College football is officially back as Pat Narduzzi ran his first fall practice as Pitt Panther head coach.
Here are a few notes from today’s practice:
**Freshman Jordan Whitehead practiced today as a safety not as a cornerback. He also was part of a rotation of players returning punts. Here’s Cornerbacks coach Renaldo Hill on Whitehead: “He’s a freshman but he has a lot of talent. You can definitely see that and our job as coaches is to enhance that talent, enhance his understanding of the defense. I’m happy with how the first day of practice went with him.”
**With redshirt sophomore Jaryd Jones-Smith out for the season, here was the first team offensive line: Adam Bisnowaty, Dorian Johnson, Artie Rowell, Alex Officer and Alex Bookser
**Safety Pat Amara was only player to miss part of the practice. Afterwards, Narduzzi said that Amara had a scheduled doctor’s appointment and expected him to be a full participant tomorrow.
**Brian O’Neil has moved from tight end to offensive guard. Offensive line coach John Peterson commented on him after practice. “He was a guy that had a finger injury in the spring so we really didn’t know what we were going to get. He’s a committed football player. He’s really changed his body and is buying in to that ‘big-man’ mentality. He did a great job this summer. He committed to dieting and training.”
Here are some local recruiting notes from today:
—Central Catholic DT Rashad Wheeler made a verbal commitment to Pitt. Wheeler made the announcement on KDKA TV live with Rich Walsh. He listed his comfort level with Narduzzi as a big reason for selecting Pitt. Said his next job was to try and recruit other local players especially his teammate cornerback Damar Hamlin.
—Speaking of Hamlin, the big-time cornerback attended Pitt’s practice today. Doesn’t mean Hamlin will pick Pitt but it’s a positive sign that he wanted to view Narduzzi’s first practice. I’m being told that it might be down to Pitt and Notre Dame for Hamlin.
—2017 Central Catholic linebacker David Adams picked up an offer today from Stanford. Ranked the #2 LB in the entire country for the Class of 2017.
—Within the hour, I spoke with DE Zack Gilbert (Charlotte, NC) who told me, “Yes, I’m closing up recruiting.” Gilbert then told me that he’s narrowed his list down to 3 schools: Pitt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. I believe there’s a chance Gilbert decides this week.