Marcus Minor Spearheads Player-Led Pitt OL Unit
PITTSBURGH -- When the Pitt Panthers hit the midway point of the season - conveniently timed to be their bye week - they also suffered a major blow to their offensive line. Carter Warren, a three-year starter at offensive tackle, has suffered a knee injury and will not play again this season. For a team that's been hampered by major injuries for most of the 2022 season, this is nothing new but that didn't make losing Warren any less devastating.
With that news in mind, offensive guard Marcus Minor, who played right next to Warren for the past two years, felt like he needed to rally his position unit. So he took time after practice during the open week, after offensive line coach Dave Borbley had left, to hammer home that Pitt still has goals in front of them, so their work from here on out only gets more and more consequential.
“I was just saying that we had six games left and we have to do everything within our might to get to where we want to be," Minor said. "We always know that we want to go win a championship so we got to watch extra film, we got to do the little things right, we got to make sure our details are perfect. We know that not everything is going to be perfect, but we’re chasing excellence."
The real substance of Minor said is fairly obvious - with a wide-open division and conference in front of them, the Panthers have everything left to play for despite holding two losses, but their margin for error is slim so extra focus is required. What is notable is that Minor's instinct to pick his team up came from a simple feeling.
Minor has played a lot of football and helped this program reach its highest heights in decades last season. He knows what it takes to win and that the challenge only gets harder as the year wears on. His coaches are keenly aware of that as well and it's why Borbley was so willing to let go of the reigns and allow Minor to lead his teammates.
It didn't come naturally - this is something Borbley has had to cultivate carefully among his players this season. Typically, he will lead a film study meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday nights but prior to the Virginia Tech game two weeks ago, Borbley backed off and allowed the players to direct themselves.
"One night - it was before Tennessee - I happen to be in there and they said ‘Coach, we’ll be back tomorrow.’," Borbley said. "And I kind of ran the meeting. And I didn’t want to go down that path but I did probably for the next two weeks … The Tuesday before the Virginia Tech game, I said ‘Listen, I want you to watch this, this and this. If you have any questions, come see me.’ So they came in here and I want it to be player-led."
Borbley does that for a reason. He thinks self-directed players create the strongest units and teams and Minor agrees. The freedom Minor felt to take control of what they do in the classroom has spilled over onto the field and into moments like last week's, where he feels empowers to speak up when the moment demands it.
“That’s exactly what it is, trust," Minor said. "Being able to trust the older guys to step up and do exactly what that is. Player-led teams are the best teams so if we’re able to lead and do what we need to do, at the end of the day we’ll reach our goals.”
Minor called life as an offensive line "messy", which means they need to be able to build the kind of trust that survives breakdowns, injuries and whatever result comes of that week's game. Letting them take ownership of their own preparation does that, according to Minor and that's why he felt so compelled to challenge his teammates with greater responsibility for the unit and team's success.
“I’ve done it last year," Minor said. "You do it when you feel like your team needs it so I felt like I just explained that we have major opportunities coming up and to reach where we want to reach, we need to be on the money so I just wanted to tell the guys that we need to be on our screws.”
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