Pickett does say some strange things -
“Last year, honestly, was embarrassing,” he said of Pitt’s first losing season in 10 years. “I was embarrassed. Some people won’t say that. I love to win and we win in Pittsburgh, so 5-7 won’t happen again. I guarantee that.”
He admitted the light rain that fell on the practice fields Friday wasn’t ideal, but that didn’t matter.
“There are some bumps, physically, dropping balls, missed throws because of the rain,” he said. “But that’s no excuse. We’ll bounce back (Saturday) and clean it up.”
Senior offensive tackle Alex Bookser, who’s been on the team since 2014, said Pickett is the only teammate allowed to tell him to shut up.
“Quarterback owns the huddle,” he said.
Pickett may be surrounded by eight seniors in the offensive huddle, but Bookser said no one will notice that the quarterback is only a sophomore.
“He plays like a senior. He’s super smart, tremendous competitor, not afraid of anybody, not afraid to tell me to shut up,” Bookser said.
“He’s a different kind of guy. It’s awesome to have him leading the huddle.”
Players in his huddle are on notice – they better not have a bad day.
“You don’t show up to work today, that’s why you go 5-7,” Pickett said. “I’ll say that to the guys. Some guy’s having a bad day, winning teams don’t have bad days. They don’t have off days like that. We all know the expectation. We want double-digit wins. We want to be in a January bowl game. We want all of it, so we’re going for it.”
Pickett has won the starting job after one career start as a freshman – an upset victory last year against No. 2 Miami – and he’s not taking it lightly.
“I’ve taken more of a vocal leadership role and the guys are responding,” he said. “It comes with time. The older I get, the more reins I have.
“I feel like I have a really good hold on the offense and the team in terms of when I talk, guys listen. They look to me for advice. It’s been going well.”
