'Hard-headed' Pitt assistant Jacob Bronowski reveals painful way of motivating his players

Jacob Bronowski did everything he could to win the game as head coach of the Blue team during the Blue-Gold spring game Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.

Maybe even a little too much.

Two days before the Gold defeated the Blue, 17-10, Pitt’s first-year special teams coordinator/tight ends coach came up with two unique ways of attempting to motivate his players.

First, he quoted the Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu, who said thousands of years ago, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

“Three-fourths of our guys didn’t knew who that was,” Bronowski said.

Then, he spotted a trash can in the corner of the meeting room.

“I picked it up and started smashing it against my head,” he said, unashamed to bare his soul to reporters. “I might have punted it. To me, it shows you can have a heckuva lot of fun when you work. You can whistle when you work, no matter what.

“If that means banging a trash can on your head, which my wife probably doesn’t approve of, if that’s what that means to get these guys excited, then so be it.”

Quarterback Nate Yarnell, who said he has heard of Sun Tzu, liked the energy and fearlessness shown by Bronowski.

“Just pure fire,” he said. “It was electric. It was awesome.”

Clearly, Bronowski loves his job to the point that he isn’t afraid to put his health at risk.

“I love being in that building, and the passion just pours out,” he said.

Yeah, Jacob, but what about your head?

No problem, he said. “I’m hard-headed.”