Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Anticipation high as Pitt prepares to open spring

There is a real sense of anticipation in Pittsburgh as spring practice opens Sunday.

And it is not just from folks outside the program eager to see what new coach Pat Narduzzi can do. Players also want to see Narduzzi in action on the practice field so they can truly begin to get a gauge for what their new coach is all about.

Individual meetings are one thing. But what happens on the practice field goes a long way toward determining how a team feels about its coach.

“We’re still feeling him out, but he comes from a winning program at Michigan State and he’s well respected, so we’re excited to get things started with him,” running back James Conner said in a recent phone interview.

Keeping Conner happy has to be a top priority, considering how much he means to the Pitt offense. Conner is another reason for the growing anticipation in town. So are his offensive teammates. Conner, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, and All-ACC receiver Tyler Boyd are the only returning 1,000-yard running back/receiver duo in the league. Quarterback Chad Voytik also returns.

For Conner, getting used to his new coaches has taken a little bit of time. Not only did he lose coach Paul Chryst, the only Power 5 coach to offer him a scholarship, he lost the coach who initially recruited him to Pitt (Scott Rudolph) and his position coach (John Settle).

It was a lot to digest in a relatively short period of time, but Conner believes he has handled it well. He also knows a thing or two about his new offensive coordinator, Jim Chaney.

“At Arkansas, they had two 1,000-yard rushers last season and he likes to run heavy, too, so I’m happy about that,” Conner said. “Like I always, if they choose to give me the ball, I’m going to run my hardest for them.”

Conner finished last season with 1,765 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns. He has briefly thought about trying to get 2,000 yards this season, but his No. 1 goal is to get his team to an ACC championship.

“All those individual things, those are cool and nice and I feel honored and blessed and humbled and all that, but I want to go to a championship game,” Conner said. “I want to play for something big. I’ve never been to a state championship in high school. I want to play for a championship. I know the yards and touchdowns will come.”

Narduzzi has been preparing his players for that very moment. One of the biggest changes he instituted has been an early morning conditioning session called The Fourth Quarter Program. Twice a week, players had to be at the indoor practice facility at 5:30 a.m. For Conner, that meant waking up at 4:30 a.m. to take a bus to make it there on time.

The workouts have been a grind, but they serve a larger purpose. Last season, Pitt lost five games by five points or less. In three of them, they blew a fourth-quarter lead. In that mix was an embarrassing loss to Houston in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl that featured a blown 25-point fourth-quarter lead. Instead of ending the season on a positive note, Pitt finished 6-7.

“All our troubles in the past were finish strong, so that’s what we’re preaching now,” Conner said. “We were a couple games away last year from having a really good record, but we didn’t finish so that’s what that program is all about.”

Conner believes the conditioning program will have a payoff in 2015.

“Realizing all the hard work we put in, all the summer conditioning and winter conditioning workouts, getting up early, all the sacrifices we made, the hard work we put in -- why not finish strong?” Conner said. “Why throw away all that hard work?”

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