University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Built Together: Inside Pitt's Sophomore Offensive Core
9/3/2026 12:55:00 PM | Football
Some of the earliest memories Bryce Yates, Ja'Kyrian "Boosie" Turner, Tony Kinsler and Mason Heintschel have together revolved around late nights in the indoor facility. The four, alongside other members of their freshman class, were trying to get in as many extra reps as they could.
They'd walk through the playbook, run one-on-ones, two-on-twos, routes on air — anything that would help prepare them for the season ahead.
One moment stands out most for Yates: Turner and Mason Alexander lined up across from each other in a one-on-one drill. Turner won. Then he won again. And again. Alexander wasn't having it.
It was the spring of 2025, and the group had barely settled into their dorm rooms. Alexander, a defensive back in the same freshman class, refused to let the rep end on a loss. He kept coming back, rep after rep, until he finally beat Turner.
Yates remembers it as the moment something clicked in all of them.
"Mason would not give up," Yates said. "He kept going until he won a rep against Boosie, and they just kept going at it, and then that fired all of us up. We all just start going at it, and that's what really made us do it every single day. He brought that fire and that competitive edge, and we all just followed along with it."
That edge became a daily habit. The group spent their first year in Pittsburgh treating practice like it never ended. Long after position meetings broke, they'd head to a room in Bridge on Forbes or an empty patch of field on Forbes Avenue and run routes on air until the building went dark.
They weren't just building chemistry. They were building a family, one that would be tested sooner than any of them expected. Alexander, who bonded with the group during those same late nights, died in a car crash on March 1, 2025.
"That definitely brought us together, and just made us grateful for what we have — for each other, and being there for each other," Yates said. "You never know when somebody's last day is. That same day that he left us, we all talked. Mason said 'Be safe when you go home. Let me know if you need anything.' In a snap of a finger, it can all be gone. That definitely brought us closer together and made us value each other more."
It's against that backdrop that the sophomore offensive core enters this season. Not just as talented young players, but as a group that has already leaned on each other through the hardest moments college football can bring, long before any of the games started to matter.
Heintschel took the starting job as a true freshman last fall, thrust into the role earlier than anyone planned. What made it work, in part, was that he wasn't figuring it out alone. Turner was also thrown into a bit of an unexpected starting role with Desmond Reid battling injuries.
Kinsler and Yates were learning the offense at the same time, in the same meeting rooms, running the same extra reps after practice ended.
"It was a tough transition," Heintschel said. "I kind of leaned on those guys a lot. They got me out of my comfort zone a little bit. They'd say, 'Hey, let's go out, let's go do something.' Just being able to build that relationship with these guys, it's crazy what college football can do."
Wide receivers coach JJ Laster has watched that bond translate directly onto the field. He's spent a year watching a group that came in serious, stayed serious and turned that habit into something more valuable than raw talent.
It's a big part as to why he thinks Yates and Kinsler are ready to make jumps this season. Both were listed on the first depth chart of the season, with Kinsler earning a co-starter spot alongside Malik Knight. The other three starters are a senior and two fifth years.
"It's very rare," Laster said. "Those guys were very serious. That group is very close, and all those guys had that same work ethic. It's all about trust: being able to gain each other's trust, whether it's throwing after practice or throwing all summer. I think the sky's the limit for those guys."
Turner has felt that trust build in real time, from the moment he arrived on campus with the rest of his class. He had a built-in connection with Heintschel from their spring days that showed up on the field. Both had multiple 100+ yard performances throughout the season.
He also lives with Kinsler and Yates, which can be a bit chaotic at times, but allows all three of them to further grow together.
"We're just living it up, man, taking it one day at a time," Turner said. "We hold each other accountable, though. Even if we mess up, we're gonna tell each other about it. We might joke around, but it's very serious. We tell each other what we can work on, what we messed up on, what we can get better on."
Running backs coach Lindsey Lamar has a similar read on the group, and he's seen it start even earlier than most people realize.
Long before fall camp, before any of them had big roles, the group was already meeting up on their own running through installs with no one but each other watching.
"When they first came in, it was just their togetherness," Lamar said. "They were in their dorm rooms, doing walkthroughs on their own. Even when they didn't have big roles early on, they still carried that. It's really unique and rare, especially at those positions: running back, receiver, and quarterback. Now they get a chance to continue that for the rest of their time here."
That word — rare — carries more weight than it might have a few years ago. In the current era of college football, rosters turn over constantly through the transfer portal, and it's become increasingly common for teams to plug immediate needs with proven veterans rather than develop true freshmen into starters.
Pitt's sophomore core is the exception to that trend: four players who arrived together, waited their turn and are now stepping into featured roles not because a spot opened up in the portal, but because they earned it through a year and a half of extra reps nobody else saw.
The fact that all four of them are poised to play major roles in the same season is a bit of kismet, but also a testament to the attitude they've built together.
"It means a lot to me," Kinsler said. "I just want to do whatever I can to help my team. It doesn't matter where I'm at: blocking, getting the ball, showing support on the sideline, stuff like that. And doing it with them, that's just a bonus."
Their trust now shows up in small, repeatable moments that don't always make a highlight reel. Heintschel has talked about making "blind throws" under pressure — releasing the ball to a spot before he's fully sure a receiver is there, because months of repetition have taught him exactly where his guys will be.
It's the kind of confidence that doesn't come from talent alone. It comes from having thrown thousands of extra reps to the same three players since the day they all arrived on campus.
"They do a lot of really great things, but it goes back to their work ethic," Heintschel said. "How hard they work, it's impressive for sure. It's honestly motivating. You see those guys work hard and do so many great things for us. It just makes me want to work that much harder for them because I have so much respect and so much love for those guys."
Now, that bond gets tested on Saturdays instead of in empty practice fields late at night.
Heintschel returns as the unquestioned starter. Turner, Kinsler, and Yates step into roles the coaching staff has been building toward since spring. The pressure is real, but so is the head start — four players who've spent a year and a half already learning to trust each other before any of it counted.
"When we first got here, we didn't care that we were young," Yates said. "We studied the playbook together, we watched film together, and we spoke it into existence. We're capable of whatever we put our mind to. We prepare for it. We're ready for it when it comes. I think we'll show the world again."
