Small details in Pitt's passing game could help the big picture

When wide receivers Aaron Mathews and Taysir Mack enrolled at Pitt, they figured they would be expected to catch the football when it’s within reach, run crisp routes and block.

They never figured on Chris Beatty throwing another mandate into the mix. When the daily meeting in Beatty’s office is over, Pitt’s first-year wide receivers coach demands everyone push in their chair.

What if you forget? Mathews and Mack are smart enough that they have no desire to test their coach and find out.

“That’s the first thing we’re going to hear in the meeting the next day,” said Mathews, a senior from Clairton.

“Your name is going to be right on the board,” said Mack, who will enter his junior year after leading Pitt in receiving yards (557) last season.

Keeping the meeting room tidy might sound trivial when compared to giving Pitt’s offense what it lacked in 2018: an effective passing game. But the little details matter to Beatty.

“That’s the first step to anything you want to try to do,” he said. “You have to do all the little things right, and the big things clear themselves up.

“Every little detail we try to cover. That’s from the top of the routes, making a block, to tucking in our chairs, to having our notebook nice and neat. It’s all the little things to me that matter.”

No one argues with Beatty because everyone has looked at his resume that includes coaching five players who have cashed NFL paychecks, including first-round draft picks D.J. Moore, one of the league’s top rookie receivers last year for the Carolina Panthers, and former West Virginia standout Tavon Austin.

“My resume helps them feel like, ‘Hey, maybe we have a chance to move in a positive direction,’ ” Beatty said.

There is a perception among Pitt’s players this spring that the passing game will, at least, become a more functional part of the offense. That’s the least that can be expected after Pitt threw for a total of only 275 yards in the last three gamesof 2018.

“This is practice nine (of spring ball),” Mathews said, “and I feel like I have more touches than I had the past three years.”

Added sophomore Shocky Jacques-Louis: “There’s a lot of passing going on and I love it.”

Mack said the discipline Beatty demands in meetings carries over to the field.

“It really changed our outlook on the game,” he said. “He made us become students of the game. We understand the plays more as we get to know what the defense is doing, what the quarterback is thinking on certain plays. We understand how much time we have on routes, certain leverage we have to have.

“He is a big details guy. It starts from us pushing in our chairs in the (meeting) room. He’s on top of everything. The style he coaches makes us better as a group.”

But it’s not just Beatty. New offensive coordinator Mark Whipple also made a positive impression on his players.

“Oh, man, coach Whipple, he has a brilliant mind,” Mack said. “He walks around all day thinking about different ways to get us open, different mismatches. He cares about the guys. He cares about winning. He cares about getting the ball to talent.”

When Mathews heard Whipple, the former head coach at UMass, was hired to run the offense, he said looked up the Minutemen’s stats last season. When he saw UMass’ Andy Isabella led the nation in receiving yards per game (141.5) and total receiving yards (1,698), he was sold.

“Right away, I was excited.”

Jacques-Louis didn’t do as much research.

“I just heard he was Ben Roethlisberger’s coach (with the Pittsburgh Steelers) and I said, ‘That’s sounds like something good.’ ”

When Pitt scrimmaged last Saturday at Heinz Field, the defense was declared the winner by coach Pat Narduzzi, but he said the offense was having “a great day” until it committed two turnovers near the end.

The positive plays included a long reception by Jacques-Louis.

“I got the opportunity, and I made it happen,” said Jacques-Louis, who said he is 10 pound heavier at 185 this season. “Corner route, safety played too far inside, so I just broke out on him. Speed kills.”

If he can find a way for his players to make those plays against ACC opponents, Beatty will have done more than teach good classroom etiquette.

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