ACC Blog

          ACC comings, goings: Goodbye to Pitt's Pat Amara, Louisville's Dontez Byrd

          Monday may be the day final decisions were made on the NFL by undergraduates, but there remains plenty of movement regardless, thanks to transfers and coaching hires.

          On the ACC front, that meant saying goodbye to former Pitt safety Pat Amara and former Louisville receiver Dontez Byrd. Amara, who had announced his transfer intentions earlier, is now UMass-bound, according to his Twitter page.

          Amara's highlight of his sophomore year with the Panthers came on special teams, as he returned a blocked punt 28 yards for a touchdown in a Week 3 loss at Iowa.

          Meanwhile, Byrd is leaving the Cardinals to join an FCS school, according to a report by the (Louisville) Courier-Journal's Steve Jones. Byrd, a former walk-on, played in 12 games this year for Louisville and started one but didn't record a catch. He will be eligible as a junior in 2016 at an FCS school.

          Elsewhere, former Syracuse running backs coach DeAndre Smith has accepted the same position at Arkansas State.

          Miami also announced that redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Joe Brown is transferring to a school closer to his home of Paramount, Calif. Brown started three games at right guard this past season for the Hurricanes.