Pat Narduzzi, Neal Brown maintain secrecy over Pitt, WVU quarterback questions

Neal Brown is 14 years younger than Pat Narduzzi, and he has only half as much experience (four seasons) as a head coach in the Power 5.

But keeping a secret is something common to both the West Virginia and Pitt coaches. Other than they played college football at New England schools: UMass (Brown) and Rhode Island (Narduzzi).

Although both coaches dug into the NCAA transfer portal this offseason to find quarterbacks J.T. Daniels (WVU) and Kedon Slovis (Pitt), neither Brown nor Narduzzi is ready to reveal if they will be the starters Sept. 1 in the opener at Acrisure Stadium.

“I’m not going to announce anything (Monday),” Brown told reporters. “I’m not trying to be coy about that. We’ll announce a starter before the game. It’s not about that. We’re just not to that point yet.”

Said Narduzzi: “Getting closer every day.”

Among those observers outside the programs, Daniels and Slovis are the favorites to start the season. But Brown spent considerable time Monday talking about Daniels and three others who have been taking snaps this summer.

He said freshman Nicco Marchiol has participated in “game-like reps” against WVU’s first-team defense, a rare occurrence for a first-year quarterback. “And he’s got a bunch.”

“I really like his progression from the spring through fall camp,” Brown said.

Sophomore Garrett Greene and redshirt freshman Will Crowder were backups to Jarret Doege last year.

“He’s matured,” Brown said of Greene. “He’s got to continue to work on his decision-making, but from an arm talent standpoint and the throws he can make, he’s really flashed. And he’s gotten faster. He’s run some of the fastest times we’ve had on the GPS.”

Brown said Crowder “has been really steady. He knows what to do and throws a very catchable ball.”

But it’s Daniels who got the WVU fan base excited when he transferred from Georgia this summer after starting his career at USC (with Slovis as his backup).

“J.T. is experienced and very mature,” Brown said. “We’ve talked about his intelligence. I think his timing has improved as he’s gone along. He’s really only had these last 14 or 15 practices to get his timing down, and you can see that improvement.”

Daniels was a five-star recruit from Irvine, Calif., who started 11 games at quarterback for USC in 2018, only the second first-year USC freshman to start at quarterback. Matt Barkley (2009) was the other.

Daniels suffered a season-ending injury in the 2019 opener, allowing Slovis to graduate to starter and throw for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns. In his first game as a freshman quarterback, Slovis threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-20 victory against then-No. 23 Stanford.

Daniels transferred to Georgia before the 2020 season and ended up starting seven games — the Bulldogs won them all — before moving again to West Virginia.

At West Virginia, Daniels is reunited with Mountaineers offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, who tutored both quarterbacks in the Air Raid offense as the Trojans OC.

One more connection of note:

Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates tried to recruit Harrell to Louisiana Tech in 2005, but he ended up at Texas Tech where he became an All-American quarterback. After finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2008, Harrell was with the Green Bay Packers when they defeated the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.

“I know Graham,” Bates said. “I recruited him out of high school (Ennis in Texas). I know he’s a fantastic coach. His dad was a fantastic coach. I know he’ll have them ready to go.”

The game will not be easy for either team. Pitt has opened with only one Power 5 team in Narduzzi’s seven previous seasons (a loss to Virginia). Brown is 2-1 in openers, defeating Eastern Kentucky and James Madison and losing to Maryland.

“It makes it more difficult,” Brown said of opening against another Power 5 school. “When you open up against a really good opponent and you factor in the fact that it’s a rivalry game, too … there’s going to be a lot of emotion into it. It’s going to be a really big moment.

“You’re never going to mimic the atmosphere. What you try to do is create as much pressure as you possibly can (in practice). Are they ready for the moment? Are they not?

“The NFL, they have the chance to iron out the kinks (in the preseason). College, you’re rolling out there and you’re playing against yourself. If you’re doing well on one side, you don’t know if you’re good or the other side’s bad. You don’t really know until you get into the first quarter or so of action.”