Smart move for Pitt to use James Conner in passing game, too

James Conner sat in a room in the Pitt football complex two springs ago and outlined his plans for an encore act for his ACC Player of the Year campaign. He had a new head coach and a new offensive coordinator, the latter of whom had planned to get the absolute most out of the bruising tailback by better utilizing him in passing situations.

“I want to show him that I'm valuable and he can use me in every part of the game,” Conner said in April 2015, about coordinator Jim Chaney. “So I'm definitely looking to expand and be more dangerous on the field."

A Week 1 MCL tear shelved those plans for 2015. Chaney has since moved to Georgia, giving way to Matt Canada. There was also that…