As John Bachman crouched into an unfamiliar stance this spring, he tried to recount his responsibilities and react accordingly. The 6-foot-4, 280-pounder went from undersized tackle to overwhelmed center, a transition that comes with a potentially paralyzing thought process. "The toughest part," Bachman said, "is just getting up there, making the calls, remembering the snap count and snapping the ball." The latter of his duties was most troubling for the Pitt redshirt sophomore, as his difficulty handling the exchange frustrated Bachman and tested the patience of Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt. Safe to say, the switch to center hasn't been a snap. "I'm thinking so fast that I'm forgetting my technique when I'm snapping the ball," said Bachman, a four-year starter at guard and tackle at Moon High School. "For me, I think it's going to come to a point where I'll really be able to become good when the snap comes natural, where I'm not even thinking about the snaps." Pitt offensive line coach Paul Dunn is more sympathetic to Bachman's plight, taking into consideration the broken left leg that sidelined him last season and required a metal plate with six screws to be inserted in his ankle. Even now, Bachman estimates his health at "70 percent" and said arthroscopic surgery is necessary this summer. "I think, for him, the hardest thing is to overcome the fear of getting hurt again," Dunn said. "He's battling that more than he's battling assignments, technique and those things. What John doesn't know as a football player, he sometimes compensates with his athletic ability. The more he works at it, the better he's going to be at it." That fear came to fruition Saturday in Pitt's third scrimmage, when Bachman sprained his right ankle and had to be helped off the field. The injury doesn't appear to be serious, but Bachman is likely done practicing for the remainder of spring drills. Until then, his mishaps with snaps consumed Bachman, battling fifth-year senior Chris Vangas to replace Joe Villani as Pitt's starting center. Turns out, Wannstedt was only half joking last week when he threatened Bachman would return to tackle and move quarterback Kevan Smith to tight end if they didn't resolve their problems with the exchange. When Bachman botched a snap Tuesday, Wannstedt scolded him and quickly substituted redshirt freshman Scott Corson for a series. Snapping is still a mechanical process for Bachman. "At times, I don't do so well in the run blocking or pass blocking," Bachman said, "because I'm so concerned about the snap because we can't play football unless I snap the ball." Bachman realizes that he's better suited for center than tackle and wants the position switch to become permanent. He anticipates a summer of repetitive snapping on a healthy leg will solve his problem. "Every one of my bad snaps so far - which hasn't been a ton, but one is too many and I understand that - the problem is when I'm not thinking about the snap, I tend to mess up the snap," Bachman said. "I'm thinking about the technique and calls and mess up the snap, because it's not natural yet to me. I haven't gotten to the point where I can snap in my sleep. Good centers snap all day long. "I'm not there yet."

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