Linebacker Phil Campbell III says Pitt keeping egos in check

Back in Kendall Park, N.J., Phil Campbell III compiled a long list of honors that demand too much time and space to chronicle here.

MSG New Jersey Player of the Year was just one. Campbell rushed for 848 yards and 14 touchdowns and recorded 110 tackles during his senior season at South Brunswick High School.

There are plenty more accolades to mention, but Pitt’s senior outside linebacker doesn’t have the inclination to think about that this week. Pitt’s scout team is running so many plays in practice — seven seconds between snaps, he said — that getting ready for Tennessee’s up-tempo offense Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn., eats up most of his time.

All athletes have egos, and Campbell probably deserves to display his now that he’s a super senior and a three-season starter at Pitt, but he has learned to set it aside.

“It’s one of the hardest things we can do as a football player,” he said. “You have to have an ego. You have to have a personality. You have to have some juice to you.

“But to be a successful team, to win, you have to put that to the side and know your role within the team.”

Every group of seniors believes it has found the key to success. Pitt’s large and learned group is no exception.

“I think we’re a tighter unit,” Campbell said. “This year, there are no egos. Everybody knows their role, from starters to the last guy in the rotation. This year, we’re all buying in.”

The game against the Volunteers will be Pitt’s first against an SEC opponent in nine years, and it will be the toughest test by far among its 2021 nonconference foes.

“This game is huge for us,” said Campbell, who had one of Pitt’s five sacks in the victory last Saturday against UMass. “Every game is huge, but I’ve never played an SEC team. I’m really excited to represent the whole ACC.”

Although Pitt hasn’t played Tennessee since 1983, there’s lots of familiarity between the teams. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel led Central Florida against the Panthers in 2018 and ’19, winning one and losing one.

The advantages cancel each other out; both coaching staffs know plenty about their opponent. Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates is merely looking forward to the challenge of stopping most of the 80 or 90 plays the Volunteers will run.

Tennessee ran 94 in its season-opening 38-6 victory against Bowling Green. UMass ran only 54 against Pitt, leading coach Pat Narduzzi to tell his players they are getting ready to play two games in one afternoon.

“It’s challenging every time we’ve played (UCF),” said Bates, whose units allowed a total of 79 points in the two games. “It’s been a challenge, and I look forward to this one being just as challenging.”

A large part of the challenge is getting multiple players, some of them inexperienced, ready to play. The fast pace will demand Pitt substitute regularly.

Campbell, a sixth-year senior, said his experience against Heupel’s offense will help younger players get prepared.

“They see a younger version of me playing in it and ask me questions,” Campbell said. “It’s always good to have young guys interested. You know they are going to have to get ready to play.

“(Tuesday) at practice, we worked the heck out of it. We were running all over.”

Bates and his position coaches will spend most of the week discussing Tennessee’s high-octane offense with their players.

“You really don’t know how fast it really is until you are in the game,” Bates said. “The young guys can’t visualize what they’re getting into. We do our best to explain it, and they have to go out and live it.”

Pitt played well on defense against UMass, but coaches found some mistakes that a better team might exploit.

“They say you improve 3% or more after your first game, and I expect more than that,” Bates said. “We’re going to need it. They’re a good team.”