Konata Mumpfield's Early Effort Earns Leadership Role for Pitt Football
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PITTSBURGH -- Every year, the Pitt Panthers select a new crop of leaders. Separate from the smaller group of team captains, the EAGLES is comprised of 11 players, two players from each class plus three super seniors, elected by their peers to represent them in deliberations with the coaching staff. These men have to be smart, articulate and - above all else - trusted by their teammates.
These positions are typically filled by tenured stars, players who know their teammates and the Pitt program intimately - you're not likely to find a new arrival among them. So the fact that transfer receiver Konata Mumpfield was elected to be a 2022 EAGLE is all the more surprising.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi said that for a first-year transfer to do that is relatively rare, but training camp confines players to the team hotel and practice facility for long hours everyday. There's a lot of time together compressed into less than month.
"It's happened before," Narduzzi said. "It's been 26 days and you get a new roommate, you're in the hotel with somebody different, people start to see who you are in camp. We're here at 6 am ... and they're here until 9 o'clock at night. So they spend a lot of time together and they get to know who's who."
Clearly Mumpfield's teammates have figured out who he is - not just a talented player but a devoted member of this team with high aspirations for the 2022 campaign. He's making every effort to endear himself to this new program, so much so that his coaches have had to request he ease up.
Mumpfield said he felt pressure to prove himself on the field and endear himself to his teammates through hard play. In fact, he made so many diving attempts to catch passes that Narduzzi told him to hold up and protect his body for when the plays really count.
"He told me to go ahead and just stop doing that, stay healthy" Mumpfield said. "It's one of those things where you come out, it's a new team, fall camp and you feel like you have to prove yourself."
Mumpfield is undoubtably a talented player. He was named a freshmen All-American after his stellar rookie season at Akron and has drawn rave reviews for his athleticism, ball skills and route running throughout summer training camp. But to earn a spot on his team's leadership council required added effort for Mumpfield, who's been a Panther for all of about five months, three of which didn't feature official team practices.
But these changes have come more easily to Mumpfield than one might expect. He had an old friend and training parter Bub Means, a fellow transfer, waiting for him in Pittsburgh upon arrival. The new offense has come naturally after he mastered a similar system at Akron. Even the looming season opener, a date with rival West Virginia at a sold-out Acrisure Stadium, doesn't intimidate the talented sophomore who played in front of massive crowds at Ohio Stadium and Jordan-Hare Stadium .
Mumpfield is still throwing all of himself into this team and this season. He's finding every opportunity he can to touch the football, be it as a receiver or kick and punt returner all while trying to absorb as much knowledge as he can from the older pass-catchers around him.
Senior Jared Wayne said Mumpfield is still keeping his head down and his work reflects a humble attitude that has made him a natural fit in his new home at Pitt.
"He's a great guy, very humble. Comes in and works everyday. We've gotten pretty close over the offseason and I'm really excited about what he's going to show and what he'll add to our group this year."
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