Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 5

Nahki Johnson’s high school career at Steel Valley and West Mifflin was something to remember. He committed to Pitt two months before the start of the 2019 season and went on to become, perhaps, the Big Eight Conference’s best player. He recorded eight sacks, forced four fumbles and earned the...

When the coach summons you to midfield, you don’t ask questions. You go. That’s what happened Monday morning to reporters at Pitt practice near the end of the media’s viewing window. Coach Pat Narduzzi allowed reporters, who typically stand on the sideline or in the end zone, to stand five...

Cam Guess won’t lie about his story. “It sounds a little corny,” he said. But he’s proud of it, and he was eager to tell it to reporters Friday at the end of the first week of Pitt’s training camp. Guess, a Belle Vernon graduate, has been Pitt’s regular holder...

The noise level around Pitt football eventually will rise. The stakes will get higher. Coaches’ shouts will pierce players’ ears and enter their brains daily through the end of November. Maybe longer, if they’re lucky. Amidst the chaos, two Pitt football players have found a way to handle the intensity...

Ryan Jacoby was one of the most decorated high school football players in Ohio during the 2018 season, a top-10 overall prospect (fourth among offensive linemen) in a state recognized for its wealth of talent. He sifted through nearly two dozen scholarship offers before settling on Ohio State, enrolling at...

There will be a subtle change to the Pitt sideline this season, with offensive coordinator Kade Bell calling plays from the field. Frank Cignetti was upstairs last season, but Mark Whipple before him was on the field where he had constant, face-to-face communication with quarterback Kenny Pickett. “I’m not micro-managing...

With the temperature outside Petersen Events Center hitting 90 on the first day of August, a relaxed Jeff Capel sat down with reporters for 34 minutes Thursday. Topics of discussion ranged from Pitt’s nonconference schedule in the upcoming season to Capel’s contract extension through 2030 to the Olympics. “I love...

Every day, Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates gets down on the ground and does pushups and situps in front of his players. He started with 12 on the first day of practice Wednesday. He promises to reach a daily number of “30 or 40” by the end of the season....

Kade Bell knows enough about offense, play-calling and the challenges inherent in college football to understand that a goal of averaging 50 points might be unrealistic. But you have to know that Bell, Pitt’s 31-year-old, first-year offensive coordinator, doesn’t allow facts to get in his way of getting a job...

Under bright sunshine and with 120 young men sweating, bouncing off each other and chasing fumbles across the Beano Cook Fields, Pitt opened training camp Wednesday morning on the South Side. If that number sounds high, that’s because there are more players on the roster this season. Coach Pat Narduzzi,...

Pitt’s 3-9 record from a year ago was only the second losing season among coach Pat Narduzzi’s nine. He’s second all-time in victories (65) to Jock Sutherland (111), and he’s served longer (2015-present) than all but two Pitt coaches since 1890 (Sutherland and John Michelosen). Nonetheless, there has been minimal...

Two former Duquesne players are not finished playing basketball. Guard Tevin Brewer, who spent the 2022-23 season with the men’s program, has signed a professional contract with Kipinä Äänekoski of the 1st Division A League in Finland. He’ll be joined overseas by former Duquesne forward Tre Williams, who signed with...

Before compiling a list of the most important players who will populate the Beano Cook Fields when Pitt begins prepping for a new season Wednesday, we need to first identify the obvious choice for leader of the class: The quarterback, Nate Yarnell. There are several players who are as important...

Venturing into the most important and difficult days of the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t need Jared Triolo to play right field. Yet they needed him there Sunday in the ninth inning when his diving catch of a looping fly ball by Jake McCarthy sent the game into an extra...

The Pittsburgh Pirates played 104 games before the finale of the three-game series Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But this one, a 6-5, 10-inning struggle, felt different. Manager Derek Shelton said so, calling the nearly three-hour game “our biggest victory.” Perhaps Shelton’s remark will turn out to be more than...

With the MLB trade deadline set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday he has not found a deal “that we feel makes sense.” “Nothing fell through,” he said on his weekly radio show on 93.7 FM. “We have had opportunities the past several days...

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales, who has recorded the third-most RBIs on the team, will be out a significant amount of time after he was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left groin injury suffered Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “This is going to be...

With the trade deadline coming up Tuesday and big decisions looming for the front office, the Pittsburgh Pirates suffered their second damaging loss in two nights Saturday, 9-5, to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. What made the defeat worse than only one digit in the loss column was its effect...

When you attempt to identify five questions that fans — and, perhaps, even coaches — might have about the 2024 version of Pitt football, you can look up and down the roster and start your quest almost anywhere. This is a team that lost five defensive starters to the transfer...

The disappointment will linger with Nelly Cummings after he and his Zoo Crew teammates lost to the Happy Valley Hoopers, 85-82, on Wednesday night in the Sweet 16 of The Basketball Tournament at Petersen Events Center. After all, a team composed largely of former Pitt players led their Penn State...

Pitt and Penn State haven’t met on the football field since 2019 when a four-game series ended with the Nittany Lions’ 17-10 victory at Beaver Stadium. It was the 100th game in a series that spans three centuries, but it has been played only five times since 2000. No renewal...

Pat Narduzzi made a fist on his right hand and, with sincere pride, flashed the bling that represents his greatest triumph as Pitt’s head coach the past nine seasons: the ring earned in 2021 as ACC champion. He appeared on the ACC Network on Tuesday morning during the ACC Kickoff...

When former Pitt player Nike Sibande was asked Monday night if he’s a better player now than at the end of his final season 16 months ago, he didn’t hesitate with his answer. He tapped the side of his head with his right index finger. “Personally, I think I grew...

At the outset of an ACC football season that will play out unlike any that came before it — with lawsuits filed against the conference by two of its marquee members while teams prepare to fly cross-country to play games — commissioner Jim Phillips said Monday he will “fight to...

Randy Waldrum is well aware of the challenges his Nigerian women’s soccer team will confront in Bordeaux, France, when the Olympic Games get underway Thursday. “We don’t have the resources that the U.S. team has,” said Waldrum, who also has coached Pitt’s women’s team since 2018. “We don’t have the...