Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates knows how to push players' buttons

The difference in stature between the two men was stunning, although it shouldn’t have been.

Pitt defensive end Habukkuk Baldonado stands 6-foot-5, weighs 260 pounds and uses his strength to bring other tough guys to the ground.

Randy Bates, Baldonado’s boss and Pitt’s defensive coordinator, is four decades older — with no notable experience as a player — and he almost had his nose broken recently when a safety ran him over in a walk-through.

Yet, guess who gets the upper hand every day of the week?

Right.

While meeting with reporters Friday after the first day of Pitt’s summer camp, Bates called Baldonado to his side to show why — as a 61-year-old cancer survivor — he loves coaching today as much as he did in 1982 at Muskingum University.

“I can yell and scream at this son of gun,” he said. “And you know what he can do about it? Not a damn thing,” Bates said, laughing.

“You know what the best part is? Every year, I get young guys like this who keep me feeling young.”

Bates enters his fourth season leading Pitt’s defense, making him the Panthers’ longest-tenured defensive coordinator since Paul Rhoads (2000-2007). He brings special enthusiasm to the group, especially important this season after Pitt lost three linemen and three defensive backs to the NFL.

As a way of motivating his players, Bates likes to do push-ups and sit-ups at practice.

“I don’t know if it gets them pumped,” he said. “It gets the old man going.

“They give me crap because I can’t do 50 sit-ups. When they challenge me, I do ‘em. At some point, somebody will talk crap, the young guys especially.”

But Bates knows his limits.

“We won’t run a 40,” he said. “I know better than that.”

Seniors Damarri Mathis and Cam Bright realize what Bates endured during his cancer treatments in 2019 is worse than any problem players might face on the field.

“C’mon, how are you going to have a bad day?” said Mathis, who returns from injury as a 22-year-old cornerback. He said Bates showed him “anything is possible.”

”You just have to put your mind to it. That’s what we take as our mentality.”

Bright, a 22-year-old linebacker, said Bates motivates him.

“It shows me, at that age, he can still keep going,” he said. “It takes a lot of pride and a lot of determination from him.”

Mathis and Bright are part of an interesting mix of young and old on the Pitt defense. The top six linebackers have made a total of 48 starts, but five players competing at safety have only seven. Mathis has 12, but he didn’t play last year because of a shoulder injury.

The defensive line and secondary represent why summer camp is critically important for Pitt. Coaches must find enough reps for players who comprise a team believed to have more depth than at any time in, at least, 10 years. Meanwhile, they must get younger players ready to fill difficult positions.

“We have to get reps to see who fits where,” Bates said, noting there’s a trick to developing a starting lineup.

“The most important thing about defense is not having the best 11 talented guys out there. It’s the best 11 guys that is a team. We have to figure what group is the best, not who jumped the highest, who ran the fastest. That doesn’t win football games. “

“The beautiful thing about college football and, really, football in general, it’s the only 11-man game. It takes 11 guys to win games.”

Bates said his unit has youth, but also “young exuberance.“

“We had an older, experienced group last year, probably a little more business-like,” he said. “This group is more a younger, excitable, immature group at this point. I will enjoy watching them mature as players as we go.

“We have the most experienced inexperienced team, probably, in the ACC because we have guys we’ve played a lot, but not a lot of guys who played a lot. They have all played, but not to the point where you would say they are all veterans.”

One such player is sophomore strong safety Brandon Hill, who started two games last year after Paris Ford opted out, returning an interception 50 yards for a touchdown against Florida State.

“Daggone (almost) broke my nose. In a walk-through,” Bates said. “That’s how fast he plays.”

Junior Erick Hallett replaces Damar Hamlin at free safety, but he also can play nickel or corner. He started only four games last year, but he had two interceptions, two tackles for loss and four pass breakups.

“He’s a mature, smart football player,” Bates said. “He makes plays. He’s going to be a hard guy to beat out.”