Pitt notebook: Pat Narduzzi unhappy with NCAA limits on fully padded practices

Preparing to block and tackle is a bit trickier this summer, with a new NCAA rule that allows teams to practice in full pads only nine times in the preseason.

“Which I’m not really excited and happy about,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “Kids are looking at us like we’re crazy going out there with helmets and shoulder pads and not having thigh boards.”

The NCAA passed the rule in the interest of player safety, and Narduzzi has no problem with that. But it’s a dramatic change from the past.

“You’re not allowed to have any more than two pad days in a row,” Narduzzi said. “Back in the day, we used to have doubles. We’d go pads in the morning, pads in the afternoon. Things are different.

“You have to learn how to tackle and learn how to break a tackle in nine days, otherwise you don’t get it.”

Even when players are just in shells or working in thud (unpadded) periods, it’s not uncommon for someone to fall down and catch a knee in the thigh. Meanwhile, the new rule puts a premium on every padded practice. The first will be Thursday at Heinz Field.

“It’s OK for the O-Line, maybe the D-line,” Narduzzi said. “It’s really tough on the tackling part. That’s going to be the key. Who’s does the best job of coaching in the thud periods?”

Narduzzi said the NCAA made a good decision when it allowed teams to wear spider (shoulder) pads while doing slow work in shorts.

“Every camp (previously),” Narduzzi said, “we get two or three guys who get nicked up in the shoulder because someone got a helmet on the shoulder and they have absolutely no protection. The NCAA did a great job of letting us have that, but something else got messed up.”

ACC Network analyst Eric Mac Lain, who was visiting practice as part of the network’s “Road Trip” series, said he might have liked softer practices when he was an offensive lineman at Clemson.

“I would love to do these limited practices,” he said.

But he admitted, “If you have a young team or an inexperienced team, it could hurt you early — just not having that physicality and learning how to play at the collegiate level. It’s a big difference between high school and college.”

But he also approves.

“I love it. Safety for the players. Wear and tear, you’re (reducing) it. If you practice smart, and you learn how to practice, those extra (lost) padded days, they won’t hurt you too much.”

Some predictions

Mac Lain said he expects North Carolina, Miami and Pitt to be the chief contenders for the ACC Coastal championship, but he also is leaving room for a dark horse or two.

“It starts with North Carolina and then Miami and then Pittsburgh,” he said. “I think those three have a really good shot of playing in Charlotte (in the ACC Championship game).

“But, then, of course, a Virginia could come out of nowhere. Virginia Tech could come out of nowhere.

“It’s fun for me (as an analyst) because it’s always exciting and there is not a team that has necessarily had a grip on that side of the conference.

“Of course, consistency would be nice.”

From 2013-19, each of the seven Coastal teams have won the division. Four lost in the championship game to Florida State (once) and Clemson (three times) by a combined score of 187-37. The other three — Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech — lost to Clemson by a total margin of 17 points.

Clemson won its sixth consecutive title in 2020, 34-10, beating Notre Dame in the Irish’s one and only season in the ACC. Divisional play was suspended for just that season.

Mac Lain also believes quarterback Kenny Pickett will have a long career in the NFL.

“I certainly think he has all the tools to be the guy in the NFL, to either be a quality backup or a starter for 10-plus years,” he said.

The ACC Network ran Pitt’s portion of the “Road Trip” series twice Tuesday night, but it will re-run 11 times through August.