Winning a Power 5 conference championship is an impressive feat that requires talent, focus and preparation from everyone for an entire calendar year.
It starts with winter workouts (when hardly anyone is watching) through the nationally televised title game 11 months later.
Wearing that ring also creates a thirst for more. For Pitt, which opens summer training camp Monday, the goal is to not only repeat as ACC champion in 2022 but also move beyond it and secure one of four berths in the College Football Playoff.
You won’t hear a series of brash statements from team members. Occasionally, however, a player will mention the CFP as a goal.
Why not reach for the stars?
It won’t be easy in a post-Kenny Pickett/Jordan Addison season and will require a significant step forward on defense while new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. works to rebuild the offense.
The defense was good last season and was at its best in the ACC championship game victory. Wake Forest ended the season averaging 41 points and 467.9 yards per game but managed only 21 and 295 at Bank of America Stadium against Pitt. The Panthers collected five sacks and four interceptions.
The best news of the offseason is several players on defense — starters and important backups — are back.
When he met with reporters in Charlotte, N.C., last month, senior linebacker SirVocea Dennis remarked that seven points separated Pitt from an undefeated regular season in 2021. The Panthers lost to Western Michigan, 44-41, and Miami, 38-34.
Actually, the gap is larger. Surrendering 82 points in those two games did not represent Pat Narduzzi’s finest hours. But he and his staff fixed the problem, and Pitt’s final six opponents averaged fewer than 25 points per game.
The aim during training camp will be to achieve and maintain a high level of defensive resistance, no small task with West Virginia and Tennessee scheduled at the outset of the season. It’s the first time Pitt opens with two Power 5 schools since 1986 (a loss to Maryland and a tie with N.C. State).
“If you pay attention to the little things, we can be good, great, whatever,” Dennis said. “This year we really focused on the details. We really thought if we buy in now in the offseason, that later in the year, you know, we will be where we want to be, whether that’s ACC champs or in the College Football Playoff.
“Last year we were seven points away. We’re going to get it.”
A total of 14 starters from last season return, including 13 who earned All-ACC honors on some level. It’s a good place to start.
But here’s the problem:
The four schools that reached the CFP semifinals — eventual champion Georgia, Alabama, Michigan and Cincinnati — ranked among the nation’s top 20 in at least one of two important categories: touchdowns surrendered and yards allowed per game. Only Alabama dropped as low as 32nd in the touchdown category (36).
Pitt gave up 43 touchdowns last season (41, if you exclude one return each by kickoff and interception) and an average of 353.6 yards per game. The defense was 49th in touchdowns and 39th in yards among 130 FBS schools.
That’s not bad, but to be considered special, the defense must take a significant leap into the Top 20.
The personnel appears to be there, with Dennis, defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and safety Erick Hallett among the leaders. Dennis has a good nose for the football, Kancey is on the Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list, and Hallett is the reigning ACC championship game MVP.
But the schedule is difficult, with trips to Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia and Miami in the second half of the season. The final three were Pitt’s most challenging ACC opponents last season.
But optimism is high among players, and senior offensive tackle Carter Warren sees improvement in the ground game over 2021.
“Like coach (Narduzzi) was harping about, running that ball,” Warren said. “If we can do that, we can go all the way. No doubt about it.”
