Pitt Take 5: Panthers reminded daily to put aside 2023, prove it was 'a 1-year deal'

The words stare at Pitt’s players from the sidewalk every day when they leave their locker room for the practice fields.

“PROVE IT.”

What does it mean?

“We got a lot to prove,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “Every unit’s got something to prove, and, obviously, this team has something to prove. When you have a season like we had last year (3-9), you kind of start all over. I have to prove to all you guys (reporters) that we’re for real. (Last year) was a one-year deal.”

Pitt players and coaches have adopted two other battle cries, “Lock The Gates” and “We Not Me”

Narduzzi said “Lock The Gates” came from former Miami (Ohio) coach Randy Walker, who gave Narduzzi his first job in 1990 as a graduate assistant.

“Locking the gates was cool,” Pitt’s coach said. “I thought that’s what you do. You go to your stadium. That opponent comes in and as soon as they go through that door, you lock them in. You don’t want them to get scared and run out.”

Here are some more anecdotes from the first full week of camp:

1. Don’t cross the coach

In the process of praising transfer defensive end Chief Borders, Narduzzi took a shot at an unidentified player who left the program in the offseason.

“Chief Borders has one of the best motors I have seen,” he said of the former Nebraska and Florida player. “If you put on a Nebraska tape, you’re going to see a motor. We lost a guy with maybe a low motor, and we got a guy with a great motor.”

He didn’t name the player with “a low motor.” Perhaps it’s a defensive end. Whomever it is, Narduzzi clearly treasures loyalty and has no use for those who don’t stick it out with his program.

Borders (6-foot-4, 245 pounds) played in 12 games at Nebraska last season, recording nine tackles, an assisted TFL and a pass breakup. Borders and Nate Matlack (6-5, 250), a transfer defensive end from Kansas State, are making good impressions with coaches.

“Both those guys could stand up and play linebacker for a lot of people,” Narduzzi said, “but they fit into our speed on the edge, which is what we need. I watch those two guys drop off in coverage. They look like naturals.”

In the context of moving players between linebacker and end and end to tackle, Narduzzi was critical of his and his staff’s failure to move Nahki Johnson to tackle before the final weeks of the 2023 season.

“I feel like we wasted time with Nahki. We could have moved him earlier,” he said. “I thought it was a bad decision on my part. Open your eyes. Figure it out.

“I feel like we didn’t figure that out fast enough. I wish I would have got there fast enough to get that done. It could have helped us a little more last year, which would have been a bigger help this year. You have to believe what you see.”

2. Cornerback questions

A logical argument can be made that the most crucial and, possibly, most difficult decisions coaches must make exist at cornerback. The decisions are too important for Narduzzi and his staff to get wrong.

Narduzzi insists on putting his cornerbacks one-on-one with wide receivers because he doesn’t want to ignore the other coverage areas, especially in regards to run defense. An added benefit for players capable of handling the pressure is it best prepares them for the NFL.

“Those are high-pressure situations for even the receivers, too,” fifth-year senior cornerback Rashad Battle said. “We embrace the pressure. That’s what we want.”

Battle broke up a pass in the flat Monday, tipping the football and misdirecting it up in the air where linebacker Kyle Louis secured a diving interception.

“I didn’t even know (Louis) made an interception. I just made a play on the ball,” Battle said.

There were some observers who believed Battle got away with pass interference, but officials working practice did not throw a flag.

“I believe it was a clean play,” he said.

Battle, 22, has the look of a cornerback at 6-3, 200 pounds, but he missed all but three games the past two seasons with injuries.

3. Go fast, but be balanced

After more than a week of practice, fifth-year senior tight end Jake Overman, a transfer from Oregon State, is trying to nail down a backup job behind Gavin Bartholomew.

He likes the offense’s fast pace, noting that the intention is to do more than fill the air with footballs. He said offensive coordinator Kade Bell wants “to push the vertical game, but they also want to come back and run the ball down the defense’s throat.”

“We are being asked to do a lot, but we love that. We’re handing it really well. Tight ends, we pride ourselves on being able to do more things, whether it’s in the pass game or the run game.”

When he was asked how many seconds elapse between the end of one play and the start of the next, he laughed: “I black out half the time. It’s really fast. That’s all I know.”

4. Safety first?

The safety position is one to watch because it might be the strongest grouping on the team, with returning players Donovan McMillon, Javon McIntyre and P.J. O’Brien and future starters Cruce Brookins and Jesse Anderson.

Brookins went to Steel Valley where he said he learned “toughness.”

“We’re trying to build a new culture, just bring that toughness Pitt always had.” he said. “If I make a big hit, after the game, I feel good.”

5. Extra-special teams?

Sophomore linebacker Rasheem Biles tied the Pitt season record for blocked kicks (three punts) last season, joining Vernon Lewis (1990), Greg Romeus and Andrew Taglianetti (both in 2008).

Blocking kicks seems to come natural for Biles, who said he blocked “four or five” field goals at Pickerington Central (Ohio) High School and returned two for touchdowns.

“Be a shark,” he said. “That’s what I call myself. I just hunt and make a play. It’s just natural.”