Column: Why would the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 form an alliance?
The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Pac-12 are exploring ways to counter the Oklahoma-Texas expansion and curtail the Southeastern Conference’s growing power in college football. The commissioners of the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have discussed how creating an alliance between leagues that span the country could provide both...
Pitt adds Ohio State transfer Ryan Jacoby to its offensive line
After 10 days of training camp, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi took another player from the NCAA transfer portal Sunday when he received a verbal commitment from former Ohio State offensive lineman Ryan Jacoby. Jacoby (6-foot-4, 305 pounds) will initially add depth to Pitt’s offensive line while veteran tackles Carter Warren,...
Take five: Offensive line coming together during Pitt’s first week of training camp
College football training camps are like those among NFL teams in these aspects: Players sweat, muscles twist, bones might break and players occasionally look for the nearest spot to grab a nap. But they are different from the NFL because there are no games against enemy competition to break the...
Stats aside, Pitt linebacker SirVocea Dennis approaches 2021 with unfinished businessVideo
SirVocea Dennis sounded offended when he was asked who among the Pitt defensive players has the best throwing arm. “I say myself,” he said. “I can sling it, definitely. I love slinging it, too. I got a rocket.” Dennis, a junior outside linebacker, was a high school quarterback at Christian...
Talk about who is Pitt’s ‘toughest player’ must include the defensive tackles
Before the armada of eight buses moved 123 Pitt football players from the South Side to Heinz Field on Thursday, Pat Narduzzi led a team meeting. While the coach was laying out the day’s instructions, someone asked, “Who’s the toughest player on the team?” “Someone said David Green,” Narduzzi said,...
Trip to Heinz Field offers Pitt chance at redemption after ‘OK’ practice day beforeVideo
Pat Narduzzi admitted that Wednesday’s practice didn’t reach the standards he sets for his football team. He called it “an OK practice, wasn’t one of my favorites.” “Just a little sloppy. We have to get our guys going. That’s the coaches’ job and the players’ job to lock in and...
Pitt hopes depth at defensive end counteracts losing Rashad Weaver, Patrick JonesVideo
In the quest to replace All-American defensive ends Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones II, Pitt has unleashed an interesting mix of players. • Start with Deslin Alexandre, already past his 23rd birthday after coming all the way from Pompano Beach, Fla., to earn a degree in communications, enter graduate school...
Pitt notebook: Pat Narduzzi unhappy with NCAA limits on fully padded practicesVideo
Preparing to block and tackle is a bit trickier this summer, with a new NCAA rule that allows teams to practice in full pads only nine times in the preseason. “Which I’m not really excited and happy about,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “Kids are looking at us like we’re...
Pitt running back Izzy Abanikanda finally ‘buying in’Video
Andre Powell has been coaching running backs about a decade longer than any of his Pitt players have been alive. He can teach the proper method to follow blocks, encourage them to break tackles and stress the importance of protecting the quarterback. But some players come equipped with certain skills...
Ex-Pine-Richland football coach Eric Kasperowicz joins Pitt staff as volunteer assistant
Eric Kasperowicz said he talked to “a bunch” of coaches at the high school and small college levels about resuming his coaching career. Finally, he received an offer that, he said, “I couldn’t pass up.” Kasperowicz, who coached Pine-Richland to four WPIAL championships and two PIAA titles in eight seasons...
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett meets with campers at Boys and Girls ClubVideo
Kenny Pickett wanted to know everyone’s name. When Pitt’s quarterback visited the Boys and Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania in Lawrenceville on Monday, he handed out T-shirts, emblazoned with his KP8 logo, but he didn’t hide behind the shirts. He asked every camper their name and even played catch with...
Pitt senior Cal Adomitis’ job is a snap, but not as easy as it looksVideo
On good days, Cal Adomitis’ job takes him less than three-quarters of a second to complete. Bet you can’t blink that fast. Of course, the Pitt senior completes it multiple times in most games — usually on target, which is good because his position demands perfection. Adomitis, 23, is approaching...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates knows how to push players’ buttonsVideo
The difference in stature between the two men was stunning, although it shouldn’t have been. Pitt defensive end Habukkuk Baldonado stands 6-foot-5, weighs 260 pounds and uses his strength to bring other tough guys to the ground. Randy Bates, Baldonado’s boss and Pitt’s defensive coordinator, is four decades older —...
‘Smallest kid growing up,’ Kenny Pickett grows into trigger for Pitt’s offenseVideo
Kasey Pickett played soccer at Kutztown. Daughter Alex did the same at East Stroudsburg. Naturally, Kasey’s son, Kenny, drifted toward the sport, too. “Tried soccer,” he said. “Didn’t work out too well. I was a little too physical for soccer. We hung that up pretty early.” Pickett was running over...
Steelers, Pitt greats receive Pro Football Hall of Fame gold jackets in Canton
Five former members of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a former Pitt great will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend in Canton, Ohio. Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell are in the Class of 2020, and Alan Faneca and Bill Nunn are...
Pitt notebook: No more boxing for cornerback Damarri Mathis
Pitt senior cornerback Damarri Mathis vows never to box again — even as a conditioning exercise — after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last year while working out at home. “No one ever heard that story?” coach Pat Narduzzi said during his post-practice news conference. “So, you know how kids...
Pitt’s Jordan Addison tells proud mom, ‘I ain’t got it yet’
When Jordan Addison went home to Frederick, Md., in the offseason, he carried with him reminders of a memorable freshman season at Pitt. With 60 catches for 666 yards, four touchdowns and the longest play of Pitt’s season (75 yards), few failed to notice. He was a Freshman All-American, honorable...
Steelers sign former Woodland Hills, Pitt CB Lafayette Pitts
The Pittsburgh Steelers stayed local in filling one of their free roster spots, signing former Pitt and Woodland Hills standout Lafayette Pitts on Friday. A cornerback, Pitts is joining his fifth NFL team since going undrafted in 2016. He has appeared in 26 NFL regular-season games, playing 123 defensive snaps...
Pat Narduzzi opens Pitt camp under hot morning sun
If Pat Narduzzi is wearing a straw hat, it can mean only this: It’s sunny, it’s hot and it’s time for Pitt to open training camp at the Beano Cook fields next to the South Side railroad tracks. The Pitt coach opened his seventh training camp at 10 Friday morning,...
Pitt lands 4-star offensive tackle Ryan Baer
While Pat Narduzzi was welcoming his team into Pitt’s football facility Thursday for the first official day of training camp, he stepped away to accept an important phone call. HAIL TO PITT BABY?? @rledits24 pic.twitter.com/HsPVGs3ElF— Ryan Baer (@RyanBaer2003) August 5, 2021 It came from four-star offensive tackle Ryan Baer of...
Pitt’s defensive players can learn from those who came before them
A thorough assessment of Pitt’s defense needs to start at the locker of defensive end Deslin Alexandre and includes the safe assumption that he was paying attention over the previous four seasons. Alexandre graduated early from Deerfield Beach (Fla.) High School to join the Panthers in the winter of 2017....
Pitt men’s soccer ranked No. 3 in preseason poll
The defending ACC Coastal Division champion Pitt men’s soccer team will enter the 2021 season ranked No. 3 in the nation, according to the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. Pitt received one first-place vote from the coaches association. Defending national champion Marshall (22 first-place votes) and Indiana are ranked Nos....
How Jimbo Covert ended up at Pitt on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
When Jimbo Covert was a senior at Freedom High School in 1977, he attracted interest from some of the finest college football programs in the land, Pitt and Penn State among them. The truth: The future Pro Football Hall of Famer never seriously considered going anywhere but Pitt. Penn State?...
First Call: Hall of Fame still hopeful Steelers’ Troy Polamalu will attend; Tyler Boyd says Joe Burrow’s knee still ‘iffy’
In Thursday’s “First Call,” we try to figure out if Pittsburgh Steelers legend Troy Polamalu will be able to attend his own enshrinement at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tyler Boyd isn’t 100% sold on Joe Burrow’s knee rehab in Cincinnati just yet. We check in on some former...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi seeks, expects improvement on offense
If you want to start an argument with Pat Narduzzi (OK, maybe just a polite disagreement), question Pitt’s offensive line and how it performed in 2020. He is a bit sensitive to criticism of the unit that might be more important to Pitt’s hopes for an ACC Coastal championship than...
