PITTSBURGH — By Pat Narduzzi’s math, his skill position players ran so much during Pittsburgh’s offseason conditioning program — 113 miles to be exact — that they could have made it from the team’s training facility all the way to Akron, Ohio.

The ultimate destination for Narduzzi’s consistently enigmatic team is considerably farther away: Charlotte and a spot in the ACC title game in early December. Narduzzi believes the Panthers are up for the challenge in the typically wide-open Coastal Division.

“We’re picked fourth (in the division) going into the season, which is great,” Narduzzi said. “Pick us eighth, whatever, tenth.”

The Panthers have spent much of Narduzzi’s six seasons spinning their wheels somewhere in the middle, never losing more than seven games in a given year, never winning more than eight. It’s led to stability, sure, but also led to a bit of a Groundhog Day scenario. Pitt flirts with success, stumbles a bit then recovers but falls short of a true breakthrough.

Last season, Pitt was a couple of minutes away from the program’s first 4-0 start since 2000 when North Carolina State drove the length of the field to pull off a 30-29 stunner. Three more losses followed before the Panthers won three of their final four to finish 6-5.

Narduzzi is only too eager to put 2020 and its various levels of strangeness due to the pandemic in the rearview mirror.

“Last year was an odd year,” he said. “I hope that word’s gone away, to be honest with you. I hope everybody forgets what that is.”

There’s a far greater sense of normalcy this time around, thanks in part to the return of quarterback Kenny Pickett. Pickett opted for a fifth season rather than head to the NFL, a decision he made in part because he believes there’s more than a little unfinished business to be done.

Pickett is fifth in school history in yards passing and third in career total offense and could become the all-time leader in both categories if he stays healthy. That was an issue last season, when an ankle injury sidelined him for losses to Notre Dame and Miami.

Narduzzi is hoping an improved running game takes some of the pressure off Pickett. There were times when Pickett was the team’s best — and sometimes only — option. He ran for a team-high eight touchdowns.