For those of you in Pittsburgh, don’t forget that tomorrow is Fan Fest at Heinz Field. If anyone is attending, drop me an e-mail afterwards, and I’ll post a report. You know, just on the atmosphere, attendance, how the dance and cheer teams look, what if anything you notice on the field.

From Coach Wannstedt’s comments following afternoon practice.

On being surprised at how quickly camp moved and the fast approaching opener:

I am (surprised), and I did adjust it yesterday a little bit with the scrimmage. I don’t even know what day it is. All coaches are that way; when you get into training camp you lose track of the day, the time, all you know is you’ve got one practice or two. You go through the routine and try to survive from one day to the next with rest and everything. Yesterday I got on the Pitt website and right there is a big clock that counts down the time left until kickoff. A guy can get hurt walking down the steps and we know that, but we’ve got a handful of guys that have taken some hits. We’ve taken over 1,400 snaps since we started training camp. In the four weeks of NFL training camp, you have something like 850 snaps and we have almost 1,400. So we’ve had a lot of plays and I just felt like we should work some of the younger guys and try to do a little bit more controlled stuff. So to answer your question, I am aware of how close it is, and evidence of that showed up in the scrimmage.

Coach Wannstedt stayed vague about how the depth chart is shaping. Not a shock. Still some questions and you don’t want to make it that easy for ND.

According to Coach Wannstedt there were no injuries today, the starters got a bit of a rest, the next several practices will be used to work the 1st team against 1st team. Plus just working on the fundamentals.

A short AP wire story already out on the practice.

That’s why the Panthers rested several starters during Tuesday’s scrimmage and Wednesday’s practice session and gave the backups a chance to shine. Freshmen quarterbacks Bill Stull and Shane Murray got a lot of work. Tailbacks Brandon Mason and LaRod Stephens-Howling carried the load in the running game, and sophomore Derek Kinder stepped up at wideout.

Defensively, second-team cornerbacks Kennard Cox and Reggie Carter played extensively, while linebackers and linemen rotated continually in an attempt to put together a more experienced depth chart.

“We’re just going to continue to shuffle those defensive linemen, though, and I think it’s going to be a situation in which we have to rely on all of them,” Wannstedt said.

“There are guys that stepped up and did a nice job in the scrimmage,” he said. “With most of these young kids, the biggest thing we’re seeing is inconsistency.”

Hence the need to work on the fundamentals.

The scary e-mail from Pittsburgh Sports Report came last night. Herb Pope, who will be a high school junior this year, wanted to “set the record straight” regarding reports that he was transferring (yet again) to another high school. This one down in Florida.

“I am down here now,” says Pope, “because one of my AAU coaches asked me to check it out.’

Pope says he doesn’t want to make any decision on a possible transfer public until Monday since he is in the middle of a several-day visit there, but then added this caveat, “Print that we have unfinished business at Aliquippa. We want to go for the gold. We lost in triple overtime last year.”

So he makes the trip down to Jacksonville, Florida in August out of courtesy to an AAU coach? If I’m the coach in Aliquippa, I’m not feeling totally confident. Especially when you consider his history of transfers.

Pope announced he was committing to Pitt back in early March. During the various camps over the summer, Pitt would have at least one coach on hand wherever Pope was to “babysit” him. Pope ended up having a great camp.

Still, in July he was saying he was not leaving ‘Quip and still had eyes only for Pitt.

Well…

“I opened up my recruitment, I guess you can say. A college coach told me that the Pitt staff won’t be there by the time I’m there,” he said. “But Pitt is still No. 1. There is a 98.9% chance that I will sign with them. If the staff is there when it’s time for me to sign, I will definitely sign with them.”

Pope’s cousin is Tommie Campbell, who just completed a standout football and track career at Aliquippa. Campbell is currently a freshman football player at Pitt and Pope — who calls his cousin “a freak of nature” — said he plans to watch Campbell play this fall.

“I am going to the Pitt football game against Notre Dame,” said Pope. “I can’t wait. I’m going to all of the bowl games, too. …Man, it would be great to have one family dominate at the same place in two different sports.”

I don’t particularly find this reason to panic or worry. I had a hard time accepting a verbal commit 20 months before he could actually sign as too serious. I mean, it was good to read, but come on. He’s a kid. It was a month after his cousin signed his NLI with Pitt.

I’m also not surprised a coach at another school pulled some negative recruiting. Whoever said it, has to be sweating bullets that Pope doesn’t start naming names. Not that it doesn’t happen, but it is a lot like looking at porn on the web: everyone is doing it, no one acknowledges it, and no one wants to get caught.

Incidents like that, I think are the real reason that coaches hate recruiting sites so much. These kids are talking to people who report it. There’s such a large chance that a teenager 16, 17, 18 years-old could just blurt something out. Something that just gets everyone in trouble.

A couple years ago, it was the Miami area football recruit, Willie Williams, who kept a blog for the Miami Herald of his recruiting trips. This led to new restrictions “voluntarily” implemented at some schools. No one wants this stuff exposed.

So they disparage the recruiting sites as rumor mills and fake journalism and ethically challenged. All the while, they seem to really just want to keep the seedy stuff they do hidden from public light.

Pitt fans are getting active. They are showing up in all of the ESPN.com college football chats. Even the participants are noticing the increased activity.

Paul (Philly (Pitt grad)): Wannstedt has brought a TON of excitement to the Pitt program in the area. Do you thikn that will translate onto the field. Opening with ND and playing at Nebraska 2 weeks later seem a tough way to start, so what are your predictions for Pitt?

Todd McShay: Lot’s of Panther pride already today… You might be right, the excitement level does seem higher than normal for a Steeler-crazed town. Anyway, the non-conference schedule isn’t easy but it’s also not as daunting as it may seem. You get ND at home and early in the season, possibly before QB Brady Quinn starts to fire on all cylinders under Weis. While traveling to Neb. won’t be easy, that’s another traditional powerhouse that is vulnerable and will be breaking in a new starter (Zac Taylor) in Bill Callahan’s west coast scheme. If Pitt can even split those two games, it could run the table leading up to the showdown at Louisville. I think too many people are giving the conference away to Louisville right now. I understand why, but it will be interesting to see if the Cardinals can step up their level of competition and be able to consistently dominate.

McShay is one of Scouts, Inc./ESPNU college football people. Tom Luginbill, the national director for recruiting for Scouts/ESPN also took a question regarding Pitt.

Shawn (Pittsburgh): Hey Tom,Thanks for being with us, Dave Wandstett has got off to a good start at Pittsburgh, what do you think of his recruits so far?

Tom Luginbill: (4:07 PM ET ) So far they do have a rich in-state class with 12 verbals so far. 15 overall. Some highlights in this class are: DT Jason Pinkston from Wanstedt’s alma mater Baldwin. Nate Byham is an athletic TE with a ton of upside and WR Dorin Dickerson is the elite skill player of this class so far.

Finally, a doubter.

Robb (Durango, CO): Ivan, Why are people getting so excited about Pitt? Great quarterback, but what else?

Ivan Maisel: Not just the quarterback, but Greg Lee, H.B. Blades at linebacker, and Dave Wannstedt may be the Pete Carroll of the Iron City. That’s why.

Short answer, but a good one.

Several individual profile stories today. Kind of makes sense now that the writers have been watching the players for the last few weeks, talked to them and determined who the public is curious to get more information. Thankfully, these are not the personal story, sappy puff pieces.

Josh Cummings and also Adam Graessle get some love. Coach Greg Gattuso who also works with the special teams and tight ends admits he’s got it easy with the two.

Cummings and Graessle continued to work on their games during training camp practice and a scrimmage Tuesday at the UMPC Sports Performance Complex much to the delight of first-year coach Dave Wannstedt and his staff, which, of course, includes first-year assistant Gattuso, the former Duquesne coach and Penn State lineman.

Gattuso, who also coaches the Panthers tight ends and is the program’s recruiting coordinator, conceded that he’s nothing more to the duo than a babysitter of sorts.

“At this point in their careers, they’re very focused in how to do things, very self-motivated,” he said. “All I try to do with them is to keep them working. We film them so they can see their form when they’re good, and if there’s any problems, we can throw the film back in and let them look at it.”

The tight ends get love today (meaning it was a quote fest for Coach Gattuso). Eric Gill gets a piece from his hometown area paper (always easy to identify as such because they refer to the player as being a former high school player in the headline or early paragraph).

“I’m bigger than most defenders, so I have a better chance of running someone over than juking him out,” Gill said. “I have the position and the offense down pat pretty well now, so I’m working on my footwork and fundamentals like running routes and blocking so I can react in a game and not have to think first then react.”

He also knows exactly what to say about his coaches.

“This is my third tight end coach in the last three years, so I always seem to be learning from someone new,” Gill said. “Coach (Greg) Gattuso is a great teacher and I’ve enjoyed learning from him so far.”

Now that is looking at the glass as half-full.

Darrell Strong gets a piece. He’s now playing at about 250 pounds. He’s still not wild about blocking, which could hold him back in the offense.

“I’m real comfortable (with blocking) right now,” Strong said. “I don’t like blocking, but it’s something I have to do. It’s something I’ll have to get used to.”

He’s considered to be such an athlete and has such quickness to beat a defender that he has some amazing potential.

Final piece looks at LaRod Stephens.

Wherever he has been, he always has been told he was too short to play football and too small to play running back. And his response has always been the same — on and off the field.

“All I ever want is a chance,” said Stephens, 5 feet 7, 165 pounds. “Usually that’s all it takes. When people tell me I am too small, that motivates me. I know it is something I’ll hear for the rest of my life, but I’ve played football my whole life and I’ve never thought about my height or my size. I just go out and play to the best of my ability and let my performance speak for itself.

“Just don’t tell me I am too small until you see me play, that’s all I ask. Once people see me play, they usually change their opinion.”

He’s been impressive at camp. So much so, that he’s expected to go in as a change-of-pace back and perhaps have his own package of plays for each week. That’s something for a relatively unheralded, undersized freshman back.

The piece also explains the Stephens or Stephens-Howling issue.

Stephens played for Pennsylvania in the Big 33 game this summer but was listed on some rosters as “LaRod Stephens-Howling.”

He said he added the name Howling because it is his father’s last name and his mother and father were married within the past year.

“It was something I did just for the Big 33 game so people knew I really was a Howling,” Stephens said. “But now that it has been out there already, it doesn’t really matter so I am just going by ‘LaRod Stephens’ again.”

Besides, “Stephens” is a lot easier to put on the back of a jersey.

Both notebook articles were on the light side today.

A little on Derek Kinder looking like the #3 receiver.

Kinder made several diving catches, but more important, he made all the routine catches as well.

“Consistency, that’s what coaches want,” he said.

“I’ve just been able to play consistently the past few days and do all the little things I am supposed to do. The job is there for one of us to grab and I want it to be me.”

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said of Kinder: “Derek had a slow start [to camp] but has picked it up the last few days. It is encouraging that we feel good about three [receivers] now.”

The issue of consistency was thematic, and next comes finding a #4.

“He made some nice catches in traffic and a couple one-handers on the sideline,” offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. “All we’re looking for is someone to be consistent. He doesn’t have to be special yet.”

Kinder’s breakout does not mean that Wannstedt is satisfied with the wideout situation.

“We need one more guy to come through so we can use some of our four-wide receiver sets,” Wannstedt said. “We want to be able to spread people out and do some different things.”

Greg Lee is still not taking contact in practice, to build confidence that the shoulder is fine. I suppose it is a necessary precaution, but he’s going to have to get popped a few times before the first game.

As the season draws closer to its start (a week before the first game on Wednesday), the AP has been doing preview stories for various teams. Their Pittsburgh sports writer, Alan Robinson, did this piece on Pitt. It starts with the variation on Coach Wannstedt taking the Pitt job — the one focusing on whether he wanted to jump right back into coaching and at the college level, etc. The rest of the article, though, is very positive on Pitt’s team, especially Rashad Jennings.