Joining Inside ACCess on the ACC Network last night through a live feed was Pittsburgh Panthers running back Desmond Reid, taking questions from ESPN staff David Hale and Andrea Adelson.
Kicking off the segment, Adelson discussed the Panthers looking to pick up where they left off midway through the 2024-25 season with a healthy Eli Holstein, Reid averaging roughly 155 all-purpose yards per game (fifth in FBS), and an undefeated record through seven games.
In a half-joking manner, Reid was asked to explain why he belonged among the top half of the list.
“My film speaks for itself, you feel me? I don’t like to really talk a lot myself, but my film speaks for itself, and I’m still trying to get better,” Reid said. “I’m trying to showcase what I really can do this year coming up. ”
Next, Hale reckoned the all-purpose back been underestimated from youth ball through his first season on the Power Four stage last year due to his modest size. In turn, he asked Reid about the satisfaction of proving the naysayers wrong with his play on game days.
“You know, it’s very fun. I had to do it all my whole life. It’s very fun doing it. Going out there my first year playing Power Five, a lot of people doubting me,” Reid said. “First game came up, I did what I did, and people got a little sneak peek of what they were going to get during the season. But at the end of day, people are still going to doubt me. But every team we played, they’ll talk stuff to me a couple times, trying to get in my head, but as the game kept going, I talked my trash a little back.”
“They respect me, you know. All the players that I played against, they respect me. You know they show love after the game. It’s football at the end of the day. That’s what players do. They talk trash. But it’s fun at the end of the day.”
Hale later brought up Kade Bell’s offense heading into Year Two in Pittsburgh, and the impact the collective experience has had on the speed the offense is operating with.
“Oh, we go way faster. I went through the same process at my other school, at Western Carolina. My freshman, I got there, we was moving fast, but we wasn’t moving at the speed we really wanted to, that we could go. And the next year came up, my sophomore year, and offense looked totally different,” Reid said. “We were going real fast.”
“So, this year, that’s our main goal. We’re trying to make sure we get on the ball fast, make sure we line up fast, try to keep the defense on their heels. So, that’s our main focus going into the fall camp, and going into the season. That’s what we’ve really been working on, especially during the spring.”
“(We can be) way better (this year). I didn’t play every game last year due to injuries. So, my main focus this year for myself was to really try to take care of my body, find ways to better myself with that,” Reid continued. “Going through that process, it’s not an easy process, you know. But that’s my main focus going into this year, trying to find ways to be there for my team and make sure I’m available.”
An important component of the upcoming season, Reid was asked about how Holstein is operating as the returning starter, and how far the offense can ascend this year under Kade Bell.
“…He’s a young quarterback, Eli, but he’s a dog,” Reid said. “Last year, the offense wasn’t really quite where we wanted to be. We looked good some games, but the offense wasn’t quite there. Going into the spring, Eli made sure the offense got together, we had a lot of meetings.
“He was trying to make sure that the offense is way better than it was last year. He’s also trying to make sure he do better than what he did, and he makes sure he’s available. He’s staying in the training room. He’s just trying to be the leader. At the quarterback spot, you’ve got to be a leader. And Eli, he’s doing that.”
“(We’re) a total different team. We’ve got some new pieces, so now we really get to do what we want to,” Reid explained. “A couple of players that we had last year, they got used to the offense, (brought) in a couple different (transfers on the) O-Line, got a lot of receivers. We have a lot of depth now, too.
“So, it’s going to be a total different team. We’re still going to have that dog in us like we do every game, but just expect a new, different team. That’s all I can say.”