Pitt Camp Notes: Week 4 Developments on the South Side

PITTSBURGH — Pitt football is nearing the conclusion of spring camp after the Panthers wrapped up practice No. 11 on the South Side Thursday.

Positional units continue to take shape and more will be known after the third spring scrimmage that was moved up a day from Saturday to Friday at Acrisure Stadium.

“We got a little sudden change. Our Saturday practice is probably going to be rained out. To get ahead of that, we’re going tomorrow night at Acrisure. Probably 30 percent chance of rain. We’ll get it knocked out there tomorrow evening. A little Friday night lights for the Panthers, so excited about that,” head coach Pat Narduzzi said Thursday.

Here are some more notes and observations from Thursday’s Pitt practice.

• DEs — Defensive end was an area of focus in the transfer portal and Pitt added three prospects to that unit. It still remains an area of question behind Jimmy Scott on who will fill out the depth chart. Nate Temple, who’s now in his seventh year with the program, has received some praise throughout camp even as he works back to full force after tearing his ACL. Another option there is Utah State transfer Blaine Spires, who is also getting back to 100 percent after joining the team banged up, Narduzzi noted. Overall, Narduzzi feels the defensive ends are in a much better spot than last year and that includes Eastern Michigan transfer Joey Zelinsky and Oregon transfer Jaeden Moore making some early noise.

Pitt defensive end transfer Joey Zelinsky. April 3, 2025 / Ed Thompson. PSN.

• Adding a fourth LB? — Narduzzi hinted that Pitt could put a fourth linebacker on the field in its third-down defense. “That’s a package we’ve had in the past, but it looks like we can put it back in,” Narduzzi said. Typically, it’s been an extra safety in their delta package, but with the athletic play of the linebackers, they could be the ones to benefit from more time. The conversation stemmed from the topic of Jeremiah Marcelin, who continues to stand out in spring camp. “From what I see, he’s going to earn himself a role on third down as well when we get in our third-down package,” Narduzzi said about Marcelin. If you have the talent between Kyle Louis, Rasheem Biles, Braylan Lovelace and Marcelin, why not put them on the field in critical situations?

Pitt linebacker Jeremiah Marcelin standing out at spring practice. April 3, 2025 / Ed Thompson. PSN.

• OL — Pitt continues to run out Michigan transfer Jeff Persi as the top left tackle option with Ryan Baer at right. Keith Gouveia, Lyndon Cooper and BJ Williams in the middle. Redshirt freshman Caleb Holmes, who is working as a depth left guard, was pointed as a nice surprise so far by Narduzzi. The head coach is also pleased with the depth and health of the unit. He went on further to say that the Panthers worked on some jumbo packages at practice on Thursday. “Put an extra lineman in there today. That was fun to watch. An inside run just to get that in. We got some jumbo and un-balanced formations in that looked good today,” he said.

Pitt offensive line during spring camp on April 3, 2025 / Ed Thompson. PSN.

• RBs — Spent Thursday taking a look at the running back unit and the first thing that comes to mind is it is very thin. During Thursday’s session, only three running backs were taking reps — Juelz Goff, Justin Cook and Ja’Kyrian Turner. Quarterback David Lynch and some staffers even had to take reps in the regulatory drills at the beginning of practice. Desmond Reid was at practice, but not working with the unit. Goff is the guy right now pushing to seal the RB2 role. He played in three games last year, preserving a redshirt, with 46 rushing yards and and 53 receiving yards. He’s the ideal versatile back that Kade Bell looks for and can make plays in both facets of the game. In his first year with the program, East Stroudsburg transfer Justin Cook looks the part of a running back. He initially came in as a wide receiver but with the lack of numbers, he stepped into the RB room and has done a nice job. His pass-catching ability will come into play during the season, undoubtedly. Pitt does have a very promising freshman tailback in Turner. The offensive staff was blown away by his winter workouts when he first stepped on campus and that has carried over. He’s a lean 5-9, 175 pounds. He has a lot of speed and has some elusiveness to him. For the remainder of the unit, redshirt senior Derrick Davis Jr. is expected to miss spring camp after a season-ending injury against Boston College. The Panthers will add summer enrollees Jaylin Brown and Synkwan Smith soon.

Running back James Cook during Panthers’ spring practice on April 3, 2025 / Ed Thompson. PSN.

• Kick returners — During one of the early periods of practice, Pitt worked on full kick off coverage. There was Murray State transfer James London booting it down the field. On the other end, there were a variety of players fielding the kicks. Kenny Johnson has spent the past two seasons as one of the main kick returners for the Panthers. Appears to be true once again. Tyreek Robinson was another option back there as he totaled 182 yards on eight returns last year. As much as they like Johnson, I’d prefer to see more of Robinson with the top-end speed he possesses. It would also keep Johnson from risking an unnecessary injuries on kick returns. Florida State transfer Deuce Spann also had a few reps returning kicks. During his second season at Florida State in 2023, Spann returned nine kickoffs for 277 yards — including a 99-yard touchdown return.