With no practice yesterday, Coach Wannstedt decided to give the players a day off, before a two-a-day today, the focus of the articles is a little different. Josh Lay gets glowing reviews for his performance in practice.
Last year at this time, Lay was barely a member of the team as he was trying to finish his summer school work just to get eligible. This year, he has come to camp focused and ready to play.
The difference — he now has a sense of urgency.
“I’m a senior, man, that’s all it takes,” Lay said.
“This is my last time through. There isn’t another chance for me to get to where I want to go. Knowing that, I take the field every day with the idea that it could be my last game or practice or whatever.[“]
Lay has a young daughter and aspirations to play in the NFL. Obviously I hope Lay plays well and makes it, but if I was an NFL person I’d be clipping this piece to consider if Lay will become one of those players who only performs in his contract year.
This piece looks at the freshmen who will have a shot to get on the field. No real shocks.
Tommie Campbell (safety) from Aliquippa, Craig Bokor (defensive tackle) from Hopewell, LaRod Stephens-Howling (tailback) from Johnstown, Rashad Jennings (running back) from Virginia and Bill Stull (backup quarterback) from Seton-La Salle could play key roles this season.
Now the question that bubbles just under the surface, with all the talk of deciding on the starting tailback and what the depth chart in the backfield will look like, is will the new offense work?
Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko gets excited every time someone asks him about the Panthers’ new offense, especially the part about establishing a running game.
“I think this is a great offense,” he said, “this is an offense that puts a lot of pressure on defenses because there are so many different things we can do. We need to establish a run game, and if we do, we’ll be tough to stop.”
That wasn’t the response most people thought Palko would have since the offense is far more dependent on the power-run game than former coach Walt Harris’ quarterback-friendly, pass-happy system.
But it didn’t take long for offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh to convince Palko — along with the rest of the team — that while the offense is powered by the run game, it is also dependent on the pass.
“If you look at the best passing offenses out there, almost every one of them has a good running game as well,” Cavanaugh said. “We want to be a multiple offense, we want to give multiple looks and we want to be able to beat a defense in a variety of ways. But our quarterbacks are still going to throw the ball their share.
“It’s just that the run game sets everything else up. If you can run the football, you can do pretty much anything you want because you put the defense back on its heels. But obviously we have an experienced quarterback in Tyler and we want the ball in his hands, too. There’s room to do both, we just want to be balanced in everything we do.”
The tight ends are going to see a lot of work in this offense for multiple reasons. Cavanaugh likes using the TE position for catching and blocking; there is tremendous depth and talent at the TE; and the lack of depth and consistency to date at the WR position after Lee and DelSardo. The latter may create some weird numbers by the end of the year concerning ball thrown to the WRs versus the TEs, unless the other receivers start showing something.
Still, the good news is that the players (at least publicly) are buying into the system. Really that shouldn’t be a shock. The offensive line gets to be more aggressive and push forward more. Running backs get more chances. Tight ends will see more action than just being a decoy or blocker. And with Palko buying into it, thinks are good.
Still needs to produce, though.
From Florida, they cribbed some things from his other press conferences about the Dolphins and going back to the college game.
He might not be the leader of choice in South Florida, but former Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt is held in high esteem in Pittsburgh.
Heinz Field, where the Dolphins played Saturday’s exhibition game, is Wannstedt’s new coaching home. His new team, the University of Pittsburgh, shares the venue with the Steelers.
…
So while the coach said his focus remains on his future in college football, the Dolphins’ visit to his new city gave him a chance to talk about his former team.
Specifically, he spoke optimistically about the return of tailback Ricky Williams, who abruptly left the team last year shortly before the coach’s final season with the Dolphins.
“I’m glad he’s doing well,” Wannstedt said. “I was the guy that made the trade for him. I know what kind of football player he was. I expected him to come back and, hopefully, stay on that track and have success. I think he’ll be there for a long time.”
Wannstedt, who said he didn’t expect to attend Saturday’s game, said Friday that he hoped to see some of the people within his former organization. He also said he remains in contact with veteran linebacker Zach Thomas and defensive end Jason Taylor.
“I dropped them all a note in the middle of summer,” Wannstedt said. “I’ll follow those guys. They’re the best. Guys like Zach and Jason, that’s the reason you coach — players that work like that and are committed like that, people that you can trust week in and week out. That’s what makes it fun.”
From a media criticism point, the article never claims he was directly interviewed about it, but it sure implies that the writer sat down and talked to Coach Wannstedt directly, rather than took the material from a press conference held on Thursday.
On the high school front, blue-chip recruit Darrin Walls gets a piece. Nothing particularly new in the story. He’s got a top 3, and Pitt is just outside of it. As we have been saying, the longer he takes to decide, the better the chance for Pitt to sneak in there — especially if Pitt has a good season.
The other thing is quickie snippets on 4 high schoolers to watch. 1 is a junior this year, and the other are all Pitt commits — Kevan Smith, Jason Pinkston and Dorin Dickerson. Nice.
