Panthers observations: With 120 players breaking a good sweat, Pitt opens summer training camp

Under bright sunshine and with 120 young men sweating, bouncing off each other and chasing fumbles across the Beano Cook Fields, Pitt opened training camp Wednesday morning on the South Side.

If that number sounds high, that’s because there are more players on the roster this season. Coach Pat Narduzzi, who wore his traditional straw hat, likes to offer as many opportunities as possible, and this season’s roster has about 30 hopeful walk-ons.

First day of Pitt training camp on the Beano Cook fields. pic.twitter.com/iiFifcQOfb

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) July 31, 2024

The coach, who is starting his 10th season at Pitt, walked swiftly from one group to another, shouting encouragement and admonishments as the particular situation demanded.

Even without the railroad cars rumbling by on the adjacent tracks, the atmosphere was noisy.

It’s a season of change for the Panthers, but one aspect that remained the same was the well-populated quarterback group. There were six of them who wore red jerseys as a reminder to the defense that they are protected from any variation of contact.

There are four quarterbacks on scholarship — QB1 Nate Yarnell, followed by (probably in this order) Eli Holstein, Ty Dieffenbach and Penn Hills graduate Julian Dugger. Walk-ons Jake Frantl and David Lynch return.

How long will it be before fans start calling for Holstein, a transfer from Alabama — just because he came from Alabama? Everyone loves the backup quarterback, just like everyone loved Yarnell when he backed up Kedon Slovis, Nick Patti, Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux during the previous two seasons.

Fans can save their breath and tweets for now. It’s Yarnell’s huddle and the situation will remain the same for as long as Pitt is scoring points. A change before the first game Aug. 31 would be a shocking development and a bad sign for the coming season.

Remember: Narduzzi stuck with Jurkovec last season for five games, and Pitt lost four of them. Expect Yarnell to benefit from a leash at least that long, unless things turn dramatically sour.

Four years after the dreaded covid season, there still are nine super seniors on the roster, defined as players given an extra year of eligibility because of the disruptions in 2020. They are running back Daniel Carter, defensive ends Bam Brima and Nate Temple, linebackers Brandon George and Keye Thompson (transfer from Ohio), defensive back Josh McCarty, guards Ryan Jacoby and Jason Collier Jr. and defensive tackle Anthony Johnson.

Meanwhile, it was good to see retired assistant coach and football administrator Bob Junko watching practice. Junko’s grandson is junior punter Caleb Junko, but that’s not the only reason he was in attendance. The man lives for football, especially football practice.

Junko has been at somebody’s summer training camp every August since the 1960s when he was a player at Trinity High School in Washington County.

Yes, some things never change, and that’s the good news.