Uncertain about the future, Pitt finds haven in 'our little paradise'

Training camp moments often test a team’s will and define its personality.

Perhaps a long completion that shows the passing game is finally in sync. A perfectly executed inside run that springs the back for a significant gain.

One August afternoon seven years ago at Pitt’s practice facility, it was James Conner, a largely unknown freshman running back, doggedly chasing safety Jason Hendricks nearly the length of the field after an interception. Conner landed awkwardly on his shoulder, suffering a minor injury, but that never-give-up attitude turned into Pitt’s first winning season in three years.

Sometimes, those signature moments emerge off the field and have nothing to do with blocking and tackling, which is what happened recently, according to senior defensive end Rashad Weaver.

“Just the other day, we were just sitting out there after practice, chilling,” Weaver said Monday on a conference call with reporters. “And (senior safety) Damar (Hamlin) walks up to me (and says), ‘I don’t even want to go inside. You don’t have to think about anything while you’re out here.’ ”

The practice fields have become a haven for Pitt players trying to deal with covid-19 concerns and the uncertainty that hovers over the upcoming season.

Will it happen? Will it get canceled? Will all these practices be for nothing?

“We’re practicing, just trying to have fun and hit and learn the plays and get better,” Weaver said.

Already, the season has been truncated by two games and may not start until Sept. 19 — nearly five weeks from now — if Pitt can’t find a suitable nonconference opponent to replace Miami (Ohio).

All-ACC defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman has opted out this season, and coach Pat Narduzzi can’t say for sure Twyman will be the only one.

“I have no idea. I really don’t,” he said. “I don’t have (a potential opt-out candidate) on my watch right now, on the clock. I hope not.”

But there are realities to consider in the midst of a pandemic, Narduzzi said.

“We have to protect our kids. If a kid doesn’t want to play, if a kid is scared for any reason, I’m, ‘Hey, you have to do what’s best for you.’

“Everybody has different feelings. I’m 54 years old. I have no fear. I want to coach. I’m ready to go. But everybody’s different. There’s someone on this (Zoom) view right now who’s scared. I don’t know who it is. You have kids, you have grandparents, you have moms and dads. Everybody’s got different situations we have to be cognizant of.”

Narduzzi said Twyman reached his decision after conversations with him and line coach Charlie Partridge.

“One thing about Jaylen, he’s a great communicator,” Narduzzi said. “He did a good job thinking things over on what he needed to do. We wish Jaylen the best. He had some things, family-wise, he had to take care of that were pretty important to him and to me. I might have to kick him out the door and (tell him), ‘Go take care of it,’ as much as I didn’t want to.

“He felt this is what he needed to do, and I back him up 100 percent.”

While not identifying anyone, he said there are “ongoing discussions” with players who have similar concerns.

“These kids have so many things on their minds right now,” he said. “I always talk about getting our minds right.

“They’re reading what’s happening in the Big Ten and Pac-12 and why are these doctors saying that and (others are) saying this? Who are you trusting? I really believe our kids trust this place here, UPMC and the protocols they have in place.”

He said with people continually wiping doorknobs and arm rests, “There couldn’t be a safer place than where we are right now.”

He said he would prefer to line up mattresses in the indoor practice facility and “just bunk them right there.”

“Lock them up and not let them out. Keep them in our little paradise down here.”

With two children of his own attending Pitt, he admitted (the Oakland campus) is a “scary place up there right now.”

Narduzzi called off practice Thursday when some players exhibited covid symptoms. No one tested positive, but the scare turned Monday’s scheduled off day into a work day.

“I moved days around based on feelings,” he said. “The calendar, I’ve thrown out. We’re taking it day by day.”

A week before the start of training camp, Narduzzi said Pitt had gone 22 consecutive days without a positive covid test. It was more information than administrators cared to reveal, and Monday he was reluctant to revisit the streak.

“I’m not allowed to talk about it anymore,” he said. “But it’s a really good streak. I can’t talk numbers. I’m happy with where they are.”

But he can’t stop thinking about the increased risk of exposure when the general student population returns to campus.

Nothing personal, but he said, “Keep (players) away. Make sure they don’t get the cooties.”