WATCH: Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Details Expectations for Final Week of Camp

PITTSBURGH - Pitt was outside at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in the midst of the "dog days" of fall camp, as head coach Pat Narduzzi said.

The season is within sight, but that doesn't mean Narduzzi expects any less of his team during the final week of camp. Narduzzi spoke to the media Wednesday morning before practice about his expectations, how the offensive line is shaping up on the interior and the guys he has to worry about going "too hard" during practice.

Here's everything that Narduzzi said Wednesday morning:

Opening remarks:

"The practice number is — I'm getting on losing count. This is No. 17 today. We're in pads today, but it won't be much live stuff. But yesterday wasn't live either with shells. Gotta do a better job. You guys watch a little bit of inside period yesterday, we gotta stay up off the ground. But we had a good day yesterday. I’m happy with what we saw, what we got. And our guys, today is a big day because it's a mental day. I think we get into the dog days of camp. It's like, let’s just get through them. And I told the guys this morning, I expect more. I expect even more today. You know, you start to feel sorry for yourselves this time of year. You know, like, when’s this game coming, when are we gonna get to hit somebody new? And then it comes down to really take care of ourselves and and have more details out there. So to me, we can make big strides here in the next three days. If we can push through and mentally help us get that done."

How is the kicking competition unfolding?

"I feel really good. I feel really good. … I'll talk kicker tomorrow a little bit more. But James London’s been really good. He's been good. Trey Butkowski has done a really nice job. So he's competing. Sam had a good care. Not as good as he was in spring. That sometimes happens with kickers. So, we’ll see what will happen today. And, hopefully, I'll get you a little more information."

Where is Keith Gouveia playing on the offensive line?

"Keith looks great. He looks really good to me. He had played center and then, two days, it was one or two days — he had a maximum of two days and was in spiders. But he didn't get to practice guard. And he went in the first scrimmage and he was playing center. That's not easy for anybody to do. That's a totally different position. You know, holding onto the ball and snapping, making calls and then move back. We saw what we thought in the second scrimmage about how good he was. And like I said, pass protection actually was great. He's all part of that. Again, we talked with the guard play, and he solidifies that group up front at that guard spot. But we gotta be ready for change because it happens and we will be ready this year."

How does the depth at guard look?

"Isaiah Montgomery’s stacked the last couple days. He had good scrimmages, he's playing fast, and we just keep him to consistently do that all the time and not give us an up and down. You were getting ready to ask about Torian Chester. He looks good when he's with the threes, all of a sudden, you move up to twos, it becomes like, oh, shoot. You know? I think the more reps we get with him in there, I think the better he’ll get. But we'll see. So we've kind of rotated Jackson Brown in there to just see what the combinations are. Talked yesterday about moving (Ryan) Carretta in there."

How has Deuce Spann separated himself at wide receiver?

"Deuce Spann’s had a nice camp. I don't know if you saw it yesterday. He just keeps getting better and better. He had at least three nice deep ball catches, which at 6-foot-4, whatever he is, he’s a heck of a lot taller than me. You just wanna see that dude go up and get the ball. He snagged three yesterday, which I hadn’t seen him do in one practice. And that's the ability. He's a big target that, you get a little corner out there, it's a major mismatch. An average-sized 6-foot corner still should be a mismatch, but if he can play at 7-foot and go up and reach and get that ball, that's what we wanna see. And he showed that yesterday, but we need to get that consistently, you know, consistently see that every day."

Will Deuce Spann be involved with kick returns?

"He is. He's back there kickoff returns. I think he had 353 yards in kick returns a year ago for Florida State. He can he can motor. He can run. He can run. We can get ball in his hands in screen. He can block. And again, that deep ball is what we'd like to see him do, too."

Did Deuce Spann have to make any changes to play WR after starting at QB?

"Not really. Not not for me. Again, we got him later in life. It's been a long time since he was a quarterback at Illinois. And, you know, went Florida State and played receiver obviously. And now he’s a receiver here. So, yeah, it was a long time … He has aspirations of playing in the National Football League like they all do, but we want to help him get there if he pays attention to technique and fundamentals and just keeps getting better. He's just a super kid. We just love that kid."

How has Allen Bryant looked during fall camp?

"Allen Bryant, he had a pretty good, he had a good scrimmage, I wouldn’t say pretty good. He had a good scrimmage. He's up and down, but … He’s kind of had some up and down days, but we moved Jesse (Anderson) to receiver because Allen Bryant’s doing well. So, he's not gonna be perfect back there. There's a lot of things running at you. You know, we see a lot of different pass offense, different stuff that we see. I think he’ll be great when we get into game planning, and getting into, ‘Hey, this is what we're doing this week and slimming the package down,’ because we have all kinds of offense and defense in at this point, but we'll start to narrow it down here next week and see what they do. But Allen Bryant has been solid. I’m happy with where he is, a lot happier than what we were in spring because he only had one practice."

How has Cole Woodson looked in his first fall camp?

"Cole is really put together. He looks beautiful. I wish I looked like that as a freshman. He had a really nice scrimmage here. Now he's still young, he’s still learning. But Cole's gonna be a really, really good football player for us. I like where he's at right now as a freshman. He got some major reps. He had interception the other day, don’t know if I mentioned that."

What does Pat Narduzzi expect out of Eli Holstein the leader?

"He's a quarterback, right? Expect him to lead our team. We voted for Eagles last night. And, you know, his numbers just keep going up as far as just who’s voting for him and all that. But just keep leading, doing what you're doing. You know, what I don't wanna do is ask too much from him. You know? Like, he's a quarterback. You got enough on his plate, like, even the leadership stuff, that's great. Just, hey. Just be the quarterback. Right? I mean, that's your leader in itself. Everybody's looking for you in the huddle. So, I just wanna continue to do what he does as a quarterback. Don't give him too much to do. Let him focus on being a quarterback, that’s the main thing. "

Who are the guys Pat Narduzzi has to watch out for?

"So, Manny Taylor is out of control. You know, he got someone in the private parts yesterday. You love his intensity. He's intense. He did it by accident, obviously. But, there was times during camp that, he's definitely — if we pulled up a late hit or not playing the tempo, he's one of them. Another linebacker, Justin Thompson, he's one of them. Brookins can get you a little bit. He’s always gonna get a hit in every once in a while, Cruce, but not overly bad. Who else? You know, Keith can be a little nasty up there. … Ghost. Ghost. I gotta worry about Ghost all the time. Ghost, stay away from the quarterback. Ghost. Isaiah Neal, that is. Ghost is a guy you gotta worry about upfront. Maverick Gracio, just staying away from the quarterback. You got some meatheads in there. Get take care of the meatheads. And, again, I love those guys because they got great energy all the time. But it's about the team. And we play we-fense here at Pitt. We don't just play offense. We just don't just play defense. We play we-fense here, so we gotta take care of we and make sure we're good that way."

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