Progress — whether it’s in football or another walk of life — is sometimes seen in the smallest, almost imperceptible moments, and for Pat Narduzzi, such an instance arrived on Wednesday.
At a preseason practice, one of a seemingly endless stream of them, the Pitt football coach noticed something from perhaps his most important player. As the Panthers’ offense worked against their defense during a blitz period, junior quarterback Kenny Pickett surveyed the field as a group of defenders charged toward him. Even in a practice, where Pickett has the benefit of a red jersey that prevents him from being hit, it’s an unnerving situation, one designed to fluster a passer and force him into an ill-advised decision.
Narduzzi watched as Pickett looked to the left, where he couldn’t find anything suitable, before quickly and calmly turning to the other side of the field and firing a dart to wide receiver Taysir Mack. To Narduzzi, it was an encouraging sign.
“That’s probably the hardest thing for a quarterback to do, to have trust in receivers, if they’re going to turn around,” he said. “He threw the ball before the receiver came out of the break. Those are all things that take time.”
If Pitt hopes to make progress after a 2018 season that saw it win a division title, it will need more signs like that from a quarterback whose development will have a large say in how far his team goes.
After an understated and largely disappointing sophomore season — one in which the Panthers relied far more on their running backs’ legs than their quarterback’s arm — Pickett enters the 2019 season as the team’s firmly entrenched starter. Armed with a new offensive coordinator in Mark Whipple, as well as all that he gained and endured in his first 15 college starts, the 6-foot-2 New Jersey native is hopeful he’ll take some much-needed steps in his maturation at the position.
“I can’t really put it all into words in a quick interview, but really just being mentally tough, I would say,” Pickett said Thursday of what he learned last season. “I’ve become a lot stronger mentally when it comes to handling adversity and knowing how to bounce back and rallying the team and getting behind our teammates. I think my leadership has taken the next step in that way.”
The general perception around Pickett has changed from where it was 12 months ago, when he was a mostly unproven sophomore who carried with him the promise he showed in his lone start, a 10-point victory against then-No. 2 Miami in the season finale.
Pickett struggled at times with accuracy last season, completing 58.1 percent of his passes and averaging just 6.4 yards per attempt, and threw for more than 200 yards in a game just once. Part of that came from an offense that discovered a productive identity midway through the season in a ground-and-pound approach built around running backs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall, but Pickett’s statistical regression also reduced him to a much smaller role. In his team’s final two games — the ACC championship against Clemson and the Sun Bowl against Stanford, both losses — he completed only 15 of his 45 passes for 144 yards, the nadir of which came with an eight-yard effort against Clemson.
Due in part to those shortcomings, Narduzzi fired offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and replaced him with Whipple, a veteran coach with an extensive history of orchestrating successful passing attacks. Pickett has been working with his new coordinator, who is also the quarterbacks coach, since he was hired in January, absorbing a new playbook and strengthening his rapport with his receivers.
“We’re getting better in all phases, and Kenny I’m sure looks better,” Narduzzi said. “Does he look so much that you can see it? You can take someone's freshman body and look at him, and then all of a sudden they slim down and they have a V to their body now. But with a quarterback that's already pretty darn good looking, I mean, he still looks good. I'm sure he's got more confidence.”
Teammates, too, have noticed a difference.
“He has really calmed down,” senior quarterback Jeff George Jr. said. “I think the game has slowed down for him. That happens with all guys. Granted, he had some playing experience the year before last year, but he was the guy last year. He has had a chance to settle his feet and really take in how college football really is. He’s doing an unbelievable job.”
After an offseason in which he participated in the famed Manning Passing Academy, where he was lauded by none other than Peyton Manning himself, there’s a tangible belief that Pickett can improve, particularly in a system ostensibly more conducive to his success. With a deep group of wide receivers providing him with any number of options, his passing numbers should improve.
Behind a rebuilt offensive line, which lost four starters, and with a new group of lead running backs behind him, Pickett’s role will be larger than ever. He’s ready for the challenge.
“I worked really hard in the offseason, not just on myself, but with the group of receivers,” Pickett said. “As you guys watched, the routes are pretty crisp. Seven on seven and team periods, the timing is there. We have that part down pretty good right now.”
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: August 15, 2019, 8:38 p.m.
