Physical Changes Helping Pitt LB Brandon George Battle for Starting Job
PITTSBURGH -- He missed the season opener, an all-time classic win over West Virginia and returned only to reinjure himself three weeks later. 2022 was far from a banner year for Pitt Panthers linebacker Brandon George, who missed a total of eight games before returning for the bowl game.
Back for a fifth and final season at Pitt and fighting for a starting spot, George has a reinvented body and a wealth of experience in the Panthers' system on his side. Head coach Pat Narduzzi expects the best year of his college career to come as a finale.
“He’s got all kinds of juice to him. It was tough in [2022]," Narduzzi said. "He was hurt, then he came back, then he got hurt again and re-injured it. So I don’t think anyone saw the Brandon George they’ll see in 2023.”
George is leaner and just as mean. The linebacker known for delivering punishing hits is down 15 pounds. He expects to hit just as hard but move better, introduce some positional versatility to his game and avoid injuries more easily. A battle for a starting linebacker job is raging daily at Pitt's practices and George, who's in the thick of that competition, has put himself in the best position to win it.
“I feel like I can definitely go for longer," George said. "I think that was my problem in spring ball a little bit and you can probably see that a little bit against UCLA. I got tired quickly. I don’t have all that issue, all that weight’s gone, we’re a lean, mean fighting machine.”
On the first day of full pads, George popped during team drills, shooting the gap and wrestling 210-pound tailback Derrick Davis for a loss in the backfield on one occasion, a reflection of both his smarts and physical improvements.
“Brandon’s a smart player, played a lot of football here at Pitt and I’m excited about his maturity," Pitt linebackers coach Ryan Manalac said. "He’s really a heady guy, knows what he’s doing on the football field, understands the big picture, and physically he’s taken an important step this summer leaning out."
Manalac says George is cross-training to give the unit more options and help himself see the field more often, but he's a prime candidate to start at MIKE, a position in the middle of the defense left vacant by three-time All-ACC selection SirVocea Dennis. It's a position that demands the size and physicality to plug gaps and the intelligence to make checks and calls prior to the snap, so George's experience has him at the top of Manalac's list to replace Dennis.
"Right now I feel really good about Shayne [Simon] and Brandon’s ability to have that intelligence, to have that command and leadership and I think the guys in the room trust them to do that," Manalac said.
It's a tall order to replace a player with Dennis' resume, but George appears up to the task. He's also not shouldering it alone, relying on his fellow linebacker to make himself and each other better so the room doesn't miss a beat.
“Obviously it’s hard to replace a guy like Voss," George said. "Played a lot of snaps, did very well obviously, drafted, playing with the Buccaneers, that’s obviously hard to fill but I feel like we’ve done a great job doing that this offseason.”
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