Pittsburgh opens spring practice on Tuesday, and coach Todd Graham promises it will be unlike any other practice the Panthers players have experienced.

Graham likes to describe his no-huddle offense as "high octane." He's about to hit the gas. Pitt will be changing from a pro-style offense to one that moves at a breakneck pace.

"It will be a whirlwind for them," Graham said. "We did some early-morning conditioning drills and old-school mat drills, things like that, just showing them the tempo of how fast we move. The biggest thing is them being able to get in shape between now and the fall, to be able to handle our pace."

The players who may simultaneously most love and loathe the new system are Pitt's receivers. They will get plenty of work and see a lot more opportunities to make plays. But they will also do the most running. Graham said that when he was at Tulsa, he and then-offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn put pedometers on the wideouts during a practice; they ran 3.2 miles worth of routes in that session. With only seven scholarship receivers on the roster this spring, there won't be many water breaks for those guys.

"The receivers look like they're going to Six Flags every day," Graham said. "They're pretty fired up about this system. We'll see how fired up they are after that first practice when run about three miles."

Graham said it will take years to really have a team that's in shape enough to run the system the way he wants it. For now, he just wants his team to get used to playing fast while still playing smart.

"We're a no-huddle team, and it's about mentally and physically wearing the opponent down," he said. "But it doesn't do you any good to go fast if you're making mistakes. So it's fast and efficient. A lot of people don't notice that about us, but we were top 10 in the country last year [at Tulsa] in fewest penalties. That's something every year we've done in this system, and it's key to making it work."

I'll have more from Graham this afternoon.