When the Pitt football team opens the season this Saturday against Youngstown State, no one will… When the Pitt football team opens the season this Saturday against Youngstown State, no one will be happier to get back on the field than linebacker Adam Gunn.

The last time he suited up for a game was last year’s season opener against Bowling Green. For Gunn, that game was nearly his last in a blue-and-gold uniform.

During that game, Gunn and former Pitt linebacker Scott McKillop collided in a play during the second half. While McKillop was able to walk away from it, the collision left Gunn out for the rest of his senior season with a broken neck.

Even though he was restricted to the sidelines with a neck brace for nearly the whole season, he did not resign to the thought that he had played in his last game. Instead, he appealed to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.

“It was real tough. It was about a four-month [appeal] process,” Gunn said. “During the season we were getting all the paperwork together and then immediately following [the season] we started filing all the papers with a lot of different medical records and a lot of letters from a lot of different individuals.”

The NCAA does not give out sixth years of eligibility often and considers many variables when making its decision. Pitt fans know this all too well. Last summer the committee denied Mike Cook in his appeal to play a sixth season of college basketball.

Gunn, who graduated in April 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and rhetoric, is now a graduate student enrolled in the School of Public and International Affairs, and he’s excited to play another year of collegiate football for the Panthers.

“It was the best news I might’ve ever heard,” he said. “Coach Wannstedt gave me a call, and I couldn’t have been any happier.”

After coming back from any type of injury, an athlete is hesitant to receive the first hit of initial contact, but with something so sensitive as a neck injury it makes things a little harder.

“To be honest, I try not to think about it,” Gunn said about his previous injury. “The first hit was a shocker. I wasn’t sure how it was going to feel but it felt good. There were no problems at all, and now I’m just moving forward 100 percent.”

A starter in 2007, Gunn finished third on the team with 59 total tackles and established himself as one of the team leaders on defense heading into last season. Now in his sixth year, he is the unquestioned veteran leader of the defense, as he has the ability to play all three linebacker positions.

With his sixth year of eligibility and his emergence as a leader, Gunn doesn’t expect to slow down this season.

“I feel like I’m even stronger than I was before the injury,” he said. “Because with the time I had off last season, as soon as I was cleared to begin rehab I started working on every part of my body and not just my neck. So I would say every part of my body is stronger than it’s ever been.”

That’s good news for a Pitt defense that could be one of the best in the country. With Gunn back in the lineup and several other starters returning, the defense will be intimidating to opposing teams this season.

“I think our defense is going to be the best it’s ever been,” Gunn said.