Pitt senior cornerback Avonte Maddox worked hard to reach this point in his career, so it's only natural he has license to clean up or correct others' mistakes.

Big ones and little ones.

It could be a young cornerback trying to learn nuances of the position without the quarterback chucking a touchdown pass over his head.

Or, perhaps, the head coach throwing the ceremonial first pitch a bit low at the Pitt/Penn State baseball game Tuesday night.

“Dude threw a bad pitch,” said Maddox, a former high school shortstop who unnecessarily used a backhand to make the catch. “I made him look good.”

Pitt has reached the final third segment of spring practice, and Maddox has emerged as not just the best cornerback on the team, but someone for young players to follow.

Maddox has a chance to reach 50 career games this season. Pitt would need to win the ACC Coastal Division for that to happen, but the number of games is less important than what happens in the five months before the next one.

If Pitt's secondary improves upon its shaky 2016 performance, Maddox's leadership this spring, over the summer and during camp in August could be as critical as his athleticism.

“Sometimes, I get in their ears,” he said.

One of Maddox's students is redshirt freshman Therran Coleman, a Brashear graduate who is competing to earn a spot on Pitt's two-deep depth chart. Coleman, 6-foot, 190 pounds, is bigger and thicker than Maddox, 5-9, 175, who doesn't let him forget it.

“You're a big guy,” he said he tells Coleman. “You can put your hands on (the wide receivers) and slow them up.”

Maddox said Coleman looked good in practice Thursday.

“I'm proud of him,” Maddox said. “He's getting 3 percent better (Narduzzi's daily goal for the entire team) every day.

“I have to take him under my wing sometimes. He's a little bit lost, but that's my boy. He comes out here and competes. He just has to get the details down.”

Narduzzi has been a Coleman fan for the past year.

“Therran really stands out, really, every drill,” he said. “He's grown up a lot. Last year, he was the guy to play if something happened, (but) his body kind of shut down.

“I don't talk about injuries, but he just didn't feel as good. He wasn't running like he was running. He's been steady (this spring) and is making plays on the ball.”

Maddox can relate to the difficulties experienced by a freshman. He started six games in 2014 and often lined up against the opponent's best receivers. Results were mixed.

Asked what he's learned, he said, “I could write a whole book. I'm trying to be more patient, more coachable, processing everything, and letting it sink in.

“I was winging it as a freshman. Now, I'm able to learn the game faster and quicker. I'm able to absorb more now because I understand the game.”

Maddox is the only scholarship senior in the secondary, but Narduzzi hopes Coleman and others develop quickly.

Narduzzi is not close to naming starters, but he pointed out safeties Jay Stocker and Bricen Garner also are having good springs.

Meanwhile, junior Jordan Whitehead is playing free safety, a move from strong safety that looks to be more than an experiment. Dennis Briggs, an experienced junior nickel back, is manning the other safety position, with redshirt freshman Phil Campbell.

Secondary coach Renaldo Hill said problems with pass defense were not a result of players ending up out of position or losing confidence. It was just a matter of making a play on the ball.

“I felt one of the things they did was that they kept coming back to the table. It was never a situation where we were in retreat mode,” he said.

“Everything we are focusing on here in the spring is about the finish. We just need to keep stressing it. Those guys need to keep demanding it from each other, and I'm going to keep demanding it from them.”

NOTES: Special teams coach Andre Powell said kicker Alex Kessman made significant improvement since the start of drills. “I'm really impressed,” Powell said. “I'm a lot more at ease about that than I was three weeks ago.” He said Kessman barely missed recently from 61 yards. Holder Ryan Winslow said Kessman has missed only two of his past 25 field-goal attempts.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.

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