PITTSBURGH — While spring break has come and gone on the South Side, the cold (and snow) forced the Pitt Panthers inside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for practice No. 4.
I’d expect the coaching staff spent the time away to watch all the film from the first week of practice, make adjustments and hit the ground running in the buildup to the Blue-Gold Spring Game on April 13. There won’t be any breaks now, with three practices a week and a couple of week scrimmages.
It wasn’t a practice with a whole lot on display, at least in the portion available to the media, but it was still the first look at some football after a week and a half away.
I watched the quarterbacks work with the receivers for just about the entirety of the fifth drill, and Nate Yarnell continues to pace the quarterback room. He’s smooth, throws a nice, tight spiral and has built a nice rapport with the wideouts. He puts the football where it needs to be whether it’s a go route down the sideline or a crosser over the middle of the field.
The pecking order is still pretty set in stone: Yarnell, Christian Veilleux, Eli Holstein, Ty Dieffenbach and Julian Dugger.
Konata Mumpfield and DaeDae Reynolds are clearly the leaders in the wide receivers room. I think it’s maybe a touch too early to tell exactly who’s emerging as legitimate contributors, but aside from Mumpfield, Reynolds and Kenny Johnson, I like what I’m seeing from the Western Carolina transfers — Poppi Williams and Censere Lee.
Williams hauled in a particularly tough catch, contorting his body to reach back for a ball thrown behind him, as I watched today. I’d expect one of the freshmen from last season to emerge, too.
Randy Bates was pretty active in drills today. I don’t always hear his voice, but he was vocal Tuesday. There was an emphasis on running through tackles. Pitt has always been aggressive, but tackling was certainly an issue last season. I’d expect that to get cleaned up over the course of the spring and through fall camp.
I noticed two new “takeaway” stickers, too. P.J. O’Brien Jr. and Solomon DeShields. I know Rasheem Biles and Ryland Gandy already have stickers of their own. The defense, the safeties at least, have talked about making more splash plays — ripping the ball out and picking off passes. Those numbers were down last season.
