'Smallest kid growing up,' Kenny Pickett grows into trigger for Pitt's offense

Kasey Pickett played soccer at Kutztown. Daughter Alex did the same at East Stroudsburg.

Naturally, Kasey’s son, Kenny, drifted toward the sport, too.

“Tried soccer,” he said. “Didn’t work out too well. I was a little too physical for soccer. We hung that up pretty early.”

Pickett was running over too many players on the soccer pitch, probably the first clue to where his athletic ability would lead him. After all, father, Ken, was a Hall of Fame linebacker at Shippensburg.

Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett played football, basketball and baseball at Ocean Township High School in Oakhurst, N.J., and was good at all three.

While today he stands on a 6-foot-3, 220-pound athletic frame, Pickett said, “I was the smallest kid growing up. I had a growth spurt late. You can ask anyone back home I’ve played with. I was always the shooter, wasn’t too much of a dunker. But, now I can throw some down.”

Nice, Kenny, but there’s just one problem: “I don’t think coach (Pat) Narduzzi wants me dunking,” he said.

The last news Narduzzi wants to hear is how his quarterback, who used to enjoy pickup basketball, banged his throwing hand against a rim.

No worries there, however. He gave up pitching in high school when he started working out for college coaches.

“You’d work out for schools in the spring and you can’t go pitch a game after a workout,” he said. “I just stayed in left field.”

But those were only diversions for Pickett, now 23 and the most experienced quarterback in the ACC (39 games, 36 starts).

Most experienced QB in the ACC...

Pitt's Kenny Pickett stopped by the set at #ACCKickoff on @ACCNetwork ?#H2P » @KennyPickett10 pic.twitter.com/fa6QCVTLGh

— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) July 22, 2021

He gave up basketball in eighth grade and baseball after his junior year to enroll early at Pitt in January 2017. Good thing, too. Pickett played at the end of that season, only five months after earning a high school diploma, famously leading Pitt’s upset of No. 2 Miami.

Football was, is and — he hopes — will be his sport well into the future.

“I love the sport I play,” he said. “I love the position. I’m obsessed with it, dedicated to it.”

Which brings him to the 2021 season at Pitt, one that appeared destined to happen without him after he finished his senior season last December.

Without the covid-19 pandemic, someone else would be Pitt’s quarterback this season. Because of the disruptions in 2020, the NCAA awarded everyone an extra year of eligibility. After much deliberation with family, Narduzzi and NFL contacts, Pickett decided to return to Pitt and push the remainder of his chips into the upcoming season.

That pleased offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.

“Kenny coming back was big,” he said. “When he played last year, we were better than average (6-3, actually). We were all right. I expect to take another step.”

“This is it,” Pickett said. “I treat every workout like that. Every practice I know this is my last time. That’s why I came back to have a lot of success this year with this team.

All the chips are in the middle (of the table). Everyone else around the facility feels the same way, too. We have the opportunity to have a really good year.”

That’s putting a lot of pressure and intensity on 12 dates in the fall, but Pickett shrugs it off.

“There’s pressure every year. It’s college football at the highest level. It’s nothing new,” he said. “For guys who’ve played for a long time, just speaking for myself, you become a lot more comfortable with (the pressure). It’s kind of the way your life is.”

Pitt appears to be better equipped in its passing game than at any time in Narduzzi’s seven seasons as coach.

There are seven wide receivers who have pass-catching experience at this level: Jordan Addison, Shocky Jacques-Louis, Jared Wayne, Tre Tipton, Taysir Mack, Jaylon Barden and Hawaii transfer Melquise Stovall.

Potentially, it’s the deepest group to play for Narduzzi. In Pitt’s previous six seasons, the third-leading wide receiver on the team never caught more than 26 passes (an average of about two or fewer per game).

“I love having that and knowing I have some weapons out there I can spread the ball to,” he said. “Previous years, it’s kind of been concentrated on one or two guys.

“When I run out there, I know all four guys have the option to get it,” Pickett said. (Five, if Whipple follows through on his plan to occasionally put five wide receivers on the field.)

Plus, tight end Lucas Krull is healthy after missing most of 2020 with an injury.

“I have not been used to playing with a tight end of his caliber,” Pickett said. “He’s kind of like a go-to guy. When I see him on the field, I keep tabs on him because if I get in trouble, I know I have Lucas with a mismatch on linebackers or safeties. He’s a guy who’s going to be used a lot in this offense, for sure.”

The matchup that will be grab the attention of every defensive coach on Pitt’s schedule is Pickett/Addison.

“Jordan’s a young guy (sophomore),” Pickett said, “but a guy I’ve spent hours and hours of throwing sessions to. I know exactly where he’s going to be and he’s exactly where I need him to be.”

While triggering Pitt’s offense, Pickett will climb a few Pitt statistical charts.

With 8,552 total yards, he needs 40 to pass Tino Sunseri for second place behind Alex Van Pelt (11,148). He’s also one of only 10 Pitt quarterback to throw for 400 yards in a game and the only one to do it twice (411 vs. N.C. State and 404 vs. Virginia Tech, last year).

Off the field, Pickett is among dozens of college athletes who have taken advantage of relaxed name, image and likeness rules. But he’s paying forward by treating his offensive linemen to a meal once a week at an Oakland restaurant.

“That tells me, it’s not about Kenny,” former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said.

Also, he’ll be at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania on Butler Street in Lawrenceville on Monday, meeting with the kids and giving away 200 T-shirts. Later, he’ll sell the T-shirts with proceeds going to the club, said his NIL representative Tim Younger.

“I grew up playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club,” Pickett said. “That’s why I want to get with that organization and give back a little bit.”

Pickett also will make weekly appearances on Panther-Lair.com and 93.7 FM and will join four teammates at the Helmetfit College Football Kickoff Classic Golf Outing on Aug. 28 at 3 Lakes Golf Course in Penn Hills. Plus, he has filed for a trademark and has partnered with Ithen USA (a clothing company), PGT Trucking Inc. and Bowser Automotive.

Pitt QB ⁦@kennypickett10⁩ has filed for this trademark for his logo. He wears No. 8. Filing by ⁦@DarrenHeitner⁩. pic.twitter.com/q1ZGawjn7f

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 20, 2021

“You take it in stride,” he said of his sudden celebrity. “I really don’t focus too much on it. I’ve had praise. I’ve had criticism, and I kind of treat it all the same. It’s outside noise from outside sources. I just care about opinions from my family, my friends. Everyone keeps me pretty grounded.”

Riding in power and style this season! I want to thank Bowser Automotive for partnering with me! Awesome ride, awesome people. Fantastic service! Best dealership in Pittsburgh led by a proud alum! #powerofbowser pic.twitter.com/c6QYo7uMa7

— Kenny Pickett (@kennypickett10) August 4, 2021