A end of season/looking ahead piece from the Pittsburgh, AP Sportswriter, Alan Robinson. Fairly upbeat. Matt Hayes at the Sporting News gives quick grades on various coaching hires. He wasn’t impressed with Pitt’s hire giving it a “C”

Pittsburgh, Dave Wannstedt. Is the college game the salvation for an average NFL coach?

Well, the NFL is the destination for above average college coaches. I hope he gets into his reasons a bit more at some point.

Bo Pelini is considered the favorite to get the Syracuse job. Some rumors have him already with an offer and putting together a staff (which may help explain the Sooners’ performance this evening). Pitt of course interviewed Pelini but he didn’t even make the first cut. Well, Syracuse is also considering several NFL coordinators, including Tim Lewis. Lewis, of course, was a former Pitt star and was also interviewed (sort of) for the Pitt job.

Another former Pitt great, Russ Grimm looks to be interviewing for the Cleveland Browns Head Coaching job — before they actually hire a GM? That’s why they are the Browns.

One Pitt commit who changed his mind and instead committed to Minnesota after the coaching changes, might still be considering Pitt.

For a while, Bryan Williams’ mind was set. The Buchtel first-team Division III All-Ohio football player had orally committed to play next season at the University of Pittsburgh.
…
“It wasn’t that Bryan wanted to commit somewhere else because Walt Harris left,” Buchtel coach Claude Brown said. “Bryan originally committed to Pitt because he liked coach (Bob) Junko, the defensive line coach who recruits in this area, and coach (Paul) Rhodes, the defensive coordinator.”

Once Harris left, Williams decided to commit to Minnesota thinking that Junko and Rhodes would not return. It is believed that Wannstedt will retain both coaches. Brown said Pitt still will actively recruit Williams hoping he might change his mind and stick to his original commitment.

“It’s a confusing thing for a young man to go through, but it’s also a good thing,” Brown said. “It’s a lesson on how a young man has to make an adult decision. But the good things is that he’ll get a free education one way or another.”
…
Meanwhile, another Buchtel player who orally committed to Pitt, fullback/linebacker Marlon Terry, hasn’t changed his mind. Terry will play for the Panthers next season.

It would be nice to get the kid back in the fold, but this recruiting class is something of a lost year given everything. It’s looking like mid-40s. If Pitt can finish in the top-40 classes it should be considered a good thing. Top-30 and you toast a remarkable surge.

Our comments are getting some discussions (look under this post) regarding potential members of the Pitt coaching staff. I haven’t heard anything, and I don’t know whether they are legit candidates but some former Pitt players, now coaches are being mentioned.

Here’s what my gut says:

Matt Cavanaugh, OC — Just don’t see it. I can see him getting another OC job in the NFL given the turnover. It might be a bit awkward anyways, since he nearly had the HC job before Wannstedt basically snatched it away at the last minute. Additional negative, Wannstedt needs coordinators who are good, experienced recruiters. Cavanaugh has been an NFL coach the last 10+ years.
Alex Van Pelt, QB Coach(?) — Van Pelt threw his own name out there. If he’s serious about being a coach, he needs to start lower, almost like a graduate assistant. He was a career NFL back-up and then doing color for the Bills. Can he coach? Can he recruit? Too unknown, unless he is willing to start lower on the rungs, I don’t see it. Again, it comes down to experience and recruiting.
Sal Sunseri, DC — I suppose it’s possible. Unlike Cavanaugh, though, he isn’t looking for work. Another issue of how awkward it would be. How much of a move up would this really be? He had the job before (under Hackett), and would it really pay more than his present job as the D-Line coach with Carolina? He has had success as a recruiter so that wouldn’t be an issue. I’m just not sure.

Seth Davis at SI.com, a regular basher of Pitt’s non-con, has his annual “stock report” on some teams. Last year, he had Pitt as a “sell” but surprisingly, not this year.

Pittsburgh (BUY) The loss to Bucknell only made this a better Buy. That analysis might surprise the Pitt fans out there who have read my criticisms of the Panthers’ schedule, but I still say Pitt is the best team in the Big East. We all know this program emphasizes defense, but this is also Pitt’s best offensive team in years (Sunday’s loss notwithstanding). The Panthers are second in their conference in scoring (77.7 ppg) and first in three-point shooting (42.1 percent). And with all the love heaped deservedly on Carl Krauser and Chris Taft, let’s dump a big ladel full on Chevon Troutman, whose averages of 14.4 points (on 61.8 percent shooting) and 8.3 rebounds per game are both higher than Taft’s.

Meanwhile, Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News (and a former reporter for the Pittsburgh Press in the 80s) is a bit down on Pitt.

1. When will Pittsburgh get really serious? Playing most of their nonleague schedule at home appears to have bored the Panthers. They lacked intensity and precision in two recent challenges, against Richmond and South Carolina. Star players Carl Krauser and Chevon Troutman carried their teammates in those games, but the other players can’t keep letting themselves be carried and expect a third straight Big East title.

And we know what happened on Sunday.

And a little shameless ego-boost for my comments regarding the Big East bubble teams (like I need it?). I said there were 3 teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Today, Greg Doyel at Sportsline checks off 10 NCAA bubble teams and lists 3 BE teams. The same 3 I noted: ND, Providence and ‘Nova.

That is the big question. Turnovers can be explained and rationalized by adjusting to zones and bad entry passes. The defense, though, that can’t be explained so easily. It especially can’t simply be explained by the fact that Page and Brown are no longer there.

It’s a bit harder to figure out why Pitt is having trouble defending its interior. Dixon returned two experienced players in Chevon Troutman and Chris Taft. Troutman has a reputation as one of the better post defenders in the country. Taft is big, athletic and strong. But each has had problems early against quality opponents.

Bucknell sophomore center Chris McNaughton took advantage of one-on-one coverage against Taft, was 8 for 12 from the field and scored 17 points.

South Carolina forward Carlos Powell scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, mostly against Troutman.

Coach Jamie Dixon, appears to have been aware of the problem for a while. You don’t go to a zone out of nowhere, and without having a lot of practices.

Still, things happen when you play smaller less talented teams. You get lazy or just not as sharp. You can get away with fundamental mistakes because sheer athletic ability allows you to overcome it. It’s a risk.

Pitt’s loss also illustrated the occasional dangers of playing a relatively soft schedule before conference play begins, as many Big East teams do. Sometimes, players get complacent and fall into bad habits because their competition usually isn’t good enough to take advantage of the breakdowns.

“We just had to get refocused. Even though we’ve played a lot of these non-conference games, I think we lost the sense of how to come out and take care of the game early,” Troutman said.

One of the issues on defense has been a lack of communication between the players. Not letting the other know when someone is moving, passing or if help is just plain needed. According to the players, they are now working more on that.

I’m not sure any fans are really panicking yet. Concerned, pissed and a bit frustrated. But not panicking. Of course, I’m not in Pittsburgh, so maybe they are. Ron Cook thinks so, and busts out with a rather standard “remain calm” type column.

Pitt Head Coach Dave Wannstedt (still not used to typing that phrase) has made his first official coaching hire.

Paul Dunn resigned Monday as offensive line coach/run-game coordinator at the University of Kentucky and will be named to Pitt’s staff sometime this week.
…
Dunn was a roommate of Dan Marino while playing at Pitt from 1980-82. Dunn has coached at Kentucky, Kansas State, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Maine and Edinboro and was a graduate assistant at Penn State (1984-85) and Pitt (’83).

Under Dunn, Kansas State’s offenses were among the most productive in the nation. At Kentucky, he coached a first-team All-Southeastern Conference pick in Antonio Hall in 2003 and SEC All-freshman tackle Aaron Miller last fall.

Shocking for all, I’m sure to find out that Tom Freeman will not be returning as the offensive lines coach. Dunn also filled in as offensive coordinator in Kentucky’s final game, following the resignation of the OC. It turned out to be one of Kentucky’s best offensive days nearly upsetting Tennessee.

I’m guessing the money was probably better, though Dunn did go with the “going home” approach in his comment:

“It’s a chance for me to go back to my roots and go back to a place that’s very special to me,” Dunn said.

He said he has known Wannstedt since both were at Pitt, Dunn as a freshman offensive lineman and Wannstedt as a graduate-assistant coach. Wannstedt went to Oklahoma State with Jimmy Johnson, but he and Dunn never lost contact.

It will be interesting to see just how many former Pitt players turned coaches end up on staff.

According to the Trib. article, D-line coach Bob Junko and linebacker coach Curtis Bray are expected to be retained. Noticeably not included is the defensive coordinator.

Wednesday, the BE conference play begins. The conference propaganda show begins airing this morning on CSTV. It has already aired on some local sports networks, but this is its national airing, for what it is worth.

Pitt, of course, will be facing Georgetown. There are 4 other BE match-ups including BC-UConn (in Hartford) and WVU-Villanova (showing on ESPN Classic). The Pitt game is on ESPN’s Full Court or FoxSports Pittsburgh.

Hoyas in Pittsburgh are gathering at a bar in Station Square.

As the non-con play is about done, time to take a glance at my preseason BE predictions appear to look now.

I was off on WVU. I thought they’d be good (hence the slight hedge), but not as good as they’ve shown so far. Right about BC and Providence it appears. ND may be even lower, but is still up in the air because they haven’t beaten anyone worth a damn, and lost their only 2 reasonably difficult games. My bottom 4 look about right still (St. John’s, Georgetown, Rutgers and Seton Hall). UConn like Pitt has been a bit disappointing, though both still look to be among the top 5 in the conference. Syracuse is up where expected. Villanova is still a big question mark. Their game with WVU will be interesting. So far, then, I’d say it looks pretty good.

The BE, at this point looks to have 5 teams heading to the NCAA — WVU, BC, Syracuse, UConn and Pitt. Providence, ND and ‘Nova are on or near the bubble.