PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – You might think Mason Heintschel on day one of Pitt Spring practice would be all positive and reflecting on his first college season with pride. There was a little of that, but more so he took blame for it not being better.
“I think there were things that we did well last year, we could have taken it to next step if we had more of that leader at the quarterback position, that’s on me,” Heinstchel said Monday.
“He was a good leader, not a great leader,” said head coach Pat Narduzzi about last season. “He was just worried about being a quarterback, just doing his job.”
That was enough at first, throwing for four touchdowns in his first college start and then getting his first win against a ranked team on the road at Florida State. He threw for a Pitt freshman record 423 yards against NC State and threw for 304 and three scores at Stanford.
As the competition improved only one more win in the last four games, a ranked victory at Georgia Tech, but limited to four touchdowns and three interceptions. That stuck with him as he looked over tape this offseason and he’s had a number of honest conversations about his game with Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell.
Heintschel said those talks can be harsh at times.
“I don’t want him to sugarcoat it,” Heintschel said. “If I throw a ball that looks like crap, tell me about it. We’ll talk about it, fix it and get better from it. We can say things to each other and not get our feelings hurt.”
And the takeaways from nine collegiate starts is being more of a quarterback and not just a thrower. Sometimes that’s dialing down the risk and just making the play in front of you.
“Being a chain-mover, being a very efficient quarterback,” Heintschel said. “I think that was part of the problem of the end of last year, trying to do a little bit too much at times.”
“Just being a quarterback, and not just trying to throw the football. Understand what the defense is doing, take what they are giving us and be a very efficient quarterback.”
And that gets back to leadership and not just telling his teammates about his conversations with Bell or what he believes, but doing it. The sophomore said players follow at a higher level if you lead by example. He called it setting the standard visually.
Not that he is afraid to call guys out.
“Vocally, just trying to jump guys and push guys to be better,” Heintschel said. “I got to push myself to be better too. We are only as successful as our weakest link and I think pushing each other to be better every day. It starts with me.”
Narduzzi praised his work to this point and said Heintschel is so much smarter than he was a year ago. He believes they have a special quarterback.
“Leaders are hard to get, he’s a natural leader,” Narduzzi said. “He knows he’s the guy, we got to keep him healthy and keep him going.”
Heintschel called his ability to lead this season ‘a pivotal step’ to improvement with the entire team. He says if he becomes that guy, this team can win a championship.