Panther Report has its preview of Pitt up. Rob Lichtenfels thinks the defense will rebound this year. Hope so.

In his key losses section, he doesn’t mention the coaching losses (4 assistants). The biggest was offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart leaving for the Akron job. Considering Brookhart was the also WR coach, and while no one can be completely sure of how much input he actually had, he was helping to call the offensive plays. Now Harris hired a new WR coach, but has decided to retake full control of the offense. That means no possible dissenting voice for the play calling. I’m not a big fan of that.

Lichtenfels sees the potential for an 8 win season if things go right. Between 6-8 wins is about the expected number it seems for Pitt. That’s the thing. No matter how many coaching and player losses Pitt had from last year, you look at the schedule and it is reasonable to say that none of these games are sure losses. Only a limited number of sure wins (Furman, Ohio and Temple), but Pitt can still make some noise this year.

I guessed Palko without much explanation, because I really don’t have one other than the fact that he was a big recruit. Matt Hayes seems to think so, but with a smidge more explanation.

Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris likely won’t name a starting quarterback until after fall camp, but look for Tyler Palko to win the job over Luke Getsy because Palko is more mobile and the line is unsettled. Harris started QB Rod Rutherford early in his career when the line was in a similar state….

Also, Akron Head Coach, and former Pitt offensive coordinator, J.D. Brookhart got a gift in an Ohio St. cast-off Running Back.