Pitt football starts spring practice

After losing in the Fiesta Bowl over two and a half months ago, change has been the main theme… After losing in the Fiesta Bowl over two and a half months ago, change has been the main theme with the Pitt football team.

Since Dave Wannstedt returned to lead his alma mater, he has brought in a new offensive coaching staff and, more importantly, a new philosophy on both sides of the ball. Day One to implement that new philosophy was Saturday, as spring practice began for the Panthers — a spring that will likely yield even more change.

“You’ll see we’re going to have a ton of run stuff, and it’ll help our defense, too,” Wannstedt said about the offense at his press conference on Friday.

“We have to improve as a football team,” he continued. “There’s no depth chart right now, and I told the players that. We’re going to look at a lot of different players at a lot of different positions … the determination has to be made, who are our best players, who gives us the best chance to win.”

One of Wannstedt’s common themes throughout the past few weeks has been the need to improve team speed. As the team took the field Saturday, some noticeable position changes that had been talked about to accomplish that were put into effect on the field.

Charles Spencer, an All-Big East selection as a guard last season, opened camp learning the offensive tackle position, while Thomas Smith, a solid contributor starting at defensive end the last two seasons, has been moved inside to defensive tackle. Darrell Strong, formerly a wide receiver, also moves to tight end — moves symbolic of Wannstedt’s vision for the team.

“You’ve seen the style of defense that I’ve played the last fifteen years,” Wannstedt said, referring to his time with the Cowboys, Bears and Dolphins in the NFL.

“We’ve always been a big-play defense. We’ve given up some size,” he added. “There aren’t many teams that could play with a five-ten-and-a-half, 225-pound middle linebacker like [Miami Dolphin linebacker] Zach Thomas. That’s kind of, from a philosophy standpoint, what we’re trying to do here.”

But even with the changes in positions and style of play looming for the defense, that aspect of the game figures to be affected least, at least in terms of terminology and play calling, due to the retention of defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads and his staff.

The offense, on the other hand, begins 2005 with a new staff, led by former Pitt quarterback and Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, who brings his playbook based on power running and play-action passing with him.

“We’re going to throw quite a bit at them. If I showed you our spring practice playbook…” Wannstedt said, stopping in mid-sentence to rephrase.

“Matt Cavanaugh and the guys did a nice job. It’s about this big,” he said, gesturing like he was holding a book of encyclopedic size, drawing laughs from the audience.

As the opening practice unfolded, some of the massive volume described by Wannstedt was put on display, with two offensive units executing a number of run and short pass plays, featuring a heavy dose of short passes to running backs and play-action passing.

And while the defense looks to remain steady, if not improve, and the offense logged crisp first day, special teams — the third aspect of the game — was not forgotten, either. The new staff brings with it a new approach to special teams, which may lead to more changes besides All-Big East kicker Josh Cummings’ shedding his trademark locks for a shorter hairstyle.

Wannstedt made it clear that he and defensive ends coach Charlie Partridge, who was given the duty of heading up the special teams units — another change from the Walt Harris era — will not hesitate to use starters on coverage and return teams, wanting to keep their best players on the field as much as possible.

But despite all the X’s and O’s and changes from last season to be implemented, Wannstedt had one main thing on his mind going into spring practice.

“I’m truly excited to get out there and see our players moving around,” he said. “Even though we’ve been watching a lot of film on them, I want to see it firsthand. I want to see a guy go out there and make a great catch and I want to see a guy go out there and block somebody.”

His chance to see and coach his team firsthand will continue for the next month during spring practice, as the team will have 13 more practice sessions, culminating with the Spring Game on April 16 at Heinz Field, beginning at 1:30 p.m.