JOHNSTOWN —
Antwuan Reed started all 12 regular-season games for Pitt last season, but when new coach Todd Graham took over the Panthers, the Greater Johnstown graduate had to prove himself all over again.
No problem.
Reed, a senior cornerback, was one of seven Panthers named a team captain on Wednesday.
Reed didn’t practice in the spring after suffering a concussion in the final game of the regular season last year, but Graham gushed about how he has performed since returning to the team.
“I was pretty excited for Antwuan,” Graham said. “That (his selection as a captain) was big. I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The summer that he had was phenomenal. I mean, phenomenal. I know he was a good player last year, but over the summer and when he reported to camp and what he’s done to this point, he has really put himself in position to take his game to a different level.”
Graham wasn’t the only one who took notice.
“He has a very special rapport with his teammates, and you can tell that,” the coach said.
Reed was thrilled to join nose tackle Myles Caragein and safety Jarred Holley as defensive captains.
“It means something special to me,” Reed said. “The team looks to me for leadership, for the way I work on the field and off the field.”
It wasn’t always that way. Reed had to learn how to be a success on and off the field.
“Coming here, it definitely got a lot better from a maturity standpoint,” he said. “(Part of it was) knowing how to lead by example. You can’t expect somebody to do something you don’t do.”
Now, Reed tries to do exactly that by being a role model for other players no matter what he is doing.
“Just getting to class on time, working out hard on the field, in the weight room, even watching film,” he said. “I definitely came a long way from freshman year.”
And despite being what the Pitt media guide calls a “grizzled veteran in the secondary and Pitt’s most experienced cornerback,” Reed still had to show Graham what he could do after a season in which he had an interception, a fumble recovery and six pass break-ups.
“All coaches are going to have different styles of doing things,” Reed said. “It all comes down to discipline and putting the team first. That’s just what it comes down to, bottom line, no matter what coach it is.”
That’s not a problem at all for Reed.
“I’m just a team player,” he said. “I’m just following the way it was before and how the Pitt tradition is.”
Guard Chris Jacobson, wide receiver Mike Shanahan and quarterback Tino Sunseri are the offensive captains.
Andrew Taglianetti is the special teams captain.
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Pitt cornerback Antwuan Reed, a Greater Johnstown graduate, said he has taken on more of a leadership role with the Panthers over the years, and it showed on Wednesday, when he was named a team captain. AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
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Johnstown grad named captain at Pitt
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