Pat Narduzzi's day packed tight, even in the spring

Clocks on the South Side barely crossed midday Thursday when Pat Narduzzi walked off the practice field, muttering, “Long day.”

Pitt had just completed its 12th of 15 spring practice sessions, and now it was time for Pitt’s ninth-year head coach to speak to several inquiring media members. (No injury questions, please.)

Upon completion of that task, which — truth be told — Narduzzi doesn’t mind at all, his day wasn’t over. Far from it. Director of player personnel Graham Wilbert waited patiently nearby, eager to grab Narduzzi and have him meet some of the many visiting high school prospects who were watching practice while in the process of choosing an institution of higher learning (and football).

The second half of Narduzzi’s day promised to be just as busy as the first.

How does he balance coaching his team, watching practice video every day and keeping up with recruiting?

“The balance is messing me up,” he said, in jest. “That’s probably why I said it’s a long day.”

This is a different time for Pitt football. The program is coming off its first two-year total of 20 victories since 1982, and interest among recruits has ramped up proportionally.

“I think it gains traction in-state and out of state as well,” Narduzzi said. “Nationally, people start to go, ‘Whoa, look what they’re doing.’ There’s no question that’s a factor.

“First couple years (at Pitt), I had a couple recruits and talked to them after practice and (I could) get in and watch tape with the offense and defense. (On Thursday), Graham is bugging the heck out of me. That’s why he’s hovering around, making sure he’s got me. He’s keeping me working, which means I don’t get to watch as much tape with the offense or defense. I have to do it on my own afterwards.”

At this time of year, recruiting success stories and overall rankings must be viewed with the knowledge that kids can change their minds before the first signing period, eight months from now.

That said, Pitt’s 10-man class is ranked No. 8 in the nation and No. 2 in the ACC to Florida State, according to Rivals.com. Only Georgia, LSU, Michigan and Pitt have double-digit recruiting classes at the moment.

The sideline was teeming with prospects Thursday. “We’ve probably had more offered players here this spring than I’ve seen since I got here (in 2015),” Narduzzi said. “We surpassed everything as far as numbers go.

“Is it 20 wins in two seasons? Is it Pro Day (when 14 former Pitt players worked out for pro scouts last week)? The draft (where 19 Pitt products have been chosen since 2016)?

“I don’t know what it is, but I keep telling our coaches, ‘Great job getting them on campus,’ ” Narduzzi said. “Because if we can get them here unofficially, we have a heckuva lot better chance of getting them to commit someday.

“We have guys from Florida, Texas, all over the place, Illinois (Thursday).”

And Narduzzi said it was a good day to showcase his program.

“Three live periods, physical,” he said. “Recruits (said), ‘Coach, that was cranked up.’ ”

Pitt will conclude spring drills next week with three sessions, including the Blue-Gold game April 15 at Acrisure Stadium.

Through it all, Narduzzi will hold his breath and say some prayers, hoping to keep everyone healthy for summer camp in August and the opener Sept. 2. One way to reduce the injury risk, he said, is to schedule at least one fewer intrasquad practice and replace it with a scrimmage/game against another team.

Auburn coach Huge Freeze has suggested in-state matchups between FBS and FCS schools.

“I would love to do that,” Narduzzi said. “I said that a couple years ago.”

When Pitt held an intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday at Acrisure, there were 130 plays, each one featuring 22 teammates going at each other.

“You’re risking an injury every time you go out there, 130 times 22,” he said.

But having 11 guys competing against players from another school cuts the injury risk for each team in half.

Narduzzi said former Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins used to organize 7-on-7 summer practices with Grand Valley State.

“The quarterbacks got together,” he said, emphasizing that coaches are not permitted to organize practices over the summer.

Narduzzi said he doesn’t have time to poll his coaching colleagues to see if there’s further support for FBS/FCS games in the spring. But UAB coach Trent Dilfer likes the idea, a lot.

“Pretty, pretty, pretty please,” Dilfer told al.com. “(Freeze) is right. We all want, whether you’re Auburn or Alabama, you’re looking for live competition. You’re looking not to play yourself. If you’re UAB or Troy, you’re looking to play people perceived much better than you and you can use it as a test to see where your program is at.”

Narduzzi does see one problem, however.

“Imagine if we played Duquesne, and they had a great wideout,” he said.

Narduzzi suggested Duquesne coaches wouldn’t want Pitt to see one of their best players in this era of easy transfers.

For the moment, Freeze’s idea is only a proposal. For now, Narduzzi just wants his players to rest over Easter weekend. No practices are scheduled until Tuesday, but he said other schools will practice Saturday.

“Enjoy the holiday. Life’s too short.”