A few pieces to note.
The article today about the facility deficiencies at Pitt for the “other” sports. It mentions the status of facilities at other Big East schools and the problems for Pitt in finding enough land nearby to construct the new facilities envisioned. Big surprise that a Pittsburgh agency with some desired property would just let it lie fallow (though for once it isn’t the URA).
In Chicago, Coach Dave Wannstedt recalls drafts gone horribly wrong.
Dave Wannstedt can feel Lovie Smith’s joy right now. He hopes Smith does not wind up sharing his pain when it comes to selecting promising running backs in the first round of the NFL draft.
Wannstedt felt as euphoric when he drafted running backs Rashaan Salaam (1995) and Curtis Enis (1998) for the Bears as Smith must have felt after the Bears took Cedric Benson of Texas with the fourth pick of the weekend draft.
“It’s Christmas all around the NFL today,” Wannstedt said Monday during a break from his first recruiting trip as head coach of the University of Pittsburgh. “Everybody feels like they got the best players and everybody feels like they got the guys they wanted. It’s a wonderful life right now.”
This time 10 years ago, Wannstedt felt wonderful about selecting Salaam out of Colorado.
“How about getting the Heisman Trophy winner with the 21st pick of the draft that year? I mean, we liked him ahead of a couple of the other guys, so we were excited,” Wannstedt said. “It worked out for a year. He rushed for [1,074] yards his rookie year? In my mind we were off and running. But things happen.”
Salaam became involved with marijuana and then fumbled his way out of the league three years later.
In ’98, Wannstedt and the Bears believed they were taking a safe pick in Enis.
But a lengthy contract holdout, numerous injuries and a questionable work ethic hastened the running back’s downfall.
“Curtis Enis was about as sure a bet as I thought I was ever going to make,” Wannstedt said of the former Penn State star. “Between me and [former Bears player personnel boss] Mark Hatley and Greg Schiano on our staff then, who recruited Enis out of high school … you can’t do anymore homework on an individual unless the FBI and the CIA are involved. It just didn’t work out.”
He drafted a Penn State running back, that is never a safe pick.
Final note from Texas, surveying the college football landscape.
Get used to these names. It’s a good bet that next fall, we’ll be hearing them more often.
…
Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh quarterbacked the Panthers to a national championship in 1976. He believes Pitt junior quarterback Tyler Palko has the qualities necessary to do the same. Over his last six games in 2004, Palko averaged 303.5 yards passing while throwing for 17 TDs with just two interceptions.
Rising expectations.
