Pitt

Imagine doing a pushup and holding it as long as possible while leaning on your forearms or hands and staying off the floor with your upper and lower body and butt in a linear position. It’s called a plank, and the typical YMCA athlete uses it to help tighten the...

The words stare at Pitt’s players from the sidewalk every day when they leave their locker room for the practice fields. “PROVE IT.” What does it mean? “We got a lot to prove,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “Every unit’s got something to prove, and, obviously, this team has something to...

Long before she was asked to model one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ promotional T-shirts, Valeria Vazquez Gomez knew all about Roberto Clemente. Vazquez Gomez, a sixth-year outside hitter with the Pitt volleyball team, hails from Puerto Rico, birthplace of the most famous Pirate of all. She said her father is...

Fans and, especially, coaches should know enough not to put excessive trust in what happens in training camp. Former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett can confirm that after he went last year from strong outings with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the summer to being traded before the first day of spring....

Pitt will close out its second week of practice Saturday when the Panthers line up on the Beano Cooks Fields for the first intra-squad scrimmage of the summer. “That will tell us a lot about what we have,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. The second scrimmage is scheduled for Aug. 18...

When Rachel Sims was a young mother in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., she liked how her little boy’s big eyes seemed to pop out of his head. “Pop eyes,” said Pitt junior wide receiver Raphael Williams Jr., who was that little boy. Thus, the nickname that Rachel bestowed upon her son,...

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi guards his team’s injury information like a general hides his platoon’s next move. But the Big Ten instituted mandatory injury reports for game days in 2023, and there’s talk that the SEC might follow suit at the start of this season. Narduzzi has no use for...

Weightlifting is more than just a way for Pitt defensive tackle Francis Brewu to get stronger, win playing time earlier and impress his teammates in the locker room. “It’s like therapy to me,” said Brewu, a freshman from Worthington, Ohio. “Physical therapy. Nothing feels better than when you hit a...

When Rodney Hammond walks in the Pitt running backs’ meeting room, his teammates call him “Unc.” Not because he’s old. “I do feel a little old,” said the 21-year-old senior. It’s because he’s been there before, all the way back to the Kenny Pickett/Mark Whipple/Izzy Abanikanda days that only seem...

The sixth practice of Pitt’s summer camp Tuesday was a big day for the players who put on full pads for the first time and were permitted to do what most of them enjoy most — hit someone as hard as they can. It also was one of the hottest...

Nahki Johnson’s high school career at Steel Valley and West Mifflin was something to remember. He committed to Pitt two months before the start of the 2019 season and went on to become, perhaps, the Big Eight Conference’s best player. He recorded eight sacks, forced four fumbles and earned the...

When the coach summons you to midfield, you don’t ask questions. You go. That’s what happened Monday morning to reporters at Pitt practice near the end of the media’s viewing window. Coach Pat Narduzzi allowed reporters, who typically stand on the sideline or in the end zone, to stand five...

Cam Guess won’t lie about his story. “It sounds a little corny,” he said. But he’s proud of it, and he was eager to tell it to reporters Friday at the end of the first week of Pitt’s training camp. Guess, a Belle Vernon graduate, has been Pitt’s regular holder...

The noise level around Pitt football eventually will rise. The stakes will get higher. Coaches’ shouts will pierce players’ ears and enter their brains daily through the end of November. Maybe longer, if they’re lucky. Amidst the chaos, two Pitt football players have found a way to handle the intensity...

Ryan Jacoby was one of the most decorated high school football players in Ohio during the 2018 season, a top-10 overall prospect (fourth among offensive linemen) in a state recognized for its wealth of talent. He sifted through nearly two dozen scholarship offers before settling on Ohio State, enrolling at...

There will be a subtle change to the Pitt sideline this season, with offensive coordinator Kade Bell calling plays from the field. Frank Cignetti was upstairs last season, but Mark Whipple before him was on the field where he had constant, face-to-face communication with quarterback Kenny Pickett. “I’m not micro-managing...

With the temperature outside Petersen Events Center hitting 90 on the first day of August, a relaxed Jeff Capel sat down with reporters for 34 minutes Thursday. Topics of discussion ranged from Pitt’s nonconference schedule in the upcoming season to Capel’s contract extension through 2030 to the Olympics. “I love...

Every day, Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates gets down on the ground and does pushups and situps in front of his players. He started with 12 on the first day of practice Wednesday. He promises to reach a daily number of “30 or 40” by the end of the season....

Kade Bell knows enough about offense, play-calling and the challenges inherent in college football to understand that a goal of averaging 50 points might be unrealistic. But you have to know that Bell, Pitt’s 31-year-old, first-year offensive coordinator, doesn’t allow facts to get in his way of getting a job...

Under bright sunshine and with 120 young men sweating, bouncing off each other and chasing fumbles across the Beano Cook Fields, Pitt opened training camp Wednesday morning on the South Side. If that number sounds high, that’s because there are more players on the roster this season. Coach Pat Narduzzi,...

A collaboration between Pittsburgh Brewing Co. and Pitt Athletics on a limited edition Pitt I.C. Light can has been brewing for about two years. The can features royal blue and university gold team colors in addition to the recognizable “Pitt” script and “Hail to Pitt.” It is available this week...

Pitt’s 3-9 record from a year ago was only the second losing season among coach Pat Narduzzi’s nine. He’s second all-time in victories (65) to Jock Sutherland (111), and he’s served longer (2015-present) than all but two Pitt coaches since 1890 (Sutherland and John Michelosen). Nonetheless, there has been minimal...

Before compiling a list of the most important players who will populate the Beano Cook Fields when Pitt begins prepping for a new season Wednesday, we need to first identify the obvious choice for leader of the class: The quarterback, Nate Yarnell. There are several players who are as important...

When you attempt to identify five questions that fans — and, perhaps, even coaches — might have about the 2024 version of Pitt football, you can look up and down the roster and start your quest almost anywhere. This is a team that lost five defensive starters to the transfer...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bill O’Brien arrived at Boston College with a high-profile resume that included a stint as an NFL head coach, as well as work with some of college football’s biggest brand names in Penn State and Alabama. Manny Diaz was in similar position as the former Miami head...