No Spot is Secure on the New Look Pitt Offensive Line

It’s not a secret that the Pitt offense wasn’t good enough last season. And it isn’t limited to just the play at quarterback, although that’s certainly the major factor. But no, the offensive line play wasn’t nearly good enough.

The Pitt quarterbacks were under duress on far too many dropbacks last season, and there was very little push in the run game.

Injuries played a big role in the inconsistency on the offensive line, but the mix of young and old on the line simply wasn’t good enough. Pitt needed a change, and it resulted in the dismissal of long-time offensive line coach Dave Borbely. Former Western Carolina offensive line coach Jeremy Darveau was brought in, and the offense as a whole will look very different.

It’s a fairly safe bet (but not guaranteed) that Branson Taylor and Ryan Baer enter Week 1 against Kent State as the starting left and right tackle, respectively, but the battle on the interior is far from being decided.

Terrence Moore ended last season as the starting Pitt center, but as he went through camp with North Carolina State transfer Lyndon Cooper, it appears he lost some ground.

“I think (Lyndon) Cooper came out because Terrence (Moore) didn’t finish spring ball as the guy,” Pat Narduzzi said. “Terrence was closing on him, and he was closing on him in the summer. I mean, it’s like a battle. I mean, even during OTAs, starting to get heated out there, even OTAs when the coaches aren’t around, like, there’s a battle. And you love that. You love that Terrence is fighting back. He got injured in the spring, so he couldn’t finish it, and Cooper did a nice job. But we’ll find out what goes on here.”

Moore started the final nine games of the season, inserted into the lineup after Jake Kradel went down with an injury. And he performed well. If there was any constant on the offensive line, it was Moore.

But the battle between Moore and Cooper will continue throughout camp. And Narduzzi — as of right now — isn’t looking to move either outside.

“Right now, you’re trying to worry about that battle without moving them around too much,” Narduzzi said. “It would be unfair to move a guy and let him play a lot of guard and then say, ‘Oh, yeah, you lost that spot.’ But we’ll try to get to that as soon as we can just to get the best guy on the field.”

Moore is a smart offensive lineman. He earned his Pitt degree in three years — and a PhD isn’t out of the question.

Pittsburgh Panthers offensive lineman Terrence Moore (58) September 2, 2023 David Hague/PSN

But he’s focused on cementing his place on the offensive line. He’s feeling good about the new scheme.

“We’ve got a whole new offense, coach Kade Bell and his whole staff bring a really good energy to the field every day — on and off the field,” Moore said. “I really love what he’s doing. I’m feeling good. Coach Darveau is getting us right, we’re competing every day, I love coach Bronowski’s energy.”

It’s been a complete reversal. Pitt has a brand-new offensive staff, and that’s led to a new approach on the offensive line. A Kade Bell offense requires athletes with the ability to get upfield on the offensive line. Pitt is gonna go.

“We’ve got several different tempos from lightning fast to turtle slow, so we’ve got a wide range that when we get going and we start clicking we’re gonna go really fast,” Darveau said last week. “So you’ve gotta have a level of conditioning about you as an offensive lineman to play in this offense. We’re not gonna huddle up, break the huddle at 20 seconds and snap the ball at 10, 5. That’s not gonna be who we are. We’re gonna snap the ball at 30 if we can.”

Bell arrived in December, and while Darveau arrived just about a month later, the conditioning began immediately. It began in January, with strength & conditioning coach Michael Stacchiotti getting involved immediately. Whether it was 50-yard sprints, pushing the sled or prowlers, it was all in pursuit of preparing for the speed and tempo of the new offense.

But it wasn’t just conditioning; it was learning a brand-new offense, too.

The tackles are pretty concrete, but the ongoing competition on the interior has led to increased versatility on the inside. If the five best linemen are going to play, it won’t matter who plays where. And it’s still open competition for every spot.

“Coach Darveau harps being versatile, all three interior guys know all three interior — the tackles know both the tackles and they know some guard,” Moore said. “Really just being versatile and knowing every position. And if you’re competing, you could have a guy who’s playing really good at guard, go to tackle. If he’s playing better than the tackles and showing them that he’s in the playing more and showing it on the field competing well, he could play tackle.”

Moore and Cooper are competing at center, but it’s not out of the question that one of them could eventually wind up at guard. And there’s BJ Williams, Ryan Jacoby and Jason Collier Jr. returning at guard, too.

Jacoby missed all of last season due to an injury, but he was officially cleared last week. He’s one of the oldest guys in the room, but he hasn’t had an opportunity to show what he can do at the college level — at Pitt or Ohio State. Collier is another sixth-year senior. Williams is entering just his second season at the college level.

But they’re all competing for the same spots on the offensive line.

“Competition brings out the best in everybody, so being in a position battle is actually really good for both of us. We compete with each other every day, we’re locker neighbors, so there’s no bad blood or anything,” Jacoby said last week. “We’re brothers; we’re just trying to make each other better.”

There are two weeks of fall camp left before it’s game week. Kent State is just 18 days away, and the next two weeks will decide a lot. There are options, considering a handful of younger players were forced into the lineup last season due to injuries and inconsistent play, but it appears that any decisions will come down to the end of camp.

Darveau is proud of the progress that’s been made since the beginning of spring ball though. Pitt is on pace to be where he would like to be by Aug. 31.

“You know like the 40s at the combine where they’ve got the guy running the ghost? We’re on that pace to where we want to be at to be able to play football in a month,” Darveau said.