Pitt notebook: Panthers put on full pads for 1st time; Pat Narduzzi unveils new slogan for 2025

Outside of UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, a few feet from the practice fields where Pitt is conducting its fall camp, a mystery acronym “EGK” has been painted on the sidewalk.

On Tuesday, coach Pat Narduzzi educated local media as to its meaning.

“Everybody’s gonna know,” Narduzzi said. “The players came up with that. Everyone’s gonna know what this 2025 product’s about.”

Don’t be surprised to start seeing “EGK” on social media moving forward, as Narduzzi himself is a proponent of popularizing the phrase, chosen by Pitt’s student-athlete leadership council.

For the Panthers, choosing such an underdog-coded slogan may have been partially rooted in hearing the middling expectations of their team from the outside.

After all, the media-selected ACC preseason poll had Pitt finishing ninth in the league this fall.

Last year’s ninth-place squad, Boston College, went 7-6, edging Pitt (which had the same record) by winning one more league game.

To whatever extent Pitt is interested in proving outside observers wrong, those efforts can’t begin for another 25 days, when the Panthers host Duquesne on Aug. 30 to kick off their campaign.

However, the process of reaching game readiness for their impending showdown vs. the Dukes turned a corner Tuesday as the Panthers donned full pads in camp for the first time.

“Pads are on today,” Narduzzi said. “I think there’s a little bit more excitement today. They can attack a little bit. … There’s competition at every spot. Looking forward to seeing our guys get 3% better every day. Improvement in camp is important.”

OL developments

The offensive line is a position group featuring some of the most notable competition in camp.

Pitt returned three starters from last year’s team in center Lyndon Cooper, right guard BJ Williams and Ryan Baer, who moved between left and right tackle last season.

Via the transfer portal, the Panthers added Jeff Persi, a tackle from Michigan; Keith Gouveia, who started primarily at left guard with Richmond; and Kendall Stanley, a right guard who played at UNC Charlotte.

So far, all three transfers have been seeing reps with the first-team offense.

Notable cross-training is taking place with Gouveia, who’s splitting time at guard and center, as well as Stanley, who this spring began working as a guard for the first time in his career.

“I think I’m very athletic,” Stanley said. “I can play real fast, and I think I’m versatile. I’m learning how to play guard; that’s one of my big strengths. I’ve never played it before, always played tackle, but it’s been good. I didn’t think I could do it, but (offensive line) coach (Jeremy) Darveau has really put that confidence in me. I know I can play anything.”

Wherever he’s playing, Gouveia takes the same approach.

“Being physical, doing my job, being as consistent as I can be every single play as a unit, as a group, being able to protect the quarterback, being able to get positive run plays and just dominating the line of scrimmage have been the most important things,” he said.

Upon joining the Panthers in late January, Persi immediately became the tallest player in Darveau’s room, standing at 6-foot-8 (Baer is next at 6-7).

As a five-year player with the Wolverines, Persi had his fair share of safer opportunities to explore other than Pitt, where a starting gig is not guaranteed.

However, Persi didn’t want to shy away from competition and chose the Panthers less than two weeks after entering his name in the portal.

Everything Persi has seen since arriving in Oakland makes him believe he made the right decision.

“I think we just have a ton of talented guys and a very talented offensive line room,” Persi said. “It’s good to have competition. We all push each other every day and are able to learn from each other, bounce things off each other, and I think we just have a really good group. It’s good to have an overflow of talent because when the season does come, we’ll be ready and deep.”

Punt return personnel

On top of his duties in the offensive backfield, tailback Desmond Reid handled Pitt’s punt returns last season and looked good, averaging more than 12 yards on 13 returns and taking one 78 yards to score versus Kent State.

Narduzzi, downplaying any added risks to Reid’s health, indicated the plan is for him to continue returning punts for Pitt this fall.

However, receivers Kenny Johnson, Poppi Williams and Blue Hicks have been taking reps there during camp.

“We got at least four capable guys that can get us help in the return game,” Narduzzi said. “It’s the game of football. Des is tough, and he’ll be able to handle that regardless of what workload we give him at tailback.”

Reid seems to thoroughly enjoy returning punts.

“I’m going to still be back there on punt return, making sure I can help,” Reid said. “I’m excited to be back there.”