'Ghost' Neal helps Pitt defensive line assume cloak of change

There is a short list of people in Isaiah Neal’s circle of friends, teammates, family members and coaches who have license to call him by his given name.

The list begins and ends with Tina Neal, his mom, and Pat Narduzzi, his coach.

To everyone else, he’s “Ghost.”

If Neal hears:

• “Isaiah, why haven’t you called your mother lately?”

• Or, “Isaiah, why didn’t you beat that center’s block?”

He knows it means trouble. Or, at least, a stern warning.

“I pretty much get ‘Ghost’ from everybody but my mom,” he said. “If I have a bad day in practice, coach Narduzzi might call me Isaiah, just to lock in. If I hear that, I know I’m in trouble.”

Assuming Neal called his mom Saturday after the scrimmage, he wasn’t subject to any admonishments. Narduzzi pointed out Tuesday that the 19-year-old redshirt freshman defensive tackle performed well.

Narduzzi called Neal “a twitchy dude,” coach-speak for a defender who is quick off the ball.

Neal (6-foot-2, 270 pounds) is in the midst of a dramatic transformation of Pitt’s defensive tackle position from bigger, older players over the past few years to smaller, quicker, less experienced guys such as Neal, Nahki Johnson (6-2, 280), Sean FitzSimmons (6-3, 285), Francis Brewu (6-1, 280), Elliot Donald (6-3, 275) and Jahsear Whittington (6-0, 275). Johnson and Donald are the old men of the group as redshirt juniors who have yet to make a start.

“It’s a very competitive position, a really treacherous position we play in there in the trenches,” Neal said. “I have guys in my position that can really do it. I know every day I have to bring it. If not, I’ll be forgotten.”

Neal is hard to forget or ignore. He was as thoughtful with his answers to reporters’ questions Tuesday as he is quick while trying to shed blocks in practice. He said he sees a big difference in the position group this season.

Asked about last season’s leaders, he said, “It starts with the little things.”

“If coach Stacc (strength coach Michael Stacchiotti) is describing something to us, there might be a little too much chatter,” he said. “You might look back and see a senior talking. That’s the sort of thing we can’t have.

“Attention to detail like people lining up on the line and behind the line. It sounds so small, but it’s a game of inches. Little things like that really matter. They add up. I just feel like, as a leadership group last year, we weren’t focused enough on the little things and we kind of just expected it to be another winning Narduzzi season. Instead of having to go attack it every day.

“As compared to last year, the energy’s definitely different. I love it. I feel like it’s more upbeat, more positive, a lot more laughing, but not to the point where we’re not focusing on our work. I feel as though everybody’s locked in to the point where we can have those little moments where we bounce a joke off each other. Because we love each other at the end of the day.”

Neal calls himself “a juice guy,” and he’s not talking about what he has for breakfast.

“Sometimes, I’ll come out, and I’m yelling. I might sound a little belligerent,” he said, “but that’s just me getting myself and my teammates going.”

After graduating early from St. Frances (Md.) Academy and enrolling in January 2023, Neal said he faced a humbling experience. In high school, he was an Under Armour All-American and team captain who collected 29 tackles for a loss as a senior. In college, he’s among several others of similar size and skill.

“How can I — when I step into the position — be a better leader than maybe what we had last year?” he said. “In all honesty, it starts with leadership. I’m trying to show I can do it at a high level over and over and over and over. I pride myself on not being a loaf guy.”

He’s also not a quiet guy, but he said he’s grateful to defensive line coach Tim Daoust for toning him down a few decibels.

“I got too excited at times,” he said. “He kind of got me a little more able to control my emotions and lead the right way and not be a little loud and doing it the wrong way.”

These days, he gets up in front of the entire team and recites inspirational quotes and what they mean to him, a product of the gregarious nature he gets from his mom.

“As crazy as it sounds, you might hear my mom before you see her,” he said. “I love her to death. That’s just how she is. She’s loud. She’s joking. It rubbed off on me.

“It’s just me and my mom. I picked up a lot of her traits and a lot of her ways. I’m proud that I can get up here and talk to you all (reporters). I can get up here and talk to my whole team with coaches.”

He believes his personality helps him become a better player.

“I’m in there and playing a position where you have to be a little off, you have to be a little outgoing,” he said. “You have to be a little different to be in there in the trenches.”

After a nearly 15-minute chat with reporters, the only untouched subject was his nickname. Why “Ghost?”

“I was a light-skin kid, and I was playing on a team full of darker kids,” he said. “It looked like I had a white sheet over me, like a ghost.”

That’s the truth, but he said he has a “cooler answer.”

“I’ll be telling people because I’m quick. You all can write whichever one you want.”