Narduzzi leads Pitt through uncertainty and unpredictability of COVID-19

Pitt had seven players who were unable to play in their 55-0 win over Austin Peay on Saturday at Heinz Field. One of them being starting defensive end Rashad Weaver. 

Pat Narduzzi spoke more about the COVID-19 testing protocols to Pittsburgh media via Zoom, but made sure to avoid any specifics or details about the status of the players who tested positive last week. He would note that they're in a ten day quarantine period from the date of their most recent positive test.

"It starts when you test positive, the day of the test," Narduzzi said of the ten day quarantine period. "So let's just say coach Narduzzi tested positive on Sunday. So it would be ten days from the day I tested." 

In follow up questions to that statement, Narduzzi confirmed with a one word answer that if a player first tested positive on Friday, they wouldn't be available the next Saturday. He also confirmed that he couldn't release the names of the players or exactly when they tested positive.

Weaver is the best example to use to understand this situation considering he released information on Twitter about not being available Saturday morning before the team's opener against Austin Peay:

If what Weaver said is correct and his first positive test from Sunday, September 10th, then he must have all negative tests until September 20th before he can be back with the team. That means he may play this Saturday's game against Syracuse at Heinz Field, and had a chance to be available with Pitt's game against Louisville.

That game also had its official kickoff time announced on Monday, confirming a Noon kickoff at Heinz Field between Pitt and Louisville on Saturday, September 26th:

If this seems a little confusing, that's because it is.

Narduzzi mentioned last week that the team was to receive four rounds of testing on Sunday, Wednesday and twice on Friday. But that contradicts Weaver's tweet saying that he tested positive on Thursday and negative on Friday. Maybe Narduzzi misspoke on the days or Weaver was incorrect about his positive test being from Thursday, but either way that doesn't add up.

And because of COVID-19, Narduzzi has to be careful about which players' availability he mentions to avoid the risk of saying who tested positive, as anyone who tests positive has their confidentiality is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What's tricky about that is if he provides enough details about players who didn't play because of non-COVID reasons, like normal football injuries, it would be deducible which players didn't play because they tested positive for COVID-19. 

Some players we know were out for obvious injury reasons as transfer tight end Lucas Krull was on the sidelines the entire game wearing his jersey, but with no football equipment. He wouldn't be with the team if he tested positive.

But Narduzzi won't provide specifics on other players who were injured, even ones like defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado, who suffered what appeared to be a significant head injury in the second quarter against Austin Peay.

When asked about Baldonado's status, Narduzzi simply stated, "he's day to day, we'll see" and wouldn't comment any further. Considering Baldonado was helped off the field by two trainers and was carted to the locker room, he would be an obvious opportunity to elaborate on an injury status, but Narduzzi kept his response short.

But notable players other than Weaver didn't play as well, including starting receivers Taysir Mack and Jared Wayne, and depth receiver Tre Tipton. When asked about how his offense would evolve when those players return, Narduzzi just said they'll find out upon their return.

"We'll find out when they get back in the lineup," Narduzzi said. "We're happy to put the young guys out there but they have to do a better job blocking in the run game. But those guys did a great job out there. D.J. [Turner] and [Jaylen] Barden were a surprise. We knew about [Jordan] Addison in Spring ball so we knew he had a chance. But Barden stormed in to the scene and he's got great speed and make big plays."

When asked for a retrospective view about how the COVID-19 protocols impacted the team's first game week, Narduzzi made it clear the team is used to practicing and working through the protocols.

"We've been dealing with it for a while," Narduzzi said. "Game week was no different, we tested yesterday and are waiting for results. I feel as safe as I can be in this building with the people I'm surrounded in staff and players. I trust my players when they walk down the hallways are doing the right things when us old people are walking around the facility."

After missing seven players for his first game, Narduzzi indicated that the team didn't plan on changing any of their protocols and actions.

"There's nothing I can control unless they come sleep at my house," Narduzzi said when asked if there's more he would require of the players to avoid testing positive for COVID-19. "Things happen and you don't know how they happen, but this building is safe and I feel good when they're here. I can't babysit them every minute of the day, just have to hope they're being safe out there washing their hands, wearing a mask, and I think they'll be good."

Narduzzi did confirm that those players in the ten day quarantine are being kept from the players and have to keep up with team meetings and activities through their phones and provided iPads. 

"I haven't had many conversation with them about Zoom," Narduzzi said when asked if players were frustrated about being away from the team during quarantine. "It's just the protocol that we have to go through. They're going to sit on Zoom calls whether it's a team meeting with an iPad in front of me in the indoor facility socially distanced or with position coaches. They're happy to be on a Zoom call because that's all they get. You get stripped of everything. You're in isolation, locked down with your cell phone and iPad. So we ask them to sit up and put they're video up."

Playing the guessing game of who tested positive and who didn't seems like a waste of time without any information to confirm who participated in practice and who didn't. 

Moving forward the reality is that reporters and fans won't know any given player's availability until they're seen on the field for warmups on the day of a game, unless a player reveals their status the way Weaver did.

That unpredictability presents challenges for anyone on the outside looking in, but has to compound upon the already difficult job of leading a college football team in the ACC. So far, Narduzzi is running an organized team after their performance Saturday.

If Pitt manages a big season through all of this unpredictability and careful waters that Narduzzi and the program have to wade through as key players become inactive, it would be a huge testament to Narduzzi's leadership with the program.

Narduzzi notes

• Narduzzi recapped Saturday's performance further after getting the chance to review film over the rest of the weekend. Noting that the team did what they were supposed to do on both sides of the ball, but that everyone was well aware much more improvement is expected.

"Obviously we're happy with where we were last week and the result of Saturday's game against Austin Peay," Narduzzi said. "But I always give the same message to the kids, 'it's not who we beat, it's how we beat them.' It's pretty good when you take the first six series and score touchdowns. When you watch tape you grade it based on the opponent and what you see. I walked in the team meetings last night and asked the defense if they can get any better and they said, 'oh yeah!' Asked the same thing to the offense, same thing. Happy where we are coming out, 4-5 penalties on the day but nothing major. Defensively we had one that was ticky-tacky on an interception but our guys were disciplined and did the right thing. They graded out pretty well, especially that first group."

Narduzzi followed that up by noting how Syracuse's opening game came against not only a team from a power five conference, but a ranked opponent in North Carolina.

"Obviously Syracuse had a top 25 team they played and we didn't," Narduzzi said. "They've already been a war for three quarters so they're probably better prepared for Saturday than we are. But I was happy with the way our kids responded and to get a lot of kids in the game. I was really happy with that first half offensively and defensively as far as how are kids reacted and approached the game. Almost 70 players played in the game and eight receivers caught their first ball in a Pitt uniform. Kenny Pickett spread the ball around where it needed to be."

• Commenting about the play of his young defensive backs, specifically sophomores Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods, Narduzzi offered praise of their first showing in 2020. He also noted where he's looking for improvement from both with Williams' making his first career start at cornerback and Woods getting his first snaps at the position in regulation.

"They both did nice things," Narduzzi said of Williams and Woods. "The one time A.J. got beat on the one package when he got spun around and didn't play very well. But that was first time playing corner in a game so I think he'll continue to get better. I thought Marquis Williams did a nice job in there. He was physical and made some nice tackles. Leverage wise, he's got to be careful. He took some nice shots in taking out some screens but he's got to be a little bit better in his approach to the tackle. But I thought played solid out there. They'll going to keep getting better week in and week out."

• Narduzzi did make it seem as if Vincent Davis was the standout running back after he led the team with both 43 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a day where Pitt would see five different ballcarriers score on the ground.

"They all did some good things, but Vincent Davis was the guy that made people miss," Narduzzi said of his running backs. "Seemed like we take the words out of [running backs] coach [Andre] Powell's mouth, but when we block for seven, we get seven. We blocked for eight, we got eight. We blocked for three, we got three. You'd like to block for three and get eight, block for eight and get 28. You just need people to get in there and make things happen. Blocks were made but they won't be held forever. But a good running back is BYOB, be your own blocker. You've got to make people miss and that's one thing I saw Vincent do, and we saw him do last year. He's a good back."

After noting last week that the status of the position's depth chart was something to be monitored week to week, it's definitely notable that Narduzzi made a point to name Davis' ability to make defenders miss. Pitt dominated the line of scrimmage, but there will be games that won't happen and they'll need the performance of a running back who creates on their own instead of just taking what an offensive line provides with their blocking.

• Special teams produced mostly good results as redshirt junior punter Kirk Christodoulou punted three times for 148 yards, an average of 49.3 yards per punt, including a 59-yard punt, a touchback and a punt that was downed inside the 20.

"Christodoulou really punted the ball really well," Narduzzi said. "He had a really nice day and we're happy with where he was kicking the football." 

Reshirt senior kicker Alex Kessman missed his only field goal attempt of 42 yards, but made all six of his extra point attempts. Narduzzi replaced Kessman with freshman Ben Sauls in the second half to give him chances to kick two extra points. Though he made his second attempt, his first attempt was thwarted because of a botched snap. But Narduzzi confirmed the team hadn't prepared for Sauls, a left-handed kicker, and that impacted the snap from Cal Adomitis to Chirstodoulou as the holder.

"I took Kessman out of there because besides the score," Narduzzi said when about removing Kessman before a second half extra point. "I was like what are we doing with him? If someone runs into him and he gets hurt, that's one thing. So then we put a new kicker out there in Ben, and Cal's never snapped to a left-handed kicker. So the holder had to go to the other side, which messed him up. I can't remember the last time Cal had a bad snap. That's all on me, we should've changed the holder, snapper and kicker at the same time."

• Twice Pitt was caught with having players on the field with the same number on Saturday, both times coming on special team. The first was when Addison and Damar Hamlin were on for a punt safe formation. Both wear No. 3 and Narduzzi explained there was a mixup by which punt team should've been out there. He also pointed out that because Brandon Hill switched to No. 9 and Turner wears No. 9, that there was an oversight.

"We covered it in special teams," Narduzzi said when asked if his staff discussed what happened in those mixups. "Originally Damar was on our punt block team but then we took him off that team for punt return. We had a couple 4th and shorts where we went punt safe and sent Hamlin in there while Jordan was there. Some of those pregame things that happened, we had a few of them. Me and John Ford went through all the numbers and changed a couple guys' jerseys. Brandon Hill came out in No. 9 as opposed to 22, but that was a special teams deal. We just forgot punt safe, which was one of the things that got us in trouble. Then we had Brandon Hill in No. 9, then D.J. Turner went out there with another No. 9. Punt safe is what got us, we'll make sure we get our substitutions right this week. I thank those officials."

• Narduzzi discussed some initial talking points about their next opponents in Syracuse, leading off about their coaching staff.

"We move on to Syracuse," Narduzzi said. "Dino Babers I have a lot of respect as a football coach, as a person and a friend. He's a guy I'll hangout when we get opportunities. Really like him and his wife and you hate to go against someone you really like. They've got two new coordinators on offense and defense so you're not sure what you're going to get. Offensively they're similar in what they've got and coach Babers is going to get someone in his backyard who's formerly worked with him. We're looking back at the past four years of stuff against us."

Narduzzi continued by mentioning some of Syracuse's key players, including All-American safety Andre Cisco. 

"Defensively they're a little different with a 3-4, and their strength is in their secondary with Andre Cisco being the leader back there. He had a nice pick against North Carolina. Offensively Tommy DeVito runs the show and Taj Harris is a real playmaker. Another kid from Orlando is playing really well so have to get on that. Obviously we have to be all over Taj as he caught a deep ball against us coming out last year."

DeVito is a redshirt junior with a tendency to run the ball. He rushed 16 times last week against North Carolina, but only for 30 yards. Narduzzi says that tendency won't slow down Pitt's pass rush.

"There's a little bit of the running game," Narduzzi said of Syracuse. "Like everybody there's more and more scrambles. It should not slow down our pass rush at all. We're going to read our keys up front and we'll see if it's a run, a counter or a quarterback draw. They ran them against North Carolina and against us in the past. Quarterback draw we really expect because it's hurt us in the past. Expect the unexpected, but it's not going to slow the pass rush at all."

• On being ranked No. 25 by the AP Poll, Narduzzi shrugged it off as something he expects his players to not care too much about. He noted how the lack of two conferences involved change everything and that he wants his players to stay hungry.

"It really doesn't matter," Narduzzi said of being ranked. "I don't want our kids looking at it. I'd rather be disrespected like we've been and play with a chip on our shoulder. We know what kind of football team we have here. It doesn't matter what people think on the outside, it matters what we do on the field. If theres' less conferences out there, it doesn't matter. If there's less people playing, it matters less this year than it mattered a year ago. Our job is to go out there and win football games on Saturdays."