Unwanted after high school, Pitt defensive end Chris Maloney awarded scholarship
Gracious thank-yous kept pouring from Chris Maloney’s lips after an emotional team meeting Thursday morning. On the last day of training camp, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi awarded Maloney a scholarship after three seasons as a walk-on defensive end. That ended the need to write tuition checks and triggered a barrage...
Pitt notebook: Pat Narduzzi believes NCAA limit on padded practices won’t hinder Panthers’ physicalityVideo
The look from Pat Narduzzi said it all Wednesday morning. He turned his head and looked askance at the reporter who asked about his team’s physicality. It was as if Narduzzi wanted to say, “How dare you?” “We’re going to be physical, no doubt about it,” he did say, finally....
After his mother’s death, Pitt wide receiver Tre Tipton says, ‘Now, she sees everything’Video
Kim Tipton loved nothing more than watching her son, Tre, play football. She went to all the games, but Kim lived in Vandergrift. Meanwhile, Tre was at Pitt for the past six years, earning a bachelor’s degree in communications, working on a master’s in social work, playing wide receiver going...
Day after scrimmage, Pat Narduzzi surprises Pitt players with trip to KennywoodVideo
Years ago, Bill Cowher liked to tease his Pittsburgh Steelers players, make them think it was just another day at training camp, gather them around him in the morning on the fields of Saint Vincent College and announce everyone was going to the movies. Of course, the buses parked in...
ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 ‘competitors’ bond to form ‘groundbreaking alliance’
The joint news release from the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 said the three power conferences will “remain competitors.” Nonetheless, their three commissioners Tuesday announced what the ACC’s Jim Phillips described as a “groundbreaking alliance” that will allow all 41 schools from the three leagues to work together while dealing...
Pitt basketball’s nonconference schedule include trips to West Virginia, Madison Square Garden
Pitt basketball’s nonconference schedule will keep the Panthers tucked inside Petersen Events Center for seven consecutive games (nine overall), with trips to Morgantown to play West Virginia and Madison Square Garden for a date with St. John’s adding a bit of spice to the preseason. “Our nonconference schedule is really...
ACC volleyball coaches pick Pitt to win conference
The Pitt women’s volleyball team was picked to win the 2021 ACC championship, finishing first for the fourth consecutive year in the conference’s Preseason Coaches Poll, released Friday. When the ACC poll was released in 2013, Pitt was picked 13th, but its reputation grew steadily with ninth-, seventh-, fifth- and...
Pitt Take 5: Pat Narduzzi speaks of War Daddys, running backs and freshmen
The phrase pre-dates Pat Narduzzi’s coaching career by about three decades, but you can bet the Pitt coach knows a War Daddy when he sees one. War Daddy? It doesn’t take much research to discover that the phrase first was used by coach Harold “War Daddy” White at Perkinston Junior...
Pitt linebacker John Petrishen shows signs of growth
More than six years have passed since John Petrishen last roamed the halls of Central Catholic. So what was the deal Thursday with this 25-year-old man apologizing to anyone at the school who might be offended by his appearance? “I wouldn’t be allowed in there today,” Petrishen said. Do you...
ACC rules teams must forfeit if they can’t play a game because of covid-19 complications
The ACC is getting tough on its schools that can’t field a team because of covid-related absences among players. The league announced Thursday that teams unable to play a game because of an excessive number of covid-19 absences will be forced to forfeit. The forfeiting team will be given a...
Armed with 3.7 GPA, Ryan Jacoby transfers to Pitt, petitions NCAA for immediate eligibility
If Ryan Jacoby, an offensive lineman who transferred from Ohio State to Pitt, is rewarded with an NCAA waiver and is eligible to play this season, Pat Narduzzi believes there’s plenty of time for him to learn the playbook. How is he so sure? Jacoby is coming to Pitt with...
Sophomore Matt Goncalves shoots for spot on Pitt’s offensive lineVideo
There was a rumor making the rounds at Pitt practice Wednesday that sophomore offensive tackle Matt Goncalves averaged 10 blocks per game. Of course, that was in another life when he was a four-year letterman in basketball at Eastport-South Manor High School in Manorville, N.Y. At 6-foot-6, 320 pounds, why...
Pitt men’s soccer picked to win ACC championship in preseason coaches poll
After a historic run to the College Cup only three months ago, the Pitt men’s soccer team is grabbing more attention at the outset of the 2021 season, picked in a poll of ACC coaches as the preseason favorite to win the conference championship. Pitt (16-4, 9-1 ACC last season)...
Pitt notebook: Pat Narduzzi seeks improvement in run gameVideo
Before practice Tuesday morning, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said he was hoping to see improvement from his running game. He didn’t like some of what developed in the scrimmage last Saturday. “Our offense threw the ball really well,” he said. “Still want our run game to get better.” He said...
After working out with Antonio Brown, Marquis Williams hopes to join M.J. Devonshire in lifting Pitt secondaryVideo
Perhaps the names Marquis Williams and M.J. Devonshire aren’t tattooed onto the consciousness of most college football fans. In case you’re wondering, they are Pitt cornerbacks who, by all accounts, have practiced well through the first 10 days of training camp. That’s only practice, however, and there are 15 of...
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...
