PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO: Narduzzi YSU Preview

Opening Statement:

“It’s game week finally. It feels like it, I can tell you that. Had to go out and see Rob [Blanc, Pitt’s athletic trainer] yesterday and get some Tums. That’s normal game week for a football coach, get Tums to make yourself feel good. We obviously have a great team coming to Pittsburgh to play us, Youngstown State. We have a lot of history with them, as you guys know. Not only a great football team, but a great coach in Bo Pelini who’s been around and coached great football teams, been to the last eight bowl games with nine-win seasons for a bunch. He’s probably one of the top coaches in the country with a great staff. From the top down, just like us with Chancellor Gallagher. A great football team, with great talent.

“When you look at it, you’re going to have some Division One transfers [at YSU], some pop-ups, some guys on the rosters that we didn’t have on the two-deep, some [Power Five] transfers. You’re going to play a good football team that’s going to be amped up, ready to go without question. You get twelve [game] opportunities. They don’t give those back. We have to be prepared—great on offense, great on defense. We need to be special on special teams to come out with a victory.

“If you look at their two-deep, they have fourteen guys from the state of Pennsylvania. When I look at that, I know where their heart is going to be on [game] day. They will come in, ready to go, probably guys who would have liked to play at Pitt, didn’t get recruited for whatever reason, and went there, and will have a grudge when they come to Pittsburgh. They’ll have family there.

“It’ll be exciting. It should be a ball game. Like I said, Coach Pelini has been head coaching for a long time so it’ll be a great atmosphere.

“To go away from the game a little bit, we had a rehearsal scrimmage on Friday. At the end of the scrimmage we awarded a couple scholarships out to some of our players that were walk-ons. First one was George Aston, a fullback who has done a great job for us. We almost gave him one at the end of spring but I said, “Let’s wait until the fall.” He will play a lot of football for us, not only offense but also special teams. He’s done a great job for us, and he’s tough. He is what Pittsburgh football is all about.

The other one is Mark Scarpinato. I think some people assumed that he came here on scholarship. He came as a walk-on. I wanted to make sure he earned it and he spent a year away from the game, which might have been a risk. But it has been no risk at all. If you see him, he came into camp in shape and just has been going like that the entire time. We’re going to get some great football out of Mark and we’re happy he is on this football team. He will definitely contribute.”

On if he has any more scholarships available:

“We have a few more. We have some time to give those out and we’ll just see who works hard these next couple of weeks.”

On YSU head coach Bo Pelini:

“Bo is a super coach. He’s been on both ends of these games and he’ll have those guys ready to go. He’s an emotional coach, as you know, and it will definitely be a bonus for Youngstown State. I coached against him for years so I think he knows what I like. I know what he likes. There’s a lot of familiarity with what he’s done. We’ve played him at Michigan State for two years. They [YSU] took Illinois to the wire a year ago. This is their season. They’re going to open up against a [Power Five] team and they’re going to put everything they got into it. They’ll give their best shot for sure.”

On his YSU background and its impact on the game:

“You can’t let the emotions get to you. It’s great to go out against someone and play someone you know. I have a ton of respect for Bo. I went out and visited him, maybe about five years ago, at Nebraska because we’re friends and talked ball for a couple of days. Obviously being from [Youngstown] plays into it, but when it comes down to it, me or Bo aren’t going to play one down. We’ll shake hands, hug pregame, that’s about it and let the players take it over. How much does that really play? I think the bigger thing is those players from Pittsburgh who are coming back home [from YSU] and want to put on a good show for their families. That to me, is a bigger show.”

On transitioning Brian O’Neill from tight end to offensive line:

“He’s a heck of a football player, I’ll tell you that. After 20 practices at that position, he just moved over from the right to the left. He’s moving one spot over. He’s blocked before so it’s not like it’s the first time he’s ever blocked. It’s not like we moved him from wide receiver to tackle but he’s been a blocker.

“He’s understood technique all through spring ball and understood the concepts we have going on up front. He’s going to be a tremendous offensive tackle in the ACC, in my opinion, if he keeps going like he is. He’s a big athletic guy so he’s going to do great things. Again, he’s going to get better as the year goes on. Are you going to see a polished Brian O’Neill in the first game? Probably not, but he’s only going to keep getting better.”

On if there is a possibility Alex Bookser will see time at tackle:

“You’re going to see a little bit of everything. We’re going to rotate guys in, and try to give some guys different looks. We’re going to see what they can do. I think you can see something like that as well.”

On center Artie Rowell’s  availability:

“I feel like Artie is going to be ready. We’ll see. He’s been out at practice with a little bit of precaution, a little bit of just making sure. He came out and started with a bang early. I thought, “Holy cow!” I thought he was going to be rusty and [Mark] Scarpinato. Neither one of them were. So we know that already. We’re just going to be careful with him.”

On defensive tackle Darryl Render’s availability:

“He’s not necessarily two-deep. He got a lift in yesterday and he’ll be dressed. I can guarantee that. There’s a good chance that he plays too.”

On what area of the defense he’s looking forward to seeing on game day:

“All eleven guys. All eleven. We need eleven. It doesn’t matter, we need eleven guys. I’m not eager to see any one position whether it’s the front four, linebackers, defensive backs. It doesn’t matter. They all have to play good to win football games. I’m anxious to see all of them, honestly.”

On the receivers:

“Shake them out right now, throw them out there. I mean, [Elijah] Zeise has had a great camp and you look at some of these depth charts and where they are won’t necessarily be that by game day. We still have a lot of days to go.

“[Zach] Challingsworth and Zeise are both going to give us a lot time on the field. That’s for sure. Whether it’s the third guy in or fourth guy in, who knows? But with the way football is going nowadays it’s not like you’re going out there with your first team and you don’t see the second team. We’re going to be rotating guys in there on the defensive line, linebacker and secondary. If a corner goes deep one time we hope to have a fresh guy in and that guy trickles off to the sideline and we put a new guy in there. Starters are good. We have some ‘ORs’ on that depth chart right now that are good enough to go in there and be that starter. So I can name probably fourteen starters on offense and defense. It all depends on what personnel group you come out with.”

On whether the defense can make an impact this season:

“We’re going to find out. To me, it’s the no-name defense. They haven’t gotten a lot of respect and it’s time for them to show up. I mean our offense was something special a year ago. Defensively, they’ve got to man up and measure up to what we need to have in this ACC and in the opener against Youngstown. I feel like they’ve had a great offseason, but you’re going out there against fresh guys and new guys, new offenses, new fronts, new coverages. Our guys have to adjust to it.

I think the biggest transition is going from camp where you’re going against that same offense and that same defense every day to how you transition as a football player to game week. Then all of a sudden it’s, ‘Well, Coach, they didn’t do that last week.’ But this is Youngstown State we’re talking about. Those are things that really go into the game plan. We’ll find out who adjusts and who gets that check, who didn’t listen. Who didn’t pick it up when they needed to?”

On his first game as a head coach:

“I don’t have a lot of time to think about it or worry about it. Again, I have a lot of great memories at Youngstown State. When I think about them, I like to think about the positive things. I was a ball boy out there. I threw a lot of balls at the referees in a lot of games. Just great memories there for eleven seasons with a lot of football and a lot of wins. Rayen Stadium, Austintown Fitch Stadium, Stambaugh Stadium, so three different stadiums and a lot of memories.”

On freshman running back Darrin Hall:

“Darrin has looked really good. He’s a polished back, he’s very intelligent, he’s strong, he’s physical, he’s got burst, and we’re excited to get him going. He’s going to play for us this year. He’s been on the special teams as well, so he’s a guy that can do a lot of different things. He’s got great hands out the backfield, so we’re looking forward to getting him on the field.”

On his plan to address the “or” starters:

“Here’s how I am: I’m trying to be a fair head football coach. I tried to be a fair defensive coach when I was a defensive coach. We’re going to play the guys that deserve to play, number one. If it says ‘or,’ it means it could be either/or one of those guys. They’re both good, but one of those guys, or the other guy, has not stepped up and said, ‘That’s my position.’ We can get rid of the ‘or,’ but I’m not getting rid of the ‘or.’ They’re getting rid of the ‘or.’ Hopefully they get rid of the ‘or’ by themselves on game day, not by the coach just saying he’s that guy. I want them to know that they get rid of the ‘or,’ not me.

I think [Mike] Caprara and Bam [Bradley] are good football players and both of them are going to get into the game. We’ll decide sooner or later this week—whoever has the better week in practice—who will take the first two series and see what you’ve got. Then the other guy will take the next two series and we’ll see them. We’ll determine how we’re going to play our players on Thursday afternoon or evening.”

On if there are freshmen who do not appear on the two-deep could play:

“There’s other guys. There are other guys that flash at you all the time. Dane Jackson is a guy that flashes as a secondary guy, special teams guy. The other guy is Allen Edwards. When you watch him every day you kind of go, ‘We should play that guy.’ As a coach, you’re tempted. [Edwards] would be much better if we were able to redshirt him, but he does give you some attitude off the edge. Would we like to hold him? Maybe, but I’d like to see what he has on game day. He could turn it loose and be like a hawk. You never know. If I don’t give him a shot, you’ll never know.”

On the boundary safety position:

“Pat [Amara] and Jevonte [Pitts] have been battling back and forth to be that guy, and [Jordan] Whitehead is right there, too. It’s a three-way battle right now. Whitehead has really thrown a wrench in it and made it a battle. They all do something a little bit different. They all bring something different to the table, so we’ll wait and find out. That’s another one of those positions—who’s going to do it? With as few reps as Jordan Whitehead has had, you’d almost say he’s a starter, but he’s a freshman. He’s had less reps than anybody out there, but he’s still hanging in there. We’ll see a lot of ball out of him. We’ll see when the lights turn on.”

On coaching the entire team and not just the defense:

“I’m going to keep my body out of it and let Jim Chaney and the offense do what they do, just like I’m going to let the defense do what they do. I’ll just try to manage the game and give some suggestions here or there about what we do, but I’m just going to manage the game and let those guys coach. That’s what I was afforded and was able to grow from it. That’s what Josh Conklin needs and what Jim Chaney has been used to. We have great football coaches and it’s time to coach.

“When I decided to be a head coach, there was a reason I decided to be a head coach. It was time to say, ‘I’m good if I don’t have to [call plays] anymore. You still enjoy it, but I’ve had opportunities at every scrimmage through spring ball and through the fall to let it go and enjoy watching everything and seeing our kids compete. It’s just a whole different part of the game. You give suggestions, but we’re going to let them play, let our coaches coach and let the officials officiate.”

On Pitt’s offensive philosophy:

“Jim Chaney has done so much offensively through the years that he can see a little bit of everything. We’re going to be a pro offense. We’ll do some of the same things that we did last year. You’re going to see some stuff that they did in St. Louis [Rams], stuff they did at [University of] Tennessee and stuff they did at Arkansas. A little bit of everybody’s philosophies, but also mainly doing what our kids can do best. Through camp, I don’t know if I’ve seen as much offense, maybe the last two years at Michigan State seeing a ton of offense thrown at a defense. So it’s been good for our defense to see just about every type of offense you can see.

We’ve seen it. The reason an offensive coordinator does that is to see how our kids pick it up knowledge-wise and also to see what our kids do best. Once you put your finger on something you can say, ‘We can do that.’ You try to find what your identity is on offense and defense for that matter. You try to play to that.”

On if he is nervous for his first game as a head coach:

“No question about it. As an eight-year defensive coordinator at Michigan State I was nervous before every game. I think every player goes in nervous, I think every coach goes in nervous. Whether they’ll tell you that or not, I’m going to tell you like it is. You’re nervous before every football game, period. You only get twelve. They don’t give them back to you, so you’re nervous. I think if you’re not nervous, you’re probably not ready to play. If our kids aren’t nervous on Friday night and Saturday morning, they probably aren’t ready to play.”

On the seniors who lost to Youngstown State in 2012:

“We might talk about a little pay back. To me, it becomes personal that that happened. I think it’s great to play with an attitude and play angry. That’s what we’ll try to do. We’ll put a little anger in a bottle and throw it out there on Saturday. I wasn’t here when that happened and I don’t know much about it, but it is what it is.”