ACC football kickoff 2024: Pitt’s Donovan McMillon leans on wrestling experience at safety
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Donovan McMillon roams Pittsburgh’s secondary thinking about angles to take on a ballcarrier and the eagerness to take him down in a 1-on-1 shot.
The safety said his time on a very different stage — the wrestling mat — still influences how he manages those split-second moments.
“You’re trying to attack your opponent at his weakest angle, at his blind spot, and trying to get leverage,” McMillon said Tuesday during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason football media days.
The Florida transfer who led the Panthers with 105 tackles — the most by a Pitt defender since 2015 — was a wrestler for his first three years of high school in Pennsylvania.
He still thinks like a wrestler, too.
“When I see that running back, tight end, receiver, even quarterback in the open, making a move, it really comes down to me seeing where he’s spotting and what I think he’s going to do," he said. "And I attack that spot.”
McMillon thrived in wrestling as he grew about 5 inches in a year toward his current 6-foot-2 frame, including being a Class 3A state runner-up at 182 pounds in Pennsylvania in 2020.
He said getting in wrestling shape is “by far the hardest shape I think in any sport,” describing a routine of running a few miles and lifting weights before school, not eating because of cutting weight, running some more, having a match, eating a big meal — and then starting all over again.
“At the end of the day I might not be in that shape I used to be in,” he said, “but that (wrestling) shape is in my head. … I can move and play 70, 80 snaps a game and I’m not worried about anything.”
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi didn't have Kade Bell earmarked at the top of his list when he first decided to change who was running the offense and coaching quarterbacks following a three-win season.
“He wasn't on my radar very long at all,” Narduzzi said. “This is one of those out-of-the-box ones."
The 31-year-old Bell had spent the past three seasons at Western Carolina directing an attack that ranked fourth in scoring (37.5 points) and first in yardage (504.1) in the Football Championship Subdivision last year. He was a four-year starting QB at Jacksonville from 2011-15, and had previously worked at Valdosta State and Tusculum.
California's Jaydn Ott turned in a star-level performance as one of the nation's top rushers in the Pac-12's final season before disintegrating as a power conference with nearly all its schools jumping to other leagues. Now he'll get the chance to introduce himself to the other side of the country with the Bears joining the ACC.
Ott ranked ninth in the Football Bowl Subdivision last year by rushing for 109.6 yards per game, finishing with 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.
“You guys on the East Coast and in the South, they take football very seriously," Ott said. "The teams here in the ACC have a rich culture and a lot of history. So I'm excited to play against the teams in the ACC.”
Ott was a first-team Associated Press All-Pac-12 pick last year.
“Obviously the people on the West Coast knew a lot about him, and now people on the East Coast will have a chance to watch him play on a more regular basis," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “And the same goes for the rest of our team.”
Virginia Tech's passing game has a chance to show significant growth thanks to a receiving room returning intact for quarterback Kyron Drones.
The Hokies return five receivers who started at least eight games last season, led by Jaylin Lane (team-high 41 catches) and Da'Quan Felton (team-best 667 yards and eight scores). Virginia Tech is looking to improve from finishing 10th in the 14-team ACC last year in passing offense (205.6) for league games.
“I’m very proud of that room,” Hokies coach Brent Pry said. “Arguably a real concern, our most concerning position going into last season. And this year, I’d say, could be one of our greatest strengths.”
Virginia coach Tony Elliott is entering a third season that could determine how much more time he'll get to build up the Cavaliers program.
“You hear things,“ defensive end Chico Bennett Jr. said. ”You can’t lie and say you don’t.”
Elliott is 6-16 in two seasons, including 3-12 in the ACC, leading to questions about how much has been accomplished and a nod to speculation of an uncertain future.
“I don't pay attention to it, to be honest with you, because then it will cripple me from taking the action that I need to take,” Elliott said.
The ACC Kickoff resumes Wednesday with coaches and players from Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Miami and Wake Forest.
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