Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Teases New Spring Game Format

The Pitt Panthers' spring game will look different, but be more exciting, according to head coach Pat Narduzzi.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' spring game has followed the same format for all of Pat Narduzzi's tenure as head coach. The team is split in half, coordinators draft the rest of the coaches, seniors draft the rest of the players and the ball is rolled out for a mostly-live game with shortened quarters, limited hits on quarterbacks and muted special teams execution. 

Some of that will stay the same this year, but Narduzzi and his staff are enacting some major changes to the annual spring exhibition this year. The biggest difference will be the elimination of the draft but he is keeping what he promises to be exciting alterations to the format close to his vest for now. 

“There won’t be a draft so we won’t do the draft tomorrow. The kids don’t know what the format will be yet so I’ll just kind of hold and sleep on it. … It’ll be competitive. You won’t be watching individual drills. It’ll be a game.”

Narduzzi's main objective is to try and create some more even matchups between sides in this game. Often, the draft has created uneven teams and in order to put best on best, the teams will be hand-picked. 

"I like the draft, it’s fun," he said. "We come in here and do it and we’ve done it for years and years and years but there’s just sometimes some mismatches that you don’t want to see. I’d rather it’d be a cleaner scrimmage and stay safe at the same time. The good thing is the draft keeps them safer but our guys are smart enough to do it the right way.”

In addition to some tangible benefits for his coaching staff, who will have to evaluate the players and their performances on the field, Narduzzi thinks the team will deliver an entertaining couple of hours of football for the fans who come out to Acrisure Stadium this weekend. In fact, he promised a more exciting game than those in the past. 

“They’ll be more excited about this game," Narduzzi said. "I’d encourage everybody to come out. They’ll be more excited about this game than in the past, I think, just because you’re going to have a little bit of a different deal so I’ll leave it at that.”

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