First Call: Pair of logical Steelers UFA targets with local ties go elsewhere; muddy playoff picture for PenguinsVideo
In Friday’s “First Call,” a pair of logical free-agent targets for the Pittsburgh Steelers with local ties are going elsewhere. We examine the state of the NHL’s Eastern Conference and the Penguins’ place in it heading into a crucial weekend. And the Pirates aren’t the only team going into the...
ACC wants March Madness success to translate into more NCAA Tournament bids
GLENDALE, Ariz. — No one expected N.C. State to be in the Final Four after needing a miracle run through the ACC Tournament to even make the NCAA Tournament. It’s no surprise, however, to see the ACC here based on recent history. The league has been in transition with the...
Pitt Take 5: Pat Narduzzi hopes Saturday scrimmage upstages next week’s Blue-Gold Game
The Big Blitz dance, jazz and rock band won’t be performing at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. Bad AZZ BBQ won’t be cooking smoked ribs on the street. ESPN’s Louis Riddick won’t be helping to launch a new Pitt apparel line for his alma mater. ACC Network cameras will be shut...
Bub Carrington will leave Pitt, declare for the NBA Draft
On the most important day of his 18 years — the day he put college life behind him and decided it was time to grow up and be a pro — Bub Carrington thanked everyone. Heck, it took him more than two minutes to get through the list. It included...
Pitt’s Matt Goncalves, M.J. Devonshire among draft prospects hosted by Steelers
Pitt alumni M.J. Devonshire and Matt Goncalves were among four NFL Draft prospects hosted by the Pittsburgh Steelers for official visits Wednesday. Devonshire, a cornerback from Aliquippa, and Goncalves, a tackle, are projected to be third-day picks in the draft later this month. They were joined at UPMC Rooney Sports...
Dayon Hayes puts his faith up front while approaching final season at Pitt
During his three months on the job, Tim Daoust has worked hard to mentor talented defensive end Dayon Hayes. At practice, Pitt’s defensive line coach pushes Hayes, his star pupil, to hit the blocking sled harder and with better technique. Pitt defensive line coach Tim Daoust keeps the guys on...
Kade Bell shepherding Pitt offense through spring’s ‘growing pains’
Long past anyone else’s 7½-hour work day, Kade Bell is typically still in his office, evaluating another piece of video, working on the next day’s Pitt practice schedule or just formulating new ways to move the football. Finally, it’s time to go home, but sometimes when Bell is leaving the...
Pro Day gives 12 former Pitt players chance to tell their stories to the NFL
The 12 former Pitt players working out for the NFL on Wednesday had a variety of stories to tell: Here are some of them: A.J. Woods, cornerback Woods used his Combine snub from a month ago as motivation to run an unofficial 4.30-second 40-yard dash inside Pitt’s practice facility and...
Police: Former Pitt player charged in connection with Clairton shooting, South Hills pursuit
A former University of Pittsburgh football player turned himself in to authorities Wednesday morning after police accused him of being involved in a shooting in Clairton and pursuit throughout the South Hills earlier this month. Paris Ford, 25, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count each...
First Call: Bears GM praises Justin Fields; cornerback some Steelers fans wanted is going elsewhere; Jeff Capel still sore over snub
Wednesday’s “First Call” has some encouraging comments from the NFC North about new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. A cornerback some Steelers fans wanted to see come to Pittsburgh is heading to Los Angeles instead. There was a surprising vote against the NFL’s new kickoff rule. And Pitt’s Jeff Capel...
WPIAL standouts Braylan Lovelace, Cruce Brookins hope to increase their impact on Pitt’s defense
With so much change occurring in all corners of Pitt’s practice facility — on the Beano Cook fields, in the locker and weight rooms, inside the coaches’ offices and certainly in the offensive playbook — Pat Narduzzi occasionally uses the words “work in progress” to describe certain elements of his...
Pitt notebook: Rain or cold, Pat Narduzzi exposes his team to the elements
Tuesday morning was cold and rainy, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi didn’t care. Pitt practiced outside, rather than work in the indoor facility. “Beautiful day out there,” he said after Pitt’s eighth practice of the spring. “You don’t often get that nice, cold rain. Kind of went (outside) on purpose.”...
First Call: Omar Khan on Cam Heyward’s future; Mike Tomlin explains team’s defensive area of need, praises departing players
Tuesday’s “First Call” features Omar Khan’s stance on Cam Heyward’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin comments on some of his departing players. He also bids farewell to Aaron Donald and identifies an important need on his team’s defense. Plus, the Duquesne women’s basketball team survives a nail-biter in...
After losing twice to Pitt, N.C. State visits PPG Paints Arena, continues sweet run
Let’s pretend for a moment. You’re a casual basketball fan, and you watched Pitt defeat N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C., on Feb. 7 and again March 9 at Petersen Events Center. Finally, you got tired of the constant flow of basketball information and shut off your computer and TV. You...
Pitt receives verbal pledge from 2025 Ohio QB Mason Heintschel
Pitt received a verbal commitment from its second 2025 prospect Sunday when quarterback Mason Heintschel told coach Pat Narduzzi he plans to enroll next year. Heintschel (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) amassed a total of 3,080 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior last season at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio....
Pitt’s up-tempo offense creates opportunity to increase volume of snaps in practice
The NCAA allows its football teams 15 practice days in the spring to use as a springboard into the season. Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Kade Bell have found a way to build one extra period into every day — without running afoul of NCAA regulations. It has led...
Mark Madden: Duquesne surpasses Pitt, steals the show for college basketball in Pittsburgh
The City Game between the Pitt and Duquesne men’s basketball teams is a tradition that dates to 1932. The Panthers and Dukes have played each other 87 times but not since 2018. The rivalry ceased because Pitt refuses to play Duquesne. Pitt feels Duquesne is a lesser foe, that playing...
Pitt’s Federiko Federiko, William Jeffress enter transfer portal
If Pitt coach Jeff Capel had intentions of finding a big man in the transfer portal this offseason, he now may have even more reason to do so. Pitt’s 6-foot-11 sophomore Federiko Federiko, who started 53 games the past two seasons and was an important player in the Panthers’ run...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates hopes work in winter, spring leads to more ‘big plays’
The numbers paint a clear picture of how Pitt won 20 games in 2021 and 2022 but fell to an embarrassing 3-9 last season. And we’re just not talking about the offense. Pitt’s defense — coach Pat Narduzzi’s baby — was not nearly as productive or disruptive in 2023, and...
Hampton’s Liam Mignogna plans to join Pitt basketball as a walk-on
After spending the recent high school season competing against Lincoln Park’s Brandin Cummings, Hampton’s Liam Mignogna will join him in 2024-25. Mignogna, a 6-foot-9 center, will enter the Pitt program as a preferred walk-on after he concludes his senior year this spring. Pitt’s recruiting class includes signed recruits Cummings, a...
U mad, bro?: Kenny Pickett has been traded. That has Steelers (and Pitt) fans all up in their feelings
On Friday, the Steelers traded a local college hero who just happened to previously be the starting quarterback. So you knew that there were going to be extreme reactions to the news. Even if that is what the player asked them to do. We redefine March “madness” with an all-Kenny...
Moon’s John Calipari chases NCAA Tournament victory for Kentucky without losing sight of his roots
Five years ago, John Calipari signed a 10-year, $86 million contract extension to remain Kentucky’s coach for the remainder of this decade. He sat inside PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday — not far from the brightly lit floor where Kentucky (23-9) will play Oakland (23-11) on Thursday in an NCAA...
Mark Madden: Pitt should have made the NCAA Tournament, but what would that have really meant?
Pitt basketball fans enjoyed wallowing in despair Tuesday night when Virginia got beat by 25 points in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia scored just 14 points in the first half of a 67-42 loss to Colorado State. This was evidence that Pitt should have gotten into March...
Pitt football notebook: In rare exceptions, transfer portal can go in reverse
Pat Narduzzi has been a football coach for 34 years. By nature, men of his stature and durability are reluctant to embrace change. But 3-9 changes everything, and Pitt’s football coach is making some unaccustomed moves this offseason. The first and most obvious was scrapping the offense that didn’t work...
Duquesne’s Keith Dambrot praises Pitt’s Jeff Capel, rebukes Panthers’ NCAA snub
Duquesne basketball coach Keith Dambrot is sticking up for the intra-city rival Pitt Panthers in the wake of their NCAA Tournament snub. Amid the lingering celebration of Duquesne’s first conference championship in 47 years and less than an hour removed from his own retirement announcement, Dambrot made an appearance on...
