In the 2021 season, the Clemson Tigers suffered only two ACC losses. One of the losses was at the hands of the University of Pittsburgh led by first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett.
The Clemson Insider was able to catch up with Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, offensive tackle Carter Warren, linebacker Sirvocea Dennis and defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre to get an insight to their approach for the 2022 football season.
Often it is said that getting to the top is a journey, but staying at the top is the struggle. Pitt enters the new season as the reigning champion. The previous six years, Clemson had claimed the crown of ACC champion, holding a lockdown dominance on the league only to be halted by Pitt’s breakthrough in the previous season.
Fans across the ACC were shocked when the Panthers beat Clemson 27-17 on their home turf only for the Panthers to continue on to beat Wake Forest in Bank of America Stadium for the league crown. Narduzzi addressed the shock with the following comment, “I think Dabo (Swinney) made a comment yesterday about everybody talks about Clemson had a down year, and he is exactly right. People need to wake up. How about the teams that are getting better? I think Pittsburgh is getting better, so we’ll start there,” when the Panthers were ranked to finish fourth in the Coastal Division at the beginning of the 2021 season.
A proverbial chip lies on their shoulder with the primary focus on the intention of defending their ACC title. Narduzzi addressed these circumstances by saying, “That’s always a challenge, but I would rather have that challenge than be sitting at the bottom trying to get my way up the ladder. But it’s never easy I think.”
Which is the mentality the Panthers possess when it comes to Saturdays on the field. An asset Pitt has this season is that a large portion of returners will suit up for the Panthers once again.
Offensively, there are open positions at quarterback, wide receiver and tight end. However, the Panthers are prepared to fill the void with the return of its top three running backs, two wide receivers and the addition of two top transfers. Narduzzi quickly voiced his opinion with, “I think we’ve got a good football team returning.”
From a coaching perspective, Mark Whipple and Brennan Marion have bid Pitt farewell only to be replaced by incoming offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti Jr. and passing-game coordinator and wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood. On the news of new additions to the team, quarterback transfer from the University of Southern California, Kedon Slovis, enters the battle against Nick Patti to battle for Pickett’s starting spot.
When addressing the battle of the quarterbacks, Narduzzi stated, “Replacing Kenny is never easy. Kenny Pickett was an outstanding football player. He was the leader of our football team.” Building off of this statement, Narduzzi addressed the battle of the quarterbacks by saying, “Those two guys are battling. They both had great springs. I think we can win a lot of games with both of them. I think that we’ll have a very, very competitive August at camp with them.”
With an unfortunate postseason injury to Patti, many Panther fans believe that the starting quarterback position is to the advantage of Slovis. Although the Tigers do not face Pitt in the regular season, it is possible the two may see each other in the ACC Championship.
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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