Published: August 16, 2009 12:08 am      

Johnstown grad makes name for himself at Pitt

PITTSBURGH — There was the Johnstown Jet, former Trojans’ tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling’s nickname with the Pitt football team the past four years.

Next up is the Hit Man, a possible moniker for sophomore cornerback Antwuan Reed, also a Greater Johnstown High School grad with the Panthers.

Reed is a second-team field corner, playing behind senior starter Aaron Berry this year.

“I was working hard every day, so I feel real good right now in camp,” Reed said after one training camp week. “I definitely learned a lot in spring ball, and I just tried to improve on that in the offseason with my conditioning and watching film and things like that. So, I’m definitely ready for this season.

“The biggest thing for me as a freshman was for me to divide my time up correctly. You have to know where you need to be, and then get there on time.

“That’s on and off the field, really, so that’s what I concentrated on. It was tough in the beginning, but it’s a lot easier for me to manage everything.”

Reed played quite a bit during the second half of last season, and that experience has propelled him into a backup role this fall. It’s likely that he’ll be among the extra DBs in Pitt’s pass defense, and Panthers secondary coach Jeff Hafley is preparing him for that role.

“He’s working hard, but he’s got to continue to improve and keep working on a few things,” Hafley said. “He’s strong, and he’s fast. And he has a lot of talent. But we’ve only been here five days, so he has a lot of work to do by the end of camp. It benefitted him from playing last year, and he picked up from there.

“His first game was at South Florida, and that was against some of the best receivers in the country. And he locked up with the best of them. It did not look like it was his first game at this level. We have some good players at corner, and there’s a lot of competition. (But) we're counting on Antwuan to be in the mix, and I would be disappointed if he wasn’t.”'

Reed’s redshirt was burned about midseason, and he embraced his opportunity as soon as it occurred.

“I just wanted to learn as much as possible, get as much experience as I could, so I really can make an impact this year,” Reed said. “It’s all about being comfortable out there, so I work with the older guys. Aaron Berry, Ricky Gary and Jovani Chappel, they helped me a lot last year.

“And the coaches, Coach Hafley and coach (Phil) Bennett, they’re two of the best that there is. They’re great guys and great coaches, so I’m learning a lot from all of them. They stayed on me a lot. They were pretty rough on me, sometimes, but you’ll have days like that. They just wanted to get the best out of me.”

And with continued hard work on and off the field, Reed should have no problem achieving that goal.