When coach Pat Narduzzi turned off the lights at the team hotel on Monday evening, Pitt had already been in training camp for 13 days.

When the players return to work Tuesday morning – after the team’s first intramural scrimmage of the summer last Saturday – there will be 12 more left before practices begin in preparation for the Aug. 31 opener against Kent State at Acrisure Stadium.

What has Narduzzi learned so far? Nothing he wants to talk about too much, given the dramatic changes in personnel, roster and approach implemented this year. Narduzzi has a unique opportunity to show his opponents things they’ve never seen from him in 3 1/2 decades as a coach.

Still, reporters asked Pitt’s coaches that question last week after the first August practice in which they wore full gear.

“I’ve learned that we still have a long way to go at every stage, like every team in the football world,” he said.

Of course, there will be growing pains that he doesn’t want to talk about or even discuss. If he’s done his job right and hired the right coaches and picked the right players, those pains will go away over time.

Will Pitt soon rebound from a 3-9 season and finish at least in the top half of the ACC standings? Some people would say no.

This time of year, there are plenty of preseason predictions, polls, and rankings popping up on the internet, and most of them are put together by smart people who study this stuff all the time.

Take the recently released ESPN ACC Power Rankings, posted Monday by veteran reporters Andrea Adelson and David Hale.

Pitt is projected to finish 12th in the 17-team conference (a win/loss record was not projected), trailing newly minted ACC member SMU as well as Syracuse, California and Georgia Tech.

SMU is back on track after winning the American Athletic Conference last season and bringing back quarterback Preston Stone, who threw for 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns last season. Pitt visits the Mustangs in Dallas on Nov. 2.

But Syracuse, California (formerly in the Pac-12) and Georgia Tech each posted unremarkable 6-6 records in the 2023 regular season. Why this lack of respect for the Panthers?

Actually, it makes sense.

No one, not even Narduzzi, knows exactly how quickly the players will adapt to the new offense. There is a lot of optimism, but will it translate into enough yards, touchdowns and wins?

The defensive personnel appear to be young in some areas, but in others they are athletic and (by all accounts) eager. It will be interesting to watch their progress.

Five defensive players left Pitt through the transfer portal, and two ends who joined coach Deion Sanders in Colorado, Dayon Hayes and Sam Okunlola, appear to be doing well. So well that Sanders felt compelled to thank Narduzzi for sending them to him.

Sanders’ remarks were apparently prompted by Narduzzi’s reference to an unidentified former Pitt player who left the team through the portal and was “not as motivated” compared to new defensive end Chief Borders, who “has one of the best motivations I’ve ever seen.”

According to Sanders’ statement Friday, Hayes was offended.

“I want to digress a little bit and thank the head coach from Pittsburgh for really getting these young men ready for us,” Sanders said. “He did a great job. I love both of these young men. They’re really great players and they’re going to be professionals. And I heard someone verbally attacked one of them (laughs). Mr. Hayes just wanted me to mention that again for him. But thank you, Pittsburgh. I appreciate everything. God bless you.”

Coach Prime kept the receipts ????

Speaking about the transfers to Pitt, Dayon Hayes and Samuel Okunlola Prime said: “I want to thank the head coach at Pittsburgh for preparing these young men for us” https://t.co/t2IykEBzlB pic.twitter.com/URPSmbUB3c

— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) 9 August 2024

There is no doubt that Hayes and Okunlola would have been important players for Pitt, but the transfer forced Narduzzi to rethink things.

The bigger problem is that Pitt and Colorado both have major rebuilding projects ahead of them. While Pitt finished 3-9, Colorado was 4-8 and finished last season on a six-game losing streak.

Pitt’s schedule could make the process easier for the Panthers. The Associated Press preseason poll was released Monday and only one team from the top 25 – No. 14 Clemson – is on Pitt’s schedule. Missing are No. 10 Florida State, No. 19 Miami, No. 24 NC State and Virginia Tech. The Hokies are fifth in the ACC rankings.

Narduzzi understands that building a team is a difficult task and that what happens in August is just the foundation. An easier schedule could help, but players and coaches need to go from there.

“You bring everyone together in every way,” he said. “It’s not easy to bring all these guys together and try to get them to do what you want them to do, on the field and off the field.”

“That’s the challenge. That’s coaching. That’s what we get paid for.”

One gets the feeling that if being a coach were easy, Narduzzi wouldn’t want to waste his time on it.