Pitt named their team captains for the 2020 season on Friday, comprising the list with four seniors, including center Jimmy Morrissey, quarterback Kenny Pickett, edge rusher Patrick Jones II and safety Damar Hamlin:
Your 2020 Pitt Captains pic.twitter.com/OeLUdKyVaQ
— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) September 4, 2020
Pat Narduzzi expressed his excitement in the selection of the team captains on Friday, citing their willingness to step up despite the challenges of this year.
“Our team made outstanding selections in voting these four players captains for the 2020 season,” Narduzzi said. “Damar, Patrick, Jimmy and Kenny have really shown themselves to be outstanding leaders, especially during a challenging offseason and unconventional training camp. They are highly deserving of the honor the wearing that ‘C’ on their uniforms.”
Morrissey, a redshirt senior, acknowledged on Friday that the challenges they faced as a team, but that the players pulled together to keep everyone focused.
“In the beginning, yes,” Morrissey said when asked if the challenges were a lot for the team. “We had to deal with a situation we weren’t used to. We have a lot of older guys on this team and we’re used to camp being a certain way. So once things start changing, we were meeting indoors, we were socially distanced, had to wear masks every time we’re in the facility. So it were things we weren’t used to, but we’ve done a really good job adapting.”
Hamlin, the team’s senior starter at safety, said it’s not just the official captains, but the large senior class that’s helped the team adapt to the adversity of an extremely complicated offseason.
“I would say the team is deep with leadership right now,” Hamlin said. “It’s a big senior class that we have, and I would say every senior leads in their own way. One thing we try to do throughout our room, we try to spread out the little moments of leadership among the guys, whether it’s me, the fifth year senior, or a walk-on freshman. We want to make guys feel comfortable to speak up and be in a leadership role.”
That’s a huge part of what makes this roster stronger than 2019’s, as the players understand what’s expected of them and can more readily reinforce the messages from the coaches when they’re away from practice and training activities.
“The biggest thing I’ve noticed is the player leadership,” Pickett said about the biggest difference this season. “I don’t think the coaches have to say much. A lot of the players take their leadership role seriously and that’s the biggest difference between the other teams I’ve been on. We’ve had great leadership before, but this whole team is going in the right direction. There’s no cancers and bad apples on the team, all those guys have been weeded out in the four years I’ve been here and I’m grateful to be on a team like that.”
But among all that leadership, these Panthers are definitely aware about the lowered expectations of the team coming from outside the locker room. When asked, the captains all responded about how the keeps a chip on their shoulder.
“I definitely think it’s a chip on our shoulder,” Jones said when asked about the rankings. “It’s not too big to distract us in practice but big enough to motivate us. I definitely feel like people do sleep on Pitt, so that’s one of our goals to go out there and get respect from everybody.”
Hamlin went so far as to call the prediction that they would finish eighth disrespectful.
“We are just going to call it what it is,” Hamlin said. “I feel like that’s disrespect, straight like that. But that doesn’t affect our approach. Ever since we all decided to come back it was all about proving why we need to be where we deserve. We’re not worried about a preseason list, we’re just going to show it week in and week out. But we definitely take it as a disrespect and they’re going to see about it.”
Maybe the rankings are too harsh against Pitt, but there’s at least some reason behind that. Pitt has finished 8-5 three times under Narduzzi and the program’s first bowl victory in that time came last year in the Quicken Lane Bowl against Eastern Michigan on a last second touchdown pass from Pickett to Taylor Mack.
In a shortened season that forces them to play more ACC opponents, Pitt doesn’t get the chance to only beat out the ACC Coastal teams to get a shot at the ACC Championship. They have to play ten games in the conference, including four teams ranked in the coaches’ poll, including No. 1 ranked Clemson, Notre Dame, UNC and Virginia Tech.
But as the captains eluded, this is the most structured team of seniors Narduzzi’s had. All the obstacles, complications and differences in how training camp worked could have a much smaller impact on this program than others who would be depending on a much younger team with more starting spots open for competition.
Having players that can back up the slogans, messages, rituals and practices the coaches want the younger players to take on can go a long way. It’s like what the Steelers do when Casey Hampton would challenge Lamar Woodley to not just be good, but to be great. You need players holding each other accountable when the coaches aren’t around, and that goes double in college football.
If anything, Pitt needs a chip to be on Jones’ shoulder, and they need it to be on Pickett’s, Paris Ford’s, and anyone who’s going to be a playmaker that propels the team this season. That’s where this year’s leadership can cement their legacy and set the tone for the classes to follow them.