Three Takeaways: Pitt Bringing Edge to Special Teams

The Pitt Panthers are looking to reinvent their special teams units.

Nov 4, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers place kicker Ben Sauls (90) kicks / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are drawing closer and closer to the end of spring ball and just how different this team will look compared to its 2023 self is becoming more clear by the day.

Pitt's special teams and the safeties are trying to reinvent themselves while the offense aims to strike back against the defense in the final jersey scrimmage of the spring season. Here are three takeaways on those topics from practice No. 11 of Panthers spring ball.

Turning Small Drips Into Big Splash
Most of the returners on this Pitt team, particularly on defense, feel like they weren't far away from being a better team, at least one that was on par with what Narduzzi-led teams have looked like during his first eight years in Pittsburgh. And one of the things that has historically separated good Pitt defenses from bad ones is splash plays, particularly turnovers, and last year was one of the worst year for takeaways in the Narduzzi era.

Pitt averaged 1.3 turnovers forced per game last season, tied for the third-worst single-season mark of the past nine seasons and allowed 27.3 points per game. 2023 broke a four-year streak of the Panthers allowing fewer than 25 points per game and in three of those four seasons, they averaged forced more than 1.5 tunrovers per game (the 2019 team was the lone exception with an opponent scoring average of 22.5 points while forcing 1.1 turnovers per game, councidentally the lowest mark of the Narduzzi era).

To that end, the goal of the defense at large - particularly the safeties - was to make more big plays and turn opponents over at a higher rate. P.J. O'Brien was the only safety to force a turnover last season but this spring, he and his group have TAKEAWAY stickers blanketing their helmets. Each of the "unofficial" top five in that room - O'Brien, Donovan McMillon, Javon McIntyre, Cruce Brookins and Jesse Anderson - have at least one, most have multiple and some even have as many as four. It's a step in the right direction that's been kickstarted by the little things - fine-tuning alignment, correcting footwork and watching more film, which all helps this group play faster and make more big plays, according to O'Brien.

“We still feel like we left a lot of plays out there on the field," O'Brien said. "So this year, we’re correcting the little stuff and trying to make more splash plays. That’s all we coach in our room, making more splash plays and getting it done.”

Special Teams Bringing An Edge
There's a new special teams coordinator in town and he's been tasked with a reviving a unit that has, over the last few years, been lackluster at times and even cost its team wins on some occasion. To get the Pitt special teams back on track, Jacob Bronowski has tried to reimagine the collective attitude towards special teams. These players aren't just filler to him. They can change games and offer a chance for growth for every player, so they demand everyone's best effort.

“All the time I tell the guys - you have to be selfish about your own success. You’ve got to go out there and have a little bit of an edge going about stuff.” Bronowski said. “I think this year, from what I’ve heard, there’s been more competition in special teams, so that’s how that edge is going to be developed because at the end of the day, special teams is a lot of time and space, it’s huge chunks of yardage being exchanged every time you step on the field and it’s about winning your one-on-one matchup. … Then it all comes down to technique and effort.”

It's had a top-to-bottom effect on this team, from the players through the coaches. Punt coverage and return drills are all-encompassing, with every player from every corner on the depth chart (except for the offensive and defensive linemen that only appear on place-kicking reps) being ordered to participate. Narduzzi's even had to pull a couple of players off the sideline by yelling "This is for everyone," and Bronowski's seen that pay off in how players buy in.

"I think right now we have a great culture of energy in our special teams meetings everyday and it’s translating out on the field," he said. "It’s not coming just from the youth. There are older guys who are proven players who still buy in right now on [special teams] and that pulls the younger guys along.”

Can Offense Respond In Last Scrimmage?
The Panthers will have one more chance to compete in a jersey scrimmage before the Blue and Gold game next weekend and the offense is sitting in an 0-2 hole to the defense after their first two live meetings at Acrisure Stadium.

When the Panthers clash with one another in the spring game, it will be disjointed. The reinstitution of the draft will leave depth chart's jumbled, units separated and much of the chemistry that players on either side of the ball developed with one another will be left to the wayside. It really won't be a great time to evaluate how far this team as come, making jersey scrimmage No. 3 the last chance coaches have to see what kind of progress their players have made.

The offense, breaking in a new system, has said they're falling victim to turnovers too frequently and perhaps looking for the home run swings too often when singles are available for the taking. The offense is clearly still a work in progress and they have limited chances remaining this spring to strike back against a defense that appears to have gained the upper hand 11-on-11 work so far this year.

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