Pitt's starters in the secondary are the most experienced group of its football program. Three starters in redshirt junior Paris Ford, redshirt senior captain Damar Hamlin and senior Jason Pinnock have each been on the team since 2017 and playing experience together since 2018.
That experience has led to them having a lot of confidence and being an inspirational spark for the other position groups on the team, as Pinnock described Wednesday via Zoom.
"It starts in practice," Pinnock said about how they've become leaders for the team. "We've always been the room that brings that energy from warmups to practice to the field. We know that the whole team feeds off the DB room. We love that and we love the responsibility because we love to bring that energy for the whole game. You have to learn who your teammates are that some guys stick to theirselves, but other guys need to be talked to to get them going."
Hamlin was voted as team captain and came back with Ford, who could've been an early round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, and both have solidified a group that makes defensive backs coach Archie Collins happy to work every day.
"I was excited," Collins said Wednesday via Zoom when asked about how he reacted to getting Hamlin and Ford back in 2020. "See the big smile on my face right now? It's fun watching those guys work every day. We're excited seeing both Hamlin and Ford come back. But now we have to show it. We have to show all the experience we have coming back and make plays. Week in and week out, make plays, show great fundamentals, great technique, great communication and play with a lot of toughness, that's what you'll see from us."
But it's not just his safeties, because Collins knows he can lean on Pinnock too when the time comes. Pitt likes to move their secondary around a lot to provide different looks and play with their own version of organized chaos at times. Collins sees Pinnock's developed skills as a source of dependability for what Pitt does across its defense.
"It's good to have a guy like Jason Pinnock," Collins said. "I love to have a guy like him in practice. He comes to work every day, works his tail off and it's inspiring to see him flying around every day in practice. He does a lot of great things fundamentally, as well as good technique. When we have an opportunity to leave him one-on-one, I say go ahead and do it. But he's going to play within these scheme of the defense as well. He does a very good job for us adjusting to the scheme and situation. I'm pleased on where he is this year."
Pinnock's only official stats to his name are two tackles, but that's because he hasn't been targeted that much by Austin Peay or Syracuse. The one time he's been in the range of a big play was on a 69-yard touchdown to Taj Harris that Pat Narduzzi absolved Pinnock of responsibility of on Monday.
The fact that he's not being targeted has been a good sign for Pitt that he's locking his side down. But he's excited to go up against Louisville's dual threat at wide receiver in speed receiver junior Tutu Atwell and the big-bodied redshirt senior Dez Fitzpatrick.
"We love the challenge each week," Pinnock said about his approach to Saturday's Noon kickoff against Louisville at Heinz Field. "We know they have a great slot guy (Atwell), but as far as Fitzpatrick, he's a big guy. I finally get somebody my size. Last week I got a smaller guy receiver last week who challenged me to move my feet. This time it's big on big and that's something I like."
Pinnock stands at 6-feet, 200 lbs. against Fitzpatrick at 6-foot-2, 210 lbs. Fitzpatrick has the size advantage and the tenth most receiving yards in the NCAA heading into week three.
But Pinnock also spoke about how it's not necessarily just Louisville's athletes they're preparing for, but also the schematics on how the Cardinals use their athletes. Louisville uses a lot of pre-snap motion to open up more options for redshirt junior Malik Cunningham, who has the second-most passing yards and the most passing touchdowns in the NCAA heading into this week.
"They like to get their athletes in space, get there players in motion, expand out and that's how they avoid press coverage. That's something we've stressed with all their motions and unbalanced formations to win the numbers game. Communication on the back-end is going to be huge this week and I'd like to see how when we're tested in our knowledge how we react as a room. It's always something to deal with a dual threat quarterback. He's going to extend plays and keep his eyes up. We have to extend coverage, keep our eyes up, lock onto our man and that's what we're emphasized to keep him contained."
Collins also expressed admiration for what Louisville does on offense, but also a confidence based in Pitt's experience in the secondary to take on the challenge.
"Malik's got a really good arm," Collins said of Louisville's quarterback. "He's got a lot of velocity on his passes, he's got a good professional read system he can work through. He does a good job for them. He has good completion percentages as well, he's leading their team well. We know he'll throw the ball on the run. We have to do a good job bottling him up, closing down his rush lanes as he reads his progressions and stay on our guys. Lock those guys down when he does scramble and know we can't come out of our coverage."
"Tutu and Fitzpatrick are great players," Collins continued about the Louisville offense. "But we have to continue to do what we're doing. We're playing with a lot of confidence right now. These guys have a lot of confidence having played together a lot and these guys can make adjustments on the field and on the sideline. They really work well with each other."
The two that work really well together are Ford and Hamlin. Ford leads the team with two interceptions and both are comfortable playing deep or jumping up to cover the slot, where Atwell will be lining up.
"I like Damar Hamlin and Paris Ford in coverage against these guys," Collins said. "They're going to be a great challenge for us because Tutu is a great player. We're going to have a lot of fun covering that guy. Can't wait for Saturday. Damar has been doing it for some time in the slot. He can see a lot from having so much game experience and change his technique based on guys he faces week in and week out. It's a huge luxury having a guy like him as well."
One luxury Pitt has is in its leaders that aren't even captains, and Pinnock embodies that. Collins noted how him and senior cornerback Damarri Mathis, who even injured, have been good influences and leaders during practices.
"Damarri Mathis and Pinnock have been great leaders for the team," Collins said. "They fed off each other all through camp and kept each other going. Damarii has been at practice talking to guys throughout practice, and Pinnock has stepped up his game even more. He understands, like Hamlin, with game experience he knows how important practice is to diagnose and approach each game with what they see on film. Those guys have played together for some time, so they can feed off each other back there. Most importantly we have to understand how teams try to attack us and how to adjust on the sideline during the game. We need to understand our check system we have to adjust to what other teams are trying to do so we don't have to wait until halftime before we make adjustments."
And the key for understanding all those checks and schemes is communication. Something Pinnock speaks confidently about when asked about his teammates in the secondary.
"We set a standard in our room," Pinnock said. "And the communication has to be a lot better this year because of our experience. We have a lot of veterans and that helps us talk about things pre-snap and be ready for when they snap the ball. I don't think there's really a ceiling for us. I think all three of us are high draft-able players. We're smart guys with plenty of experience from back in 2017 where we've been prepared for fast guys coming our way."
Those high expectations have also been helped by going against speedy receivers in practice from a deep receiver room on the other side of the ball for Pitt.
"We go against speed everyday in practice against our wide receivers," Collins said. "Those guys understand how to handle speed and every game they enjoy challenges. They're excited to play the guys that Louisville has right now."
Pinnock corroborated his coach's praise for how Pitt's receivers challenge the secondary in practice. He noted transfer senior receiver D.J. Turner for challenging him mentally each practice and even a freshman receiver's willingness to learn from every play.
"Turner came in and made an immediate impact," Pinnock said. "I like playing chess games and he's big on the knowledge aspect because he's a technician, he's very smart in his routes because he can read coverages post-snap. I love going against Turner, smart guy. Ayden Henningham is very receptive after every rep as a freshman too. I love that as a vet to see younger guys asking questions."
But of course, Pinnock had glowing things about the freshman everybody wants to talk about in Jordan Addison.
"3? Oh that'd be my go-to," Pinnock said when asked about people who were tough to cover in practice. "Ya'll can see that. Get him in the open field and get him the ball. I don't like to compare guys to other people, but he's our new Maurice Ffrench."
Collins also offered positive remarks on redshirt sophomore cornerback Marquis Williams, who will make his third start for Pitt against Louisville.
"Marquis Williams is doing well," Collins said. "He's known over the past couple years he has to pick his knowledge up and he's shown that. He's coming in each week understanding new things we're trying to get across to him. He's starting to see those little things and it's starting to show on Saturdays."
"Marquis always had that veteran mentality," Pinnock added. "We knew when we threw him in the fire he was going to come out alive. He's scrappy."
Another young defensive back Collins noted was redshirt sophomore safety Erick Hallett, who plays both safety and corner for the Panthers' defense and is the only other Pitt defender outside of Ford to record an interception in 2020.
"Hallett is a very smart individual," Collins said. "It's been a luxury to have a guy like him that can play corner and safety. He's had no issues with being moved around a lot in practice. We have a lot of confidence in him to do that in-game as well. He's a trustworthy guy with a lot of knowledge and a luxury to have on the team. Not everybody can do that."
Pitt will certainly need Pinnock, Ford, Hamlin, Hallett and company to all be smart players if they want to beat their first ranked team of the season and remain undefeated this Saturday.