Pitt notebook: Rain or cold, Pat Narduzzi exposes his team to the elements

Tuesday morning was cold and rainy, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi didn’t care.

Pitt practiced outside, rather than work in the indoor facility.

“Beautiful day out there,” he said after Pitt’s eighth practice of the spring. “You don’t often get that nice, cold rain. Kind of went (outside) on purpose.”

Narduzzi said he was “disappointed” Saturday morning to hear some players remark about the cold when he conducted a scrimmage at Acrisure Stadium.

“It was really cold out, the wind chill was pretty good, maybe in the teens,” he said, “and I wasn’t happy just with ‘Oh, we have to go outside’ kind of attitude.”

But he noted, “The guys had a great attitude (Tuesday).”

The only nod toward the weather, Narduzzi said, was quarterback Eli Holstein holding the football in his shirt.

“He looked like he was pregnant. He’s trying to protect his ball,” Narduzzi said.

Narduzzi’s observations

• The coach noted that defense won the scrimmage because the offense turned the ball over too often.

“If offense doesn’t turn the ball over, you probably win the scrimmage,” he said. “With the turnovers the offense did have, at the end it wasn’t like a blowout. The offense moved the ball at times. A lot of good plays on both sides of the ball.

• Narduzzi said QB1 Nate Yarnell was “solid.”

But he noted that he’d like to see all his quarterbacks “take what they’re giving you defensively. It’s not like we’re looking for deep posts every time.”

• Freshman quarterback Julian Dugger “did some nice things.”

“He’s just a baby. If (learning the new offense) is a lot for Nate and Christian (Veilleux) and Eli, it’s a boatload for the rest of the guys.”

• Middle linebacker Brandon George had “one of his best scrimmages.”

“He gives you little flashes of SirVocea Dennis at the mike linebacker.”

• He also singled out for general praise offensive tackle Branson Taylor, defensive ends Nate Matlack and Dayon Hayes, safety Jesse Anderson’s pick 6 and wide receivers Konata Mumpfield, Kenny Johnson and Raphael Williams.

• What about the running backs? “No one I could say was great but not bad.”

• Narduzzi said kicker Ben Sauls was “unbelievable. Ben was on fire.” Punter Caleb Junko was “a heckuva lot better than he was against Duke (in the 2023 finale).”

Get some sleep

Narduzzi said offensive coordinator Kade Bell has been working around the clock.

“He’s a gym rat when it comes to recruiting,” the coach said. “He loves to recruit. He’s on Twitter a lot. He’s sending me stuff all night long. If we’re recruiting a quarterback, he’s going to watch everything that guy did. Not just a short highlight.”

Sometimes, it’s too much. When he gets those late-night videos, Narduzzi said he wants to say, “I’m going to bed. Put that phone down.”