Pitt’s ‘Aggressive Defense’ Looking to Rekindle Past Success

Heading into the first scrimmage of fall camp, Pitt football’s defense was playing with a chip on its shoulder as it was ready to ramp up the intensity.

“[The offense] got after us the practice before. We took that a little personal as a defense,” redshirt freshman defensive tackle Isaiah “Ghost” Neal said on Tuesday.

That’s when defensive coordinator Randy Bates ordered a heightened assault on the offense, sending out a wave of blitzes.

“You know Bates loves to blitz and he brought it out on Saturday, and I loved it,” Neal added.

The approach gave the offense more fits than it appreciated which led to head coach Pat Narduzzi asking the defensive personnel to tone it down.

“Midway through the scrimmage, coach [Narduzzi] saying not to blitz as much, just so we can get better looks for the offense because we were abusing it,” redshirt sophomore linebacker Kyle Louis said.

It’s just a small piece of a larger picture for Pitt’s defense this season. The term “aggressive” has become a regularity in the defense’s vocabulary since Day 1 of camp.

“Our goal is to be the most aggressive defense in the country this year. That’s going to be our first step, we just gave the offense a taste of it,” Louis said.

Leaders on the defense felt that mindset was lacking a season ago, and it’s time to return to defenses of the past.

“We see ourselves as a physical, aggressive and killer mentality,” senior Donovan McMillon said in July. “We lost that a little bit last year. You watch the defense like the ’21 or ’22 defense, and you see a lot of those guys in the league right now. There’s no reason our team shouldn’t do the same thing this year.”

Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Donovan McMillon (3) Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Brandon George (30) September 9, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Not too far in the distant past, Pitt was one of the most feared sack defenses in the country. From 2019 through 2022, Pitt led the nation with 199 sacks.

In 2023, that number dipped to 31, which ranked 27^th in the country. The year prior, Pitt led the nation with 58 sacks.

Pitt is attempting to mix its young and hungry defensive line with its deep linebacker unit to provide a lethal pass rush.

Keye Thompson – a sixth-year senior transfer – has quickly adjusted to Bates’ offense and the vigorous mentality.

“When we’re blitzing, you’re going to know we’re blitzing. When we’re in coverage and making a tackle, you’re going to know we’re hitting,” Thompson said. “Coach Bates always preaches, we are going to be the most aggressive team in the nation, and I truly believe that and the way our linebacker core takes pride in everything that we do, I feel like we’re going to be very aggressive.”

Pitt’s defense blitzes approximately 30 to 34 percent of the time, Narduzzi says, which has been his threshold since he was at Michigan State.

Whether or not the defense dialed it up to 40 or 50 percent in the scrimmage, it’s apparent that the added pressure proved to be too much at times for the offense.

“Our defense was blitzing us a lot,” running back Desmond Reid said. “The O-line got a little confused with some of the stuff. That was really the first time doing that against us since spring.”

With last season not sitting right with the entirety of the defense, it will be something to monitor if the Panthers can fulfill that once-established aggressive approach.