When there’s an injury on Pitt’s football team, head coach Pat Narduzzi has made it clear he will not speak about private matters.
Narduzzi, Monday afternoon, would not touch upon the injuries sustained by Deslin Alexandre or Rodney Hammond Jr. Thursday night against West Virginia either, his only words being a brief assurance of Alexandre’s toughness Thursday night, and that’s just the continuation of his eight seasons at Pitt.
Including when asked about a day in which Brandon Hill was not practicing over the summer.
After quickly responding, or rather, not responding, to a question about Hill’s participation, the video of the interaction went public on social media. And Hill’s mother, Adrienne, quickly reached out to Narduzzi.
“Hey, Coach Narduzzi,” Adrienne texted. “I saw the interview on Friday where the reporter asked about Brandon. Thank you for respecting his medical privacy. It looked like that question p***** you off. Thank you for caring about your players. I can see you care about all of them.”
It wasn’t just a reminder for Narduzzi but confirmation that his policy of dealing with injury news means something to those who care about the college players he’s coaching. It was the first text he ever received like that from a parent of one of his players.
Hill missed a practice or two during the summer, but he returned quickly. Alexandre and Hammond may not be as lucky, without an update regarding their respective injury situations, but Saturday’s game day is only a few days away.
With three full days ahead of Saturday’s midday kick-off against Tennessee, Pitt would very much like to have both players healthy. And there will likely be an update — or at least confirmation — of both players’ activity this weekend.
