Pitt Football: Conditioning Coming Along

Pitt's players have had some time to get acclimated to Todd Graham's new offense. With Fall camp still a while away, there's still lots to be done to get ready - starting with the conditioning.

The good news is that it sounds like Pitt's players are getting adjusted.

Pitt is starting by preparing not only for the regular season, but for training camp in the Fall, under new strength coach Shawn Griswold:

"It's definitely been high energy," defensive lineman Myles Caragein said. "That's something they pounded into us in the spring. That's kind of what we're doing right now to make sure we're ready for camp."

Quarterback Tino Sunseri credits the conditioning work for getting in better shape to, hopefully, run the offense better by the time the season rolls around:

"I think the major improvement is just our conditioning level," quarterback Tino Sunseri said. "When we first got out here in the spring, the first couple of periods we'd be running around and (we'd) get gassed. Now, the way we've been running so much with Coach Gris and the lifting we've been doing, you see guys out here and our legs are underneath us. We're fresh."

Safety Jarred Holley says because of that conditioning, the Panthers will be the fresher team at the ends of games when it counts:

"Just like our offense, everything is high octane and moving," Holley said. "We have to be up on their level and at the same tempo. Overall, it's a good thing for our team, especially in the fourth quarter. When we need to finish out games, we'll be strong."

I mean, that's obviously what we're hoping for, right? Facts are facts - Pitt lost a lot of talent this offseason and it's safe to say the team doesn't have better athletes than it did a year ago. But what it does have is a new offense and a big part of winning games is not only going to be playing well themselves, but hoping the other team wears down and isn't capable of keeping up.