Correction, that should read, “Paid for Content.”

As some of you know, this is not the only blog at which I post.

I am now going to be doing a third blog. This time, I get paid to do it. I am now doing a blog regarding Cleveland area politics.

PSB isn’t going away. It does, however, mean that I may not have as much time to devote to it as I have in the past. Thankfully, the adjustment to another blog is occurring while the news cycle for Pitt is not exactly reaching its peak.

Now, I know what you are all thinking, “Chas, how can we make sure you continue to obsessively track, post and comment on everything Pitt?”

Glad you asked. See those donation button in the upper right? I am still woefully short of getting to near the amount I need for season tickets, and Pat is going to start bugging me for money. A couple of you have been great about contributing. I’m hoping for a little more.

Okay, I’m done begging.

All the talk about running the ball, and no one seems to be asking the best receiver in the Big East what he thinks.

In fact, Greg Lee believes he can improve upon his outstanding sophomore season.

“I won’t know until the season starts,” Lee said. “But I don’t think our new offense will hurt me personally.”
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“If anything, it’ll probably help us, because teams will not be looking for us to throw as much,” he said. “They’ll probably keep a lot of people in the box, which, with time, will probably benefit me by not having a lot of people in the secondary to beat.”

Pitt’s first unit did not attempt a single long pass in a full-contact scrimmage Sunday. Lee and Wannstedt said it was partially because the offensive line still is rounding into shape.

“Going deep will be the easy part for us,” Wannstedt said. “We have to be able to run the ball well enough to set up some of those deep passes. That’ll be the trick.”

As I keep saying throughout the season of spring practice, it’s not like any of the coaches or players are going to say anything negative. This is all new.

As long as Wannstedt and Cavanaugh don’t forget about all of the talent and potency in the passing game (and I don’t see how they can), they will just be looking to find balance on the offense.

Speaking of the running game, the youngsters were getting their turns in the contact scrimmage yesterday. Both Ray Kirkley and Tim Murphy sat out the practice with minor injuries. As did Tight End Eric Gill. Apparently they did quite well.

The biggest development, however, was the continued emergence of freshman tailback Rashad Jennings, who had another excellent outing. Jennings (6 feet 1, 240 pounds) is a big, physical back who breaks tackles and gains yards even after he has been hit.

“For getting here and just learning everything new, what Rashad Jennings is doing is very encouraging,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “If we had to play [a game] today, boy, he’s been as productive as any running back that we’ve had the entire spring.”

Jennings carried the ball 14 times for 79 yards, which was more yards than all of the other tailbacks combined. Jennings, along with sophomore Brandon Mason, played the majority of the snaps at tailback yesterday because senior Ray Kirkley was knocked out with a rib injury on the third play.

Jennings enrolled at Pitt in January. In case you were wondering how a non-redshirt freshman was taking part in spring practice.

Mason, who was the star of the first scrimmage, continues to impress Wannstedt with his ability to make defenders miss him but caught some heat for dropping the ball a few times.

“He has the most elusiveness of any back we have,” Wannstedt said, “but he had a couple of balls on the ground today. We have to make sure we’re securing the football with him.”

Mason ran the ball 11 times for 28 yards. Zeise’s notebook indicates that the defense seemed to slightly outplay the offense.

Coach Wannstedt, though seems to disagree.

Coach Dave Wannstedt wasn’t overly impressed with his defense during yesterday’s scrimmage.

“Nobody really rose up and came up with the big turnovers,” he said. “We’ll continue to work on that.”

It is also noted that Kicker David Abdul was back and kicking. I don’t see how Cummings loses the job, but Abdul will still have 2 years of eligibility left after this season. Hopefully he will be fully recovered physically and mentally to get back to the place he was as a freshman.

Another player earning praise was Defensive End Chris McKillop.

Wannstedt, unsolicited, brought up McKillop by name.

“I’ll tell you, the one guy that I should mention, because he really deserves it, is Chris McKillop,” Wannstedt said. “He’s in the hunt for a starting position. Nobody plays any harder. I think he’s found a home at defensive end. He’s really come on the past week, and you can see him getting better every day.”

Coach Greg Gattuso gets a puff piece from the Harrisburg paper that decidedly caters to a Penn State crowd.

For those who have known Greg Gattuso the past two-plus decades, he probably looks out of place dressed in blue and gold sweats and a cap from the University of Pittsburgh.

And in a blast from the past, an alumni sighting in the Arena Football League. QB John Turman is with the Green Bay Blizzard.

The stories are starting to take on a repetitive feel, as the various writers start talking about the same players. Really, there isn’t much to talk about after you get past the storylines of Coach Dave Wannstedt and the quest for a running game. The coaching reputation restoration storylines for Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh and Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads aren’t ready. You maybe raise the issue come training camp in August, but it’s too soon right now.

Actually, there is yet another story about the installation of a running game. Once more, it plays up the “Palko is fully behind this” storyline. To be fair, there is more on this story and it makes some good points.

Oddly enough, the Panthers went 6-1 last season when they rushed for 98 yards or more, 2-3 when they didn’t. In 2003, they were 7-1 when they did, 1-4 when they didn’t. The year before that, 6-2 and 2-2. “If you want to win in college,” Palko added, “you have to have a running game.”

Along comes Wannstedt with the system perfect for … a back that Pitt doesn’t currently possess. Tim Murphy (vs. West Virginia) and Ray Kirkley (vs. Ohio and Furman) return after compiling 100-yard games last season, but they are hardly 20-, 25-, 30-carry horses. There is no one back to ride next fall.

“If you have Ricky Williams, that’s what you’re going to do,” Palko added. “But I don’t know too many types of teams that have that kind of back.”

Instead, you use the entire stable. Incoming freshman Conredge Collins, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound fullback from Coconut Creek, Fla., may soon prove to be the best running back on the Panthers’ roster. There are four other freshmen possibilities as well.

Personnel won’t matter so much, though. Blocking schemes, with a refurbished line seeking two new starters and adapting to a foreign system, won’t rank as the next-most vital aspect. No, the success of any potential running game starts by springing from the mind of offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh: If he can adroitly call for dive plays and power sweeps, sprint draws and counters, screen passes and rollout run-pass options for the fleet Palko, then the Panthers should be able to move forward through a defense much more effectively — rather than drop back, wing and pray.

Pitt doesn’t appear to have a stud back, so line play will be even more vital than ever for getting the running game going.

So there is another story about CB Darrelle Revis considering playing basketball as well, though this story is much more skeptical in tone.

A repeat story on Craig Bokor and dealing with military prep school. Both were stories from other papers I mentioned in Saturday’s round-up.

In the notebook article, there is much to be made of Darrell Strong being switched to Tight End. Am I the only one to remember that was the position for which Pitt and most other schools were trying to recruit him? It’s why he nearly went to Auburn, until former Coach Harris said he would get a chance to try to be a QB.

Senior CB Josh Lay gets the puff piece of the day. Discussing his maturity and growing up. Especially being there for his daughter, Joshiya. Joshua… Joshiya? And everyone gives me grief for wanting to name my kid Zaphod if it had been a boy?

Today’s a full contact scrimmage with officials and a clock.

Here’s the official announcement for the Blue-Gold Scrimmage. The gates open at noon for the 1 pm start time. Given that short time and the fact that it’s at a high school, it doesn’t seem likely to be much in the way of tailgating possible. Something that at other schools is can be the bigger deal.

Occasional poster to this site, John, has had his first book published. A work of narrative journalism regarding the people of the Allegheny County Coroner’s office. On Sunday, he will be at the Joseph-Beth Bookstore on Pittsburgh’s Southside to sign copies.

By remarkable coincidence, the Allegheny County Coroner’s offices were raided on Friday by the FBI. The raid was with regard to Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht.

Over the past few weeks, I have tried to avoid posting on this incident — as I’m trying to be more understanding of my wife’s alma mater. But God help me, I just can’t help myself from making hay every time some idiot Nittany Lion screws up. This particular incident was choice.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State starting center E.Z. Smith was kicked off
the team Friday for his role in an incident in which arrows were shot through a
dormitory wall during a party. Smith is off the team at least until the end
of the summer, and coach Joe Paterno will decide whether the senior will be
allowed back on the team.

I’m somehow going to look past the issue of how, exactly, you can shoot an arrow through a wall at other human beings and yet remain possibly eligible for football next fall (remember when Penn State used to at least pretend to hold itself to a higher moral standard?). Instead, I’m going to ask at what kind of hick-assed school would students actually keep a 60-pound compound bow and arrows handy?

I know that I’ve said this on this site at least a dozen times, but you don’t have to make Nittany Lion football players screw up. You don’t even have to want Nittany Lion football players to screw up. You just have to sit back and watch Nittany Lion football players screw up.

Hail to Ted Nugent enrolling his kids at Penn State.

Scrimmages yesterday were non-contact drills and no one was hurt. TE Darrell Strong who hurt his knee on Thursday was back without any real problems. He apparently only twisted it.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis is again making noises about playing basketball for Pitt. Somehow, at this point, I doubt it.

A piece today, about Tyler Palko already looking forward to the opening game against Notre Dame.

“I hope the guys still have that sour taste in their mouths from the bowl game and have that kind of chip on their shoulder,” he said. “Especially being on a national stage, we kind of got embarrassed. Every time I step on the football field, I still have that in the back of my mind.”

Which is why Palko is already looking forward to Notre Dame.

Just 5 months to go.

A few player puff pieces today. Dominic Williams gets a second in as many days. This one focuses more on his play with quotes from Offensive Line Coach Paul Dunn. Not as much on his self-discovery that a military academy wasn’t his path.

Freshman Defensive Tackle Craig Bokor, who enrolled at Pitt in January, also spent a semester at a prep military academy. He found the positives in it.

Redshirt Freshman Tyler Tipton is transitioning from fullback to linebacker. This was what he wanted to do. He’s in a depth chart battle with Scot McKillop to see who is behind H.B. Blades.

As mentioned before, John Temple has his first published book, Deadhouse. John will be signing copies of his book at in the Southside on Sunday at 2pm.

Not only will John be there, but several members of PSB will also be on hand to support his “Fire on the Mountaineer” book tour.

File This under “the sleeper must awake” category. Rutgers hired Villanova assistant Fred Hill to be the top assistant coach. Fred Hill is considered one of the best recruiters out there — especially in the NY/NJ area. He widely credited with landing Randy Foye, Mike Nardi, Allan Ray and Curtis Sumpter for ‘Nova. Before that, he was an assistant with Seton Hall under Tommy Amaker and recruited the class of Eddie Griffin, Andre Barrett and Marcus Toney-El. Naturally, Rutgers fans are happy. Could Rutgers actually start approaching competitiveness in the BE?

Yesterday I said I thought Troutman was making a mistake by not going to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT). Turns out, I’m not the only one (ESPN Insider).

I know that the NCAA insists on calling its basketball players student athletes, but let’s get real. Some of the college seniors skipping the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this week might want to take one more math class before leaving school.

Every year the biggest story in Portsmouth is about who’s not here instead of who is.
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Others like Daniel Ewing, Eddie Basden, Will Bynum, Barry (B.J.) Elder, Luke Schenscher, Roger Powell Jr., Ellis Myles, Larry O’Bannon, Chevon Troutman, Sharrod Ford and Rawle Marshall accepted their invitations but withdrew at the last minute.

The article focuses only on how many 1st round spots are available to the seniors after declared underclassmen, high schoolers and foreign players enter the draft.

That leaves 11 spots for college seniors. A few more defections from the college ranks and it could be lower.

To review: There are 11 probable first-round slots remaining, and there are 24 seniors who for various reasons are not here to improve their draft stock. Ouch.

“Every year it astounds me how many kids listen to bad advice and don’t play here,” one NBA scout told me.

“It just doesn’t make any sense. This year especially. There are a lot of seniors who are trying to project to a new position in the pros or who are trying to distance themselves from other guys who play the same position. And they bolt. Some of the kids who skipped this year won’t even get into Chicago. They’re blowing it.”

The agents of the players say that their clients just aren’t ready to go because it was too close to the end of the season and they want to focus on getting ready for Chicago. Sounds familiar?

Then there is a column noting the “rough patch” for Pitt basketball. Smizik traces the starting point to the announcement of the Quest for Excellence funding drive.

And then, with no particular warning, the Quest For Excellence turned into Search For Disaster. The gods of misfortune have poured down adversity on the Panthers the past two months. It began almost to the day Pitt announced this new fund-raising plan, which was met with angry protests and charges of extortion from longtime season-ticket holders.

It does come off a bit like a karmic ass-biting.

The feature story for the day is another about the work in progress of teaching the offense how to run the ball.

The biggest difference has been the number of power-run formations the Panthers use as well as the frequency with which the coaches call inside running plays. Some days, the Panthers have pulled it off, others they have struggled.

Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said he believes the Panthers have the talent to become a great running team, but he knows they have a long way to go before they’ve mastered the offense.

“Learning the formations and movements is probably giving us as much trouble as the plays,” he said. “I think half the time we’re having problems out there it is because of getting lined up and getting into the right spots. I think at some point, we have to either get it or simplify. We haven’t reached that point, but [this weekend] that will be a major decision. We have to figure out how much we can really do.”

Naturally, the coach won’t say it, but it is also a question of talent. Pitt is not exactly loaded at the offensive line, and no one is totally sure about the running backs.

Along with running the football more and with more authority, there will be several other major differences in the offense. A big one is the way tight ends will be used. They will be a much bigger part of the passing game and not just in blocking.

That could become a strength, considering the talent the Panthers have at that position. In starter Erik Gill and backup Steve Buches, they have two experienced players who are both excellent receivers. Sophomore Darrell Strong has the potential to become a big-time player.

“That should be one of the stronger positions on our team,” Wannstedt said. “With Gill, Buches and Strong, I feel really good about that position. I think we have to keep Eric’s weight down a little, but he is the starter and has a real chance to become a complete tight end. He can catch, he’s smart, he can block.”

Strong, who was a receiver last season, added, “It wouldn’t have been fun to be a tight end in the old offense, but in this offense it looks like we’ll all get our chance to make plays. From that standpoint, this offense is a lot more simple and makes a lot more sense. It is more geared towards power football, but it allows playmakers at all positions to make plays. We’re going to be tough to stop once we get rolling.”

The Panthers are throwing more screen passes than in the past, are using two tight ends and even an H-back on occasion and are throwing more short passes.

Now, I have to quibble a bit right here. While their use has been inconsistent, Pitt has been strong at and utilized the tight end position for the previous few years. Kris Wilson and then Eric Gill last year, both played prominent rolls on the offense. And not just for their blocking. Harris may have been slow to use them as often as I at times have complained, but they were definitely key features of the offense.

Now, I do like the 2 TE idea, not simply as extra blockers. There is more depth at the position than before, and it makes sense to use it. Of course, Darrell Strong did hurt his knee in practice. The extent of the injury is unknown right now.

Today’s player puff piece is on redshirt freshman Dominic Williams. Williams is expected to be the starting Left Guard.

The papers had reports about the moving of the game to a high school stadium. It even made it on the AP wire reports. As first postulated on this blog, the conditions at Heinz Field were a factor.

However, the reason for the decision to scrimmage at Gateway goes beyond recruiting. The turf at Heinz Field is being repaired and might not have been ready in time for the Blue-Gold game.

The UPMC practice facility on the South Side was considered as a potential site, but there is not enough parking and no seats for spectators.

“We looked north, south, east and west,” Wannstedt said. “We started looking for facilities where we knew we could go out there and not be slopping around in the mud and so forth.”

As for future high school sites for the Blue-Gold game, the sites will have to meet some standards:

Wannstedt said there is one other key benefit to playing at local high schools — it could help the Panthers’ recruiting in the WPIAL.

“This should be good for recruiting,” Wannstedt said, “because this is another statement that reinforces the fact that we are serious about getting out into the community and about being a program for all of Western Pennsylvania.”

Wannstedt said no decisions have been made on future sites, but he will look at schools that have an artificial surface and a big enough stadium and enough parking to accommodate the Panthers’ crowd. The Blue-Gold game usually draws about 5,000 fans, which is more than some area stadiums can hold.

If Wannstedt is even half as smart on the field as he has been off of it, I feel rather optimistic about the future.

In yet another move to get the area high schools behind Pitt, the Blue-Gold game will be played at a different high school every year.

In a continuation of that theme, Wannstedt announced today that Pitt will hold its Annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage at Gateway High School on Saturday, April 16.

Open to the general public, the game will have free admission and begin at 1 p.m.

Coach Wannstedt said taking Pitt’s spring game to area high schools would become an annual event.

“Since I’ve returned to Pittsburgh, we have made the commitment to strengthen relationships with area high schools and communities,” Wannstedt said. “With this year’s spring game in the eastern part of the region, our plan will be to visit other areas of Western Pennsylvania in future years.”

It’s savy and it gives Heinz Field more time to recover from another season of abuse. Wannstedt and the Pitt football program are seemingly doing no wrong right now.

Any chance of transferring some of that good will and PR smarts to the basketball program?

I think he’s making a mistake.

It was assumed that Chevon Troutman would be attending the Portsmouth Invitational that starts today. It is a NBA predraft tournament and camp in Virginia. It’s a Senior only event. A camp where Seniors who find themselves on the outside of the 2 rounds of the draft can raise their stock, show they have more than the ambiguous “potential” and get a better idea of what to expect.

The only other major camp is the NBA predraft camp in Chicago in the beginning of June. This is for all draft participants, but by invitation only. This is the one, Carl Krauser is expected to attend. Seniors can attend both (assuming they are invited to the latter).

Troutman has decided to skip the Portsmouth Invitational.

Troutman is concentrating his efforts on trying to win an invitation to the premier showcase for NBA prospects at the NBA-sponsored camp June 7-10 in Chicago.
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The question about Troutman is whether he can evolve into a player who can play away from the basket. At Pitt, he was used almost exclusively as an interior player and rarely had a chance to show that he could shoot from the outside.

“I think people out there know I’m versatile,” Troutman said yesterday. “I just haven’t had a chance to showcase my skills on the perimeter. I’m just looking forward to these workouts and doing what I do.”

Troutman does not have any workouts scheduled, but he is in the process of meeting with agents who can help him in that process. Playing football remains an option as well, although he has not worked out for any NFL teams.

Troutman keeps saying he wants to play professional basketball, even if it means playing in Europe, before he considers trying the NFL. The fact that he is skipping the Portsmouth Invitational raises some concerns.

It suggests that maybe he went lax in his workouts and practice after the Pacific loss. That he is only now trying to get back into condition. That would be a red flag for teams.

Troutman ended the season with a thud. In the Big East Tournament he was ineffective against Villanova. Unable to keep up on defense with Curtis Sumpter outside and then in. Not being able to do the job on defense seemed to take him out of the offense. He made no baskets.

It was almost as bad in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Troutman was again exposed as being unable to defend forwards who can take the ball outside and go inside. The NBA is full of those kind of forwards. Troutman is a stay inside around the basket defender. And again, his offense was non-existent when he struggles defensively.

I think Troutman should have gone to Portsmouth to show that his fundmentally sound game is effective and a team would be well served to consider signing or drafting him. Now he is in the position of needing that Chicago invitation or its bust. Teams aren’t going to attend private workouts for a possible late 2nd round pick.

Essentially the same article in both the Patriot News and the Beaver County Times. The article is about the potential Heisman candidacy of Tyler Palko. Boy, is this being overblown. It was a filler/list article that shouldn’t have been taken as seriously as it is. The latter is has a few more paragraphs and some quotes from Coach Dave Wannstedt. I listed both because it’s amusing to note the small differences to appeal to the local audience. In talking about Palko, the Harrisburg version shoehorns this into the mix, “whose father will be this year’s Pennsylvania coach in the annual Big 33 game in Hershey.” Just little things you start to notice.

Bruce Feldman, ESPN’s college football blog notes the article that Brandon Mason might be the leading candidate at running back.

Mason’s numbers (17 for 40) didn’t quite indicate a dominant performance, but given how inept Wannstedt’s backs were in Miami last season, at least the sophomore showed flashes of SOMETHING.

Practices resume tomorrow.

We’ll start with the good. Pitt’s new recruit Trevor Ferguson. His story gets flushed out a bit more, as we learn he had an extra year of high school following breaking both wrists in a freak dunking accident. Prior to the accident, he was heavily recruited.

Pitt won the recruiting battle Monday when Ferguson, a 6-foot-6 combo guard, gave coach Jamie Dixon a verbal commitment. South Florida and Baylor also offered scholarships and others schools, including Kansas, West Virginia and Florida State were coming after Ferguson hard.

“If he didn’t hurt his wrists, it would have been Kansas, Duke and North Carolina,” said Kenny Gillion, one of Ferguson’s AAU coaches. “There aren’t too many guys who do what he can do with the ball. That injury was a blessing for Pittsburgh. He easily would have been one of the top 25 kids in the 2005 [recruiting] class. I coached Adrian Thomas [a University of Miami recruit], who was a top-50 kid. Trevor is more talented than Adrian, and Adrian had offers from Georgia Tech and UCLA.”

Ferguson showed little early interest in Pitt but said assistant coach Joe Lombardi was by far the most persistent recruiter involved with him. Dixon offered a scholarship after seeing Ferguson in person for the first time in an AAU game a few weeks ago.

“For Pitt to get him shows just how bad coach Dixon wanted him,” Gillion said. “Baylor has one of the best classes in the [Big 12], and they wanted Trevor to add to that. And South Florida is 10 or 15 minutes away, right in his own back yard, and they’re moving to the Big East next season.”
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Dixon is going to meet with Ferguson and his father later this week in Florida, and Ferguson will visit Pitt after that. Ferguson said Dixon has spoken of playing more up-tempo next season and believes Ferguson can contribute as a freshman.

“They think I can come in and contribute minutes because of my size and the fact that I can shoot the ball,” he said. “They think I can come in and stretch the defenses. I am real excited about coming up there and being a Panther.”

Ferguson is expected to sign a binding letter of intent during the spring signing period, which begins next week and runs through the middle of May. He has qualified academically.

Levance Fields, another Pitt recruit who hadn’t yet signed his letter of intent is expected to sign next week as well.

Ferguson was also named to the All-Florida high school team yesterday.

This seems to be a great signing for Pitt. At 6’6″ and a guard he presents a match-up issue in Pitt’s favor, and it appears that he has the ability and desire to go inside.

Something else this signing is, a talented recruit not from the NYC metro area. I’m not complaining about recruiting heavily from that area, but I have worried about overreliance (especially now that St. John’s is improving).

On the leaving Pitt front, Chris Taft is quite eager for the NBA. Really nothing interesting, except that it notes that the agent he hired also represents Charlie Villanueva formerly of UConn.

Finally Joe Starkey takes the Pitt basketball program gently to task for its PR screw-ups. Both with the re-seating debacle and Coach Jamie Dixon.

“Give Us More Money and Watch Us Rebuild” probably isn’t a workable slogan.

That’s not to say players leaving early for the NBA is a PR problem. It’s actually a good recruiting tool.

But the new ticket policy mandates that Pitt put a highly successful team on the floor – and there is no telling when that will happen again.

It most likely won’t happen in 2005-06. The Panthers, despite the arrival of some promising recruits, figure to struggle in a strengthened Big East.

Of course, any school would face a rebuilding year upon losing its top three players, two before their senior years. All things equal, the Panthers probably are entitled to a down season after a terrific, four-year run.

But all things are not equal. The new ticket policy, if enacted, will re-seat the majority of the Petersen Events Center each year and cater to the biggest of big spenders in what would amount to a silent auction.
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Meanwhile, another PR concern centers on coach Jamie Dixon, who needs to stop insulting people’s intelligence.

Not only does Dixon continue to say that his team improved during what he continues to label a “great season,” but he has mentioned in various interviews that Taft wasn’t an NBA prospect coming out of high school.

“Two years ago,” Dixon said, “no one thought he’d be in this situation this early.”

Is he kidding? From the moment Taft stepped foot on campus, people were speculating on how long he’d stay.

Next year is shaping up to be quite a test for Dixon, the Pitt basketball program and the fans.

We don’t often (ever?) talk about Pitt baseball. Honestly, I don’t think any of PSB has ever attended a Pitt baseball game. That is about to change. Tomorrow, though, Pitt plays Penn State at the Blair County Ballpark in Altoona. Game Notes are here (PDF).

Lee is actually attending the game, and we are expecting a report.