.
One of Narduzzi's biggest points of emphasis - as a coach - is fundamentals, and that's particularly crucial on defense, where the "simplification" of the scheme has been highly-touted. A "simpler" scheme - which is to say, less complex and more adaptable from a base formation - places an even higher emphasis on fundamentals, and so the coaches have taken a similar approach.
Of course, all football coaches emphasize fundamentals; Pitt's not an exception in that regard. And the first two days of camp have reflected that emphasis.
Impressive frosh
Tuesday's practice got started with a freshmen bag drill; basically the freshmen ran two-by-two through a series of bag shuffles and skips in something of a race. The first matchup was Jordan Whitehead and Tre Tipton.
As Whitehead and Tipton worked through side-shuffles, Whitehead pulled ahead by at least two bags, which is pretty impressive since Tipton is no slouch as an athlete. I mentioned yesterday that Whitehead looks the part - he looks like he has been in the strength and conditioning program for a year, at least - and his athleticism continues to really stand out. I think everyone is looking forward to seeing him in pads.
At the same time, sophomore Pat Amara made his first on-field appearance Tuesday, and that adds another body to the strong safety battle. The coaches told Whitehead they wanted him to play safety because he might have a better shot at getting on the field, but it's now a three-way competition with him, Amara and Jevonte Pitts.
Amara has experience, having played in 10 games and starting two last season. Pitts had a good spring and took advantage of the coaching staff's "clean slate" approach. And Whitehead is the highly-touted freshman with all-world potential. There's no obvious option from that trio.
DT options
Maybe it's because Rashad Wheeler committed Monday night, but I had defensive tackles on the brain Tuesday morning, and there are some interesting option for the coaches to consider.
Tyrique Jarrett was the most improved defensive player of spring camp, and he has continued to garner praise since then. At the same time, Khaynin Mosley-Smith and Darryl Render are returning starters, so they've got something working in their favor, too.
It's not out of the realm of possibility - in fact, it might be likely - that all three rotate. And that doesn't just mean Jarrett subbing for Mosley-Smith next to Render; the coaches seem to feel like there is enough versatility in the trio that Jarrett and Mosley-Smith could line up next to each other, in addition to the Mosley-Smith/Render and Jarrett/Render pairings.
And then there are Mark Scarpinato and Justin Moody and Jeremiah Taleni. Scarpinato has nice size and experience with the defense, while Moody and Taleni showed the new staff some flashes this spring.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Pitt can roll three-deep at defensive tackle, but they're not far off from that point, especially if the bottom two are Taleni and Moody or Scarpinato.
Suspension practice
The coaches aren't ignoring Tyler Boyd and Rori Blair, who are suspended for Pitt's season opener against Youngstown State on Sept. 5. They know both players have to be ready for the rest of the season, so they are getting plenty of practice reps.
But Boyd and Blair also aren't getting the first-team work they ordinarily would. They get some reps, but not nearly as many as they would have under different circumstances. Shakir Soto and Ejuan Price got the first-team reps at defensive end during early-practice walk-throughs on Tuesday, and while Boyd took some first-team reps during an offensive formation drill later in practice, he was replaced on the first team's second set of reps by Zach Challingsworth.
Challingsworth was listed as Boyd's backup on the pre-camp depth chart, so it stands to reason that he entered training camp as the receiver who would step in for Boyd. The competition will remain open, naturally, but I could see Challingsworth holding onto that job through the opener. He has always done a lot of things right; maybe Boyd's suspension will give him the opportunity he needs to show what he can do in a game.
Two-deeps
The coaches have largely gone with the same depth chart for the first two days of camp, which is to be expected. It would take something significant for someone to win or lose a job during pad-less practices. For the open positions, Alex Bookser continues to work at right tackle ahead of Brian O'Neill and Pitts took first-team reps at strong safety ahead of Amara Tuesday.
At linebacker, Matt Galambos was flanked by Bam Bradley and Nicholas Grigsby. Quintin Wirginiswas on the second team at middle linebacker and Mike Caprara and Jameel Poteat were on the outside. Depth at outside linebacker hasn't been talked about much, but that's another spot Pitt needs to develop over the next three weeks.
It looks like Ryan Lewis and Phillipie Motley are getting the first shot to back up Lafayette Pitts andAvonte Maddox at cornerback, although given the paucity of depth at that position, there's not a lot of competition for the reserve jobs.
Rachid Ibrahim is worth watching as well. He is one of the most underrated/overlooked players on the team, and while Chris James probably has more natural talent and Qadree Ollison (who is limited while he recovers from surgery on his pinky finger) is bigger, Ibrahim has been pretty solid in his career at Pitt.
Actually, "pretty solid" doesn't do it justice. Ibrahim has averaged 6.7 yards per carry on 60 career rushing attempts, and his 20 career receptions have averaged gains of 8.1 yards. James Conner is going to have an increased role on third down - which was previously Ibrahim's primary occupation - but Ibrahim could figure in more with the first and second-down offenses than he did in the past.
Media Day
Tuesday is Media Day for the Pitt football team. Narduzzi will speak at 1:30 pm and players will be available about an hour later. I've got plenty of things I want to write about over the next three weeks, but while we've got access to the players - and the whole team will be available - I'll put it out there for you:
Do you have anything you want to ask the players? Put it in this thread and I'll see if I can get some answers (within reason, of course).
