Wearing coaches’ headsets during bowl game helped Pitt freshman QB Mason Heintschel
The only perk missing from Mason Heintschel’s first two months at Pitt was a microphone for the headset he wore while standing on the sideline during the Panthers’ appearance in the GameAbove Sports Bowl. Did Pitt’s freshman quarterback offer coaches any suggestions? “I wish. Boy, that would have been a...
After losing 4 games in a row, Pitt confronts injuries, issues on offense
The hard truth Pitt’s players and coaches must face after six days of travel — from Pittsburgh to North Carolina to Texas and back home — is that they are a beaten team in more ways than one. The Panthers (14-10, 5-8 ACC) have lost four in a row for...
SMU hands Pitt 8th loss in past 10 games
Pitt’s misery surfaced in various ways Tuesday night in Dallas, Texas, resulting in another blowout loss — the second in eight days for the staggering Panthers. The scars from SMU’s 83-63 victory — the most decisive Pitt defeat since the Duke game Jan. 7 — were as evident as they...
Unconventional Andy Enfield leads SMU among ACC’s elite in 1st season as head coach
SMU coach Andy Enfield doesn’t keep track of stats from across the country, but those who do report that the Mustangs are unique among college basketball teams. “I was told we’re the only program in the country to have six players averaging double figures,” he said. “That means we’re sharing...
Pitt’s Jeff Capel works to keep up team’s confidence while preparing for SMU
Jeff Capel has confronted many difficult situations in his seven seasons leading the Pitt program. • He inherited a team that was winless in the ACC the season before he arrived. • Trying to recruit from that baseline, he ended up with three players who showed promise but ended up...
First Call: Steelers listed as a potential destination for Deebo Samuel; Kenny Pickett ends Super Bowl for the Eagles
Monday’s “First Call” starts with Kenny Pickett’s Super Bowl appearance. We also examine the potential of the Pittsburgh Steelers rebooting their efforts to land a wide receiver from San Francisco this offseason. Multiple reports have Matthew Stafford likely staying put in Los Angeles. Terry Bradshaw is laying out his exit...
Nice try in Pitt’s loss to North Carolina, but still not enough to end a month of misery
Considered by itself — if it had not been preceded by six losses in eight games — Pitt’s 67-66 defeat at North Carolina would have been far easier to accept. “We fought for 40 minutes,” coach Jeff Capel said. “Really proud of my team with how we fought and how...
Pitt comes close, but suffers another loss, 67-66 to North Carolina
In what will be many painful moments of reflection while dissecting a 67-66 loss to North Carolina, Pitt’s players and coaches will see why they deserved to lose a game in which they squandered a real chance to win. The result was Pitt’s seventh loss in the past nine games...
Local ties to the Super Bowl: New Kensington’s Skyy Moore the Chiefs’ ‘good-luck charm’?
The question, presumably, was asked with tongue in cheek. But then again, facts are facts — and since the Kansas City Chiefs drafted New Kensington’s Skyy Moore, the team is 3 for 3 in advancing to the Super Bowl. Moore, appropriately, played along during media day festivities in New Orleans...
Pitt Take 5: When Panthers meet Tar Heels, loser faces uphill climb
If Pitt/North Carolina looks like an elimination game, that’s because the loser is in serious trouble. Each team will have more than a month to recover, but a loss Saturday at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill would be North Carolina’s 11th and Pitt’s ninth. What’s left of the...
Ex-Pitt safety McMillon hopes his passion for football came across in pre-NFL Draft interviews
Questions ranged from girlfriends to youth wrestling, but Donovan McMillon answered them all with his ultimate goal in mind: to one day cash an NFL paycheck. McMillon, a Peters Township graduate and former Pitt safety, spent the past month training in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and traveling between Florida and Texas...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi hopes transfer defensive ends can make up for losses in the portal
Pat Narduzzi isn’t one to worry about losses in the transfer portal, at least not publicly. But he does acknowledge roster ramifications of those losses, and he is trying to do something about it. After the portal claimed three Pitt defensive ends this offseason, including likely 2025 contributors Sincere Edwards...
After Pitt’s loss to Virginia, Jeff Capel held his tongue: ‘I don’t want to say anything crazy’
Jeff Capel’s most impressive accomplishment Monday night after Pitt’s embarrassing loss to Virginia was self-restraint. There were comments about his team and its effort that he wanted to say out loud, but he held back. Perhaps saving them for Wednesday when the Panthers next get together for practice. “I try...
Pitt falls flat against Virginia, loses 6th game in past 8
Losses hurt, especially when they happen to a team in desperate need of a victory. Yet words can hurt just as bad (no matter how truthful they are). That was Pitt’s situation Monday night after a 73-57 loss to Virginia at Petersen Events Center. Not only did the Panthers lose...
Analysis: There’s time to fix what ails Pitt, but it starts now with Virginia in town
If you’re one of those college basketball fans into analytics and asking numbers to tell a story, they won’t paint an impressive picture of Pitt. At the halfway point of its ACC schedule (10 down, 10 to go), Pitt is: • 5-5 against conference foes. • 4-4 in games decided...
Pitt drops tight game at Wake Forest to end 2-game winning streak
He wasn’t bragging, but Jeff Capel was willing to admit that Pitt didn’t back down in a hostile environment Saturday during a 76-74 loss at Wake Forest. “I thought we were tough. I thought we were ready, and we competed,” he said. “A good team beat us.” The salient point...
Pitt athletics director Allen Greene dealing with reality of ‘paying student-athletes’
Over his first 106 days in office at Pitt, Allen Greene has joined administrators, coaches and student-athletes across the nation awaiting approval of the proposed pay-for-play standard in college athletics. Speaking Saturday morning on Pitt’s flagship station 93.7 FM, Pitt’s athletic director spoke extensively on what the House vs. NCAA...
Pitt Take 5: Never too early to talk bracketology while Panthers prepare to visit Wake Forest
Pitt reaches the midway point of its ACC schedule Saturday when it ventures into Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., to meet Wake Forest. Not that it matters, but Pitt is 0-6 there. Given recent history, it’s difficult to tell which Pitt team will show up: • The Panthers (14-6,...
Here’s what Jeff Capel believes is necessary for Pitt to become a ‘really good’ team
Pitt won 22 games in 2023-2024, and perhaps to an outsider that seems like a nice season. In another world, at another time, maybe. It’s almost three times the victory total in former Pitt coach Kevin Stallings’ last season (2017-18), and more than the total Jeff Capel’s teams collected during...
ESPN extends media rights agreement with ACC through 2035-36
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — ESPN has exercised its option extending its media rights agreement with the ACC through the 2035-36 academic year. The network and the ACC announced the extension Thursday. The deal continues a rights deal that has spanned 35 years and the launch of the ACC Network in August...
Analysis: With big victory in the past and 11 games to go, Pitt needs to keep intensity high
North Carolina seized more rebounds and made more shots from the field. Pitt played nearly seven minutes without recording a basket, and its two most important players — Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett — played the entire second half without scoring (aside from free throws). So how did Pitt defeat...
Pitt takes control late, earns ‘gritty win’ over North Carolina
From afar, you needed to be a lip reader to know what Pitt coach Jeff Capel was saying to his team when it opened the second half Tuesday night giving up easy baskets to North Carolina. But it wasn’t difficult to see the anger in his eyes and the purpose...
Pitt football to host national runner-up Notre Dame on Nov. 15
Pitt won’t play 11 of the 12 teams that advanced to the first College Football playoff during the 2024 season, but the national runner-up is coming to Acrisure Stadium. The ACC announced its 2025 schedule Monday night, and one of the highlights for Pitt will be a visit from Notre...
After stopping losing streak, Jeff Capel wants Pitt to ‘sustain fight’ vs. North Carolina
Winning on the road is never easy — just ask any coach, including those in the ACC (basketball and football), most of whom like to say that winning anywhere, anytime, against anyone is difficult. Pitt’s Jeff Capel was appropriately pleased Saturday that the Panthers (13-6, 4-4) broke their four-game losing...
Looking for help on the offensive line, Pitt signs former Michigan tackle/guard Jeff Persi
After Pitt ended the 2024 football season by losing its last six games, those within the program and others who follow it from the outside knew the truth: Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi needed to upgrade depth on the offensive line. Narduzzi believes he took a third step in that direction...
