Pitt Spring Practice #14;  April 16, 2015

It seems a bit like a broken record but the fact that after each practice Mike Caprara figures prominently in the discussion is pretty surprising.  At this time last April he wasn’t on anyone’s radar for playing time at all let alone being a starter.  Let’s keep an eye on him and Bradley during the game and see if we get any hints as to what shakes out at the beginning of Fall Camp with those two.

Neither the P-G or the Trib have any coverage of the last actual practice up yet but here are the links to their PITT Football pages so you all can check it first thing at work tomorrow, and remember to check the beat writer’s blogs also..  I’ll be on the road so this will be my last coverage also until the after-game report is done.

Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Also, here is a nice older article from the university’s Pitt News on the relationship between Chaney and Voytik.  I can’t remember if I had posted this before or not.

Pitt Live Wire Feature

Prior to Saturday’s Pitt spring football game, Coach Pat Narduzzi held the First Annual Blue-Gold Game Draft. See all the “highlights” and reaction in the following video:  Blue-Gold Spring Game Draft.  It truly looks like everyone had a blast doing it and I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall there. Good team bonding and a great culinary incentive.

A reminder that Pitt greats—and NFL stars—Larry Fitzgerald and Aaron Donald will serve as honorary coaches on Saturday. “Team Fitz” is the Blue squad, while “Team A.D.” will be in Gold.

Coach Pat Narduzzi on Saturday’s Spring Game:

Video: Coach Pat Narduzzi

 “I think they’re ready. I think they’re fired up and excited to get this spring game under way. It should be quite an event. Coach [Tim] Salem is going to coordinate one of the offenses and Coach [Jim] Chaney has the other offense.  I believe on the other end you have Coach [Renaldo] Hill who is going to be the coordinator with Coach [Tom] Sims. Obviously, Coach [Josh] Conklin on the other team. It should be fun.”

On the spring going fast:

“I think for me, these last three months have gone fast. It did go fast. Fourteen days did go fast.”

On the spring game being different than the practices:

“I think it will be a little bit more exciting. I think the kids are excited. They are talking trash already to each other, which is fun. They are getting into the rivalry of a blue and gold game. I think it will be a little different because they are playing for something and on top of that there will be fans there.

With the media and the fans there to see what happened in 14 days, I think it will be exciting for them to show where they’ve come from last season to this season.”

On how they will balance being vanilla schematically but still getting work in:

“We’re going to get our work in, trust me. It’s all about the fundamentals, first of all. What we think is vanilla and what you think is vanilla might be two different things. If we have 100 formations in, you may only see 60 or 70 of them, so you’re going to see plenty of stuff.

It comes down to execution. Defensively, we’re vanilla to begin with, I think. We’re not really complicated, but our kids need to execute the defense and play within the framework.”

On the team the team’s physical condition:

“Obviously there are some guys that are dinged up a little bit, but overall, I’d say we’re still in shape. We have a couple of guys out, but we’re in as good of shape as I’ve seen in 15 years coming out of the spring. Coach [Dave] Andrews had them ready to go. I think they’re in shape and physically pretty good coming in to spring ball, that’s what keeps you healthy.

I think when you’re playing fast, you’re not wondering what you’re doing, you stay healthy too. I’m happy with where we are going in to 15. I just knock on wood that we come out of this one healthy too.”

On goals set for the spring:

“We reached our goals as far as what we wanted to get installed. We got a lot of stuff in. I would say that we’re at 80 percent capacity as far as what we got in and we’ll crank it up during the summer. They’ll go through this whole install one more time during the summer by themselves where they reinstall it.

We have the bell cows of each position that we’ll make sure gets in and they’ll have their own practices where we aren’t involved. We’ll reinstall that, plus a lot more. Today we just worked on victory plays, what we’re going to do in the last 17 seconds of a game.

What we’re going to do offensively and defensively. We’ve taught a ton of football offensively, defensively, and just about every situation you can imagine.”

On the offseason:

“We [as coaches] can do all we want to, but they [the players] are going to be on their own. Hopefully they know where they can be and they have some goals as far as what they want to do. We can’t hold their hand, nor are we able to sit there and watch over them. I think they have the desire to want to be great. I think they’ll get that done. The leaders have to take over.

“We’re going to tell them what to do, but then they have to do it. They have to do it with attention to detail. They can’t just go out there, slop around and go through the motions. Hopefully we’ve taught them that work ethic that we expect.

Our strength coaches will be on them as well. They’re able to be out there most of the time, making sure it’s right. They’re strength coaches, not football coaches.”

Quarterback Chad Voytik on being the first pick in the Blue-Gold Draft:

Video: Quarterback Chad Voytik

 “Well it’s just the nature of the draft but I guess it feels good that I am wanted. I guess that is a good thing.”

On having James Conner and Tyler Boyd on his Blue Team:

“It excites me a lot. They are two of our best players. So I get them on my side of the ball; it’s going to be fun.”

On his 14 spring practices:

“A lot of learning. A process I guess I would call it. It’s been good. I’ve learned a lot and I feel like I’ve gotten better as a player. I’m excited to enter the summer season and improve there.”

On this spring compared to last spring:

“It’s more challenging because it is square one, learning everything new. Last spring, I already had a foundation so it was tough this spring learning a whole new offense and then having to go out there and execute it.”

On if the spring game means more than just a Saturday practice:

“Yes, there are going to be a ton of people watching and it’s kind of the game we’ve been practicing for. So definitely, we all want to do well. So, yeah, I would say it has a little more weight to it.” 

Linebacker Mike Caprara on his progress this spring:

Video: Linebacker Mike Caprara

 “I feel like I did. The defense is a lot simpler than last year. I feel like a lot of the guys, including myself, have gotten a lot better and have taken a lot of strides this spring.”

On playing both the “Mike” and “Money” linebacker positions:

“I’ve been going back and forth in the spring and actually in the spring game I will be playing both positions.”

On the “Money” linebacker position:

”The Money linebacker is responsible for a certain half of the field. With the Mike you’re right in the middle, you get to see it all. The Money position, you only get to see half of the ball, it’s kind of only half the responsibility of the Mike because with the Mike you’re getting people lined up, you’re making calls and checks, and with the Money you’re not really doing that as much.

“I like both [positions]. I’ll be starting at the Money on Saturday.”

On Bam Bradley and the position battle:

“It still is a position battle. We both know no one has it right now. It’s a day-by-day thing. I’m sure it’ll be the same way in camp until the week before Youngstown State.”

On the defense being simpler:

“I could hit on plenty of different perspectives but in the linebacker perspective it’s just your keys, where you’re lining up. I know last year we would have five or six different alignments for each linebacker position, but this year it may be about two. Just what you’re reading and who you’re reading, just things like that. Formation recognition and once you recognize a certain formation you only have so many things to do. Last year you probably had five or six different scenarios that you had to respond to before the ball was snapped.”

Notes:

It looks like the “Gathering of the Blathering” will be a post-game soiree at Bar Louie’s with a stop at the Sheraton bar along the way.

Here is the address for Bar Louie’s in Station Square.

240 W Station Square Dr
Pittsburgh, PA
(412) 394-0500

From the map it looks like it is about two blocks east of the eastern parking lots of Riverhound stadium; in walking you would pass The Gateway Clipper Fleet entrance (owned by which PITT LB’s Father?), then past the Sheraton Hotel where we will refuel, then one more block to Bar Louie’s. It looks to be on the waterfront and hard to miss.

I probably won’t hang out on the field after the game for the interview so I think if we all meet at the corner of West Station Square Dr. and the entrance to the Gateway Clipper place (where the sidewalks looks to be red brick) right after the game ends then we’ll muster and go from there.

Again, here is the Google Map of where we will be after the game.

Looking forward to see you all…

P/S: Here is a Pittsburgh Rapper who is Chancellor Posvar’s grandson.