A former Maryland football player, who is now a high school coach, felt a bit like he traveled back in time as he watched Pitt practice Tuesday. It reminded him of the days when he played for long-time Terrapins head coach Ralph Friedgen. He told Pat Narduzzi as much.
And Narduzzi took that as a compliment.
“Ralph is a heckuva coach, but it’s a compliment because it kind of goes back to the old school,” Narduzzi said Tuesday after practice. “We’ve had a physical spring. We’ve had physical winter workouts. Our guys got bigger, faster, stronger.”
There are four pillars of Pitt football: attitude, effort, toughness and knowledge. The pillars have been mentioned quite a bit this spring, but one has been singled out, by players and coaches alike.
Toughness.
Pitt lacked toughness last season. So much so that the No. 1 goal this spring — aside from staying healthy — was instilling that toughness Narduzzi felt has been missing.
“It comes down to playing the game of football the way it’s supposed to be played,” Narduzzi said. “We can avoid stuff and try to — sometimes you worry about staying healthy. Like, we have to play football, and we have to play football the way it’s supposed to be played. We’ve got to try to do it as smart as we possibly can, but you have to play the game and that was obviously a goal coming in — to be even tougher than we’ve been because I think you have to be to win this conference.”
It’s hard to measure toughness, especially in a spring practice window, but as Narduzzi watches drills and team periods, he’s seeing a level of physicality that excites him. It’s the level of physicality and competition that he feels has been missing.
“It’s been a physical battle every day, and there’s competition going on every day,” Narduzzi said. “I’d say this, there’s more of it. You had it in the past and maybe pulled back a little bit as a head coach, just to make sure we’re okay. You’ve got to protect them, and all of that stuff. We haven’t really pulled back; we’ve put the foot down and kind of just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to keep going.’ Or at least I said I was going to keep going and then everybody’s saying, ‘Let’s keep going,’ and that’s kind of what we’ve done.”
It starts at the top, with competitive, motivated coaches (which perhaps stems from a new, fresh approach in hiring), but there has to be a collective buy-in from the players, too. Narduzzi feels like the trust that has been established, whether it’s with an early enrollee or a sixth-year senior, has helped in striving for shared goals.
There’s a plan in place. The No. 1 goal is to reach the heights of the 2021 season — the ACC championship. Narduzzi knows what it takes to reach those heights.
“We’re not gonna do too much, we’re not gonna do too little,” Narduzzi said. “We’re going to do just enough to give them the right medicine to be a good football team and win a championship. That’s what we need to do to become a better football team. So, I think it’s everybody. They’ve all got to be in and it’s important.”
The spring is just about finished now. 14 practices in the books and one spring game remaining. The 2024 season is still five months away, but the quest to add toughness is going to continue.
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