Mason Heintschel excited to take the next step in his sophomore season as Pitt football begins spring practices

Pitt's football team began its spring football practices Monday and quarterback Mason Heintschel said he's excited to take the next step during his sophomore season at the helm of the Panthers' offense.

The Panthers have 32 new faces on their roster this year and Heintschel said Monday that he's thankful to not be one of the new guys this time around.

Interestingly enough, this offseason, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and his staff brought in sixteen players from the transfer portal along with sixteen freshmen. 

"I truly believe, through the portal, that we've got a better football team right now than we had last year," Narduzzi said. "Just like last year, we had a better team than we had the year before.

Pitt's season didn't end the way they wanted it to last year.

With a true freshman taking over at the quarterback position, Mason Heintschel led Pitt to five straight wins before home losses to Notre Dame and Miami, along with a disappointing bowl game loss to East Carolina.

Heintschel said Monday that this year already feels different because of the work he put in this offseason, the new assets they brought in, and most importantly, he's going into these spring practices knowing he's the guy leading this team. 

"One of my biggest things coming into this offseason was just trying to be the leader and kind of, trying to step into that role and grow into that mold of taking that next step as a quarterback," Heintschel said. "I think there were things we did well as an offense last year and I think we could've taken it to a next step if we had more of that leader at the quarterback position, and I think that was on me. As a freshman, that's a tough thing to do. 

Heintschel said being an efficient quarterback is a big part of spring practices and thinks that the players around him will help him take the next step.

"With the pieces around me, I think we're going to have a really great offseason," Heintschel said. 

Monday was the first of 13 practices for Pitt's football team ahead of the team's spring game on April 11 and Pitt will open their regular season against Miami (OH) on September 5.