We got some interesting arguing going in the comments, regarding the recruitment of Morelli, and other such that has gotten kind of long, and oat times a little varied so I’m going to post them and offer my thoughts. I would have done this sooner, but I’ve been a little busy.

It starts with a reader actually identifying himself. John from Fox Chapel (or who I will just call JFC):

Who is writing this column??? I could do a much better job. For starters,who cares about Anthoney Morelli. Harris should just let him walk. Morelli’s only claim to fame will be to add to a long list of high school prospects from Western Pa. that are overhyped. ie: Jawon Walker, Josh Lay, Tutu Fergusen. Harris should try looking over on the other side of the state if he really wants to get some players. Either that or stick to that fertile breading ground in Florida.

To which Lee responded,

I won’t argue that Morelli and his Dad haven’t been acting like spoiled brats. However, I won’t call him untalented either. He’s a legitimate five star prospect on every recruiting service that I’ve seen.

And although I agree that Western PA is generally overrated as far as recruiting grounds go, plenty of legitimate blue chippers have come out of our region recently. Michigan’s Steve Breaston and Marlin Jackson come to mind, although LaVarr Arrington wasn’t too far back either. Pat, a little help here?

JFC countered:

David Abdul was also rated as a 5 star prospect out of the tri state area. He has turned into a goat and is going to be beaten out by Gressel for the kicker spot. How about the other highly touted QB prospect from western Pa Tyler Palko. I have been to Pitt practices and it painfully obvious that he will be beaten out by Luke Getsy for the quarterback spot. What I am trying to say is that the recruiting services like the idea of spotting the next great Western Pa. quarterback. They find the kid who is hyped by the local media and throw five stars on him simply because thats where he is from. Watch the kid that starts for Ohio State this year, Justin Zwick, and tell me he is not better than Palko despite being rated LOWER.

As far as Breaston and the others are concerned, your always going to find a few acorns. It is Western Pa. after all. The fact is in Pa. we run the ball ALOT. Which skews the acurracy of a QB evaluation. Breasten was a great athlete at woddy high. Otherwise the guys PA. produces are along the lines or on the defensive side of the ball.

Pat joined the fun.

I’d love to help, Lee, but John from Fox Chapel makes a good point.

There are plenty of Division 1-AA and II schools who ended up with former Pitt recruits who were the second coming of either Marino or Dorsett (remember Zimmermann from Penn Trafford?).

Pitt has wisely broadened its recruiting base, particularly in Ohio. That being said, we HAVE to keep the local top tier talent – if for no other reason than to keep the fans and HS coaches happy. If and when a genuine 2nd Dorsett or Marino does spring fourth, we’ll need all the help we can get to land them.

Lee, again:

All I’m saying is that I haven’t seen anything yet that would lead me to believe that Morelli, in particular, is overrated. That being said, he may have some maturity issues and (as we all agree) Western PA quarterbacks are often overrated.

And incidentally, John from Fox Chapel is right about Ohio State’s Justin Zwick.

JFC replied,

Since you both conceded to some of my arguments I will concede to one of yours. Athletically Morelli is a top notch prospect. 6-4 200 lbs, a cannon and 4.7 in the 40 is probably the frame people dream about on a QB. That being said, does anybody wonder why his completion percentage was so low??? Coaches at the elite 11 said Morelli needed to work on reading defenses. In other words Morelli is not that smart!!! Hes got the tools but not the squash!!!Morelli is going to remind people of Chris Rix. A guy that should be good but contstantly finds a way to selfdestruct. They dumb the offense down to Rix’s level at FSU but Harris would not do that here. So do we really want Morelli??? No because I do not want to suffer through three bad seasons in order for him to have one good season.

Lee:

Good point about Morelli’s mellon.

On the way up to State College tonight, I heard Phil Grosz, the Editor of Blue White Illustrated (and G&W Recruiting), practically guarantee on WRSC that Morelli would be a Nittany Lion come Wednesday. It looks more and more like — for better or worse — we won’t have to suffer the idiot after all.

But even if it turns out to be for the better, I still can’t stand losing anything to Penn State… even spoiled brats.

That being said, I still can’t believe that any quarterback would rather be developed by the likes of Jay Paterno (PSU’s quarterback coach) rather than Walt Harris. But oh well.

Finally, JFC:

How does Penn State do it??? I mean with the UPMC complex on the south side Pitt has comperable facilities. They have a coach that will probably see you through all four years which PSU does not. Pitt has a dynamic offense while PSU’s looks worse every year. How does one get sold on playing for PSU besides the fact of Beaver Stadium.

Also I found another intertesing Pitt site. I will leave the link. http://www.livelogcity.com/users/pittsburgh/

Starting with the final item. I checked out the blog that opened today. Looks good. Adding it to the blogroll. JFC, though, didn’t just “find” it. He is apparently John Beard on the blog — or else the guy is stealing his comments — nothing to be embarrassed about trying to pimp your blog.

Now going back to the first item. Why bother with Morelli? Pat made his point about keeping the WPa. coaches happy. I’ll suggest a couple other reasons.

1) In recruiting, perception is reality; and perceived recruiting success helps build the schools name recognition and desirability (though not as much as being a winning, good program). You never know if the recruit is going to pan out as expected. Is he going to be a stud from the moment he gets on the field (Fitzgerald)? Is he going to be a complete bust after high school? Is he going to take a few years and/or the right system before he flourishes (Carson Palmer or Jeff Smoker)? Who knows at this point. It is all projection. A huge industry and obsessiveness from fans has sprung from it.

2) You always protect your turf first, then spread outward. You cannot be seen to lose the good players in your own backyard to be a good program. Ohio St., Michigan, Texas, and the like very rarely lose out to other schools for players that are within 50-100 miles of the school. And then you keep expanding from there.

Morelli is perceived to be a blue chipper in Pitt’s backyard. Add in his early commitment to Pitt, plus the bad season Pitt had with the blows to the Big East; and losing Morelli is a big trumpet to a lot of potential recruits that Pitt is not the good choice. I’m trying to remember the column from the fall about how Rutherford committing to Pitt was a huge moment for signifying Pitt’s resurgence to other recruits. I thought it a little ridiculous, but there was a small truth there. I remember early in John Majors, the sequel. Pitt was the finalist for a top blue chip, can’t miss WPa. QB (for some reason I am drawing a complete blank on his name). Instead, he chose ND to win 2-3 Heismans. Pitt never contended for another blue chipper until after Majors was gone.

As to the issue of David Abdul going from blue chipper to goat as a kicker as an example. That is completely ignoring the job he did last year as a freshman. Now, I’m not going to defend or excuse Abdul’s performance this past year. Let’s just concede, though, that there were extenuating circumstances, and he could very well rebound next year.

So Palko was rated ahead of Zwick coming out of high school. It wasn’t by much. Both were considered top blue chippers. Everyone wants lists, though, so one has to be placed in front of the other. Your criticisms of Palko’s ability, though, is unnerving. It reminds me of some comments that I read about him following the Big 33 game. They said he would be better off as a safety, and reminded a scout of that drunk QB from Ohio St. at the end of the Cooper era (whose name is also escaping me). Trust me, that was not a comparison that could make you feel good.

Regarding Morelli’s smarts. I don’t know. Maybe when the colleges are allowed to make the kids take the Wonderlic tests like the NFL does, we can get a better idea. I’d say the Morelli family tantrum (if it is true and not a pretext) suggests that he won’t be happy unless he starts as a freshman and in a system to his liking (are they related to Eric Lindros’ family?). I could see him transferring from a school at least once if his family doesn’t get their way. As it stands, I’ll take your word that he does not have the mental part.

As for the final thing on UPMC and why would anyone play for PSU on offense. First, can we stop this ridiculous self-congratulations on the practice facility? It only counts for so much. No matter how much we may not like PSU, they have history, tradition that can be evoked and a very widespread and active alumni base. If football players went to college based on geography, then Oklahoma and Nebraska would never have been powers; and Fordham and Columbia would be fighting off the recruits.