CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Pat Narduzzi first saw the uniform growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, as a coach's son. The team about an hour-and-a-half away had an unmistakable look.
The blue. The gold. The script "Pitt" on the helmet. Now that the Panthers have brought that Crayola combination back for good, the fourth-year coach hopes that design coincides with a program revival. Pitt reached the ACC championship game for the first time in 2018, but also lost its last three games of the season.
"Those colors — again, a uniform is not going to win us any games — but they talk about, 'Look good, play good,' and I love the colors," Narduzzi said at the ACC Kickoff on July 18. "The best thing about the new uniform is the new logo. The new Panther logo. I love that logo. … I think it's going to last for a long time."
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The Panther logo is straight-ahead with its eyes forward, but those throwback uniforms still evoke memories of the past, of legends such as Tony Dorsett, Bill Fralic, Dan Marino and Hugh Green. Pitt receiver Maurice Ffrench watches highlights of those teams from time to time. It's still a bar this team sees every day at the facility.
"They were about hard-nosed football," Ffrench said. "That's what we're trying to bring back. We're Pitt, and we're going to try to smack you in the mouth. Watching film from back in the day, Pitt back then in that yellow and blue didn't play."
How Narduzzi meshes that past with the present and future of this program will determine Pitt's next turn. Ffrench and cornerback Dane Jackson also spent several hours this summer watching film of last year's ACC championship game — a 42-10 loss to Clemson that showed how far the program needs to rise above tight competition in the ACC Coastal to become a true College Football Playoff contender.
Clemson offered that reality check in Charlotte. The Panthers trailed 14-10 with 7:56 left in the first half before the Tigers flexed with two touchdowns before halftime. That loss was part of a streak-filled 7-7 season.
What happened when the team arrived back on campus? Ffrench said he hit the JUGS machine the following day. Jackson studied film of Clemson receiver Tee Higgins, who scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to break the game open. Jackson recalled watching Clemson come out on the field.
They had confidence. They looked good, and played better.
"We got there and getting there is not enough," Jackson said. "Clemson is a great team. They did a great job in the game, but we have bigger goals for this year. Hopefully we can finish out strong. That's what we are working toward, every day, right now."
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Narduzzi is 20-12 in ACC play, but that also includes an out-of-conference mark of 8-12. It won't be easier this year against nonconference opponents against Ohio, UCF and Penn State. The improvement since Narduzzi's arrival is tangible, however, and there's hope that reaching the conference championship game will have a similar effect to his time as defensive coordinator at Michigan State: In 2011, the Spartans lost a 42-39 thriller to Russell Wilson-led Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. Two years later, Michigan State beat undefeated Ohio State 34-24 in the same spot before winning the Rose Bowl.
"There's something to being there before," Narduzzi said. "Clemson has been there before. You hear about it all the time, but sometimes attitudes are hard to change, and sometimes people are just happy to be there. That's gone now. We've already done that. The only way to be happy now is to win that game."
Narduzzi spent a chunk of his availability answering questions about Clemson and the gap between the Tigers and the rest of the ACC. Narduzzi insisted the conference helped prepare the Tigers, who were more than ready for the Playoff. He also said the Panthers "aren't that far off," despite the final reading on the scoreboard.
"Clemson is good," Narduzzi said. "They've got good players. They're good. They've been beaten, too. I think a couple of years ago we might have beat them down at their home."
Narduzzi's backhanded praise alludes to Pitt's 43-42 victory at Death Valley in 2016 — the Tigers' last home loss. In that game, quarterback Nathan Peterman finished 22 of 37 for 308 yards and five touchdowns. If the Panthers are going to compete with Clemson, then they need better quarterback play.
Pitt quarterbacks combined for 24 touchdowns and 16 interceptions the last two seasons, and second-year starter Kenny Pickett is on the spot in 2019. That's where new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple comes in. Narduzzi recalled a time when he was an assistant coach at Rhode Island in the 1990s and a game where Whipple — then head coach at Brown — stumped him from a schematic standpoint. Narduzzi wouldn't reveal the how or when of that game other than to say, "Go watch the tape."
But he knows what he expects from Whipple now.
"The only thing I can tell you about Mark Whipple, and I look at Kenny Pickett, he has a ton of talent," Narduzzi said. "One of the reasons I hired Mark Whipple was every quarterback I saw that guy coach, I've always said, 'He turned them into gold.'"
As Ffrench puts it, "(Whipple) just knows when and what time to get the right guys the ball."
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Whipple joins second-year defensive coordinator Randy Bates under Narduzzi on a team that was finished to pick fourth in the ACC Coastal in the preseason poll. The Panthers have a chance to prove that wrong in the opener against preseason Coastal favorite Virginia at Heinz Field.
"I think there's an urgency from our kids knowing that, 'Hey, we don't have time to mess around and maybe be ready or we still gotta clean this up,'" Narduzzi said. "The biggest change isn't going to be with the coaches and the separation. It's with the kids and the attitude. They know this is a huge game."
Ffrench and Jackson spoke at length about the "brotherhood" this year's team has formed since the Clemson loss, and that included a players-only trip to Sandcastle Water Park in Pittsburgh. Ffrench said this team seems tighter than last year's. They'll look good in the new uniforms.
This year's Panthers promise to play even better, too.
"As long as I've been here, we've always been the underdog," Ffrench said. "I don't pay attention to the media or anything like that. They can keep counting out all they want. We'll be ready to play."
