The Post-Gazette lists the 30 best college prospects in Pennsylvania, at least according to them. It’s a list, you take it for what it is worth.

But just for fun:

6 have committed to Pitt (Byham, Dickerson, Pinkston, Webster, Tkach, Loheyde)

1 has committed to PSU (McEowen)

8 have committed to out of state schools (Devlin, Frazier, Ricker, Neubert, Herzlich, King, McKenzie, Neely)

9 are undecided without Pitt seriously in the mix (Odrick, Hunter, Maddox, Lyons, Minemyer, Carter, McBride, Kanuch, Womack)

6 are undecided with Pitt in the mix (McCoy, Walls, Berry, Smith*, Kates, Fields)

* Aaron Smith will announce tomorrow between Pitt and Maryland

This just keeps staying strange.

The mysterious AAU coach who asked Herb Pope to check out a private high school in Florida is now talking.

Also, Pope’s AAU coach said Pope has opened up his recruitment and is no longer verbally committed to Pitt. Pope committed to the Panthers as a sophomore.

“He wants to explore all his options, including high school and college,” said J.O. Stright, who coaches Pope on the Pittsburgh JOTS.

Stright, who speaks with Pope regularly, said Pope has not made a decision where he will attend high school.

“My recommendation is that he needs to go to a private school with a good academic program,” Stright said. “He needs academic help. He thinks he’s good enough to make the NBA someday. But he has to go to college for a year to do that. He could really benefit from a private school.”

He wants to explore his options for high school? Now? Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t school start for most in the next week or even on Monday? How much exploring can he be doing at this point?

I know he’s a huge talent, and teams will be falling over themselves to try and get him (or in Pitt’s case, re-snare him). Still, the multiple high schools were a red flag before, the fact that it continues does not encourage. Far too often it seems these kids just start bouncing from school to school (just page down for some examples) without knowing what they actually want. It seems they are listening to too many voices trying to do and please everyone.

UPDATE: According to this story, Pope is back in and at Aliquippa, but he is reopening his college recruitment.

But Pope, a 6-foot-9 forward who is one of the most sought-after prep players in the nation, said from his home in Aliquippa on Thursday night that those reports were false.

“I’m home right now and I’m staying in Aliquippa,” Pope said.

Arlington Country Day coach Rex Morgan, who led the school to a Florida state title last season, told the Florida Times-Union that Pope was registered at the private school and was attending classes, an assertion Pope denies.

“I was just down there to explore my options, but I never enrolled.”
…
While Pope confirmed his return to Aliquippa, he did say, however, that he is reconsidering the verbal commitment he made to attend the University of Pittsburgh earlier this year.

“I decided I want to keep my options open,” Pope said. “There are still some things I want to explore.”

Double-edged sword.

Coach Wannstedt seems quite happy with the prospect of opening the season against Notre Dame, because the team, fans and media have all zeroed in on that game.

In perfect world, Wannstedt said, the Panthers would have an exhibition game to get ready for the season. But because there is no preseason in college football, he’d much rather open against a tough opponent than a team that might be easily overlooked.

“My experience has been this, the media and fans have a tendency to talk about the biggest game you have on your schedule,” Wannstedt said. “One year when I was at Miami, we played Florida like the third game of the year, and nobody cared about our first two opponents. We did as coaches, but all any one could talk about was Miami playing Florida.

“By opening up with Notre Dame, this has been a target for our guys all through the offseason, the national television and the whole bit, so I think it has been good.

“Would I like to have a warm-up game? Yes, because it is what I am used to in the NFL. But, under the circumstances, I like having a big game right off the bat because it does keep you focused.”

The Fan Fest at Heinz Field was apparently well received. The team worked on the kicking game and special teams primarily. It was the 4th time in camp that they worked out under the lights.

The team has practice this afternoon and Saturday. The team is taking Sunday off, then the week of work for the Notre Dame game begins in earnest.

H.B. Blades gets a piece today. Kind of odd, because he was held out of practice to get some rest and kept away from the media. Given Blades’ willingness to talk and being one of the more quotable members of the squad, it makes the piece awkward.

He was named to the Butkus Award Watch List to go with being on the Charles Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski Watch List. Definitely getting to be ridiculous with the awards — I think there are now around 20 — but I digress.

As the Panthers prepare to enter their final week of preseason practice before the regular season begins, Wannstedt appears comfortable in talking about Blades now as a middle linebacker, a switch that was put into motion in spring camp.

“When we moved him to the middle linebacker spot in the spring, I knew he was our most experienced linebacker and I could see after two days that he was a very instinctive player,” Wannstedt said. “I was hoping he would be the type of leader in the huddle that everyone said he was in the past and he’s really done a great job.”
…
“In every scrimmage that he’s been in there — and they’ve had equal time — he’s led us in tackles,” Wannstedt said of Blades, referring to the Panthers’ current training camp. “Our middle linebacker should lead us in tackles. If he’s not leading us, then we’ve got a problem.”

You know, it just occurred to me that we have barely heard a peep from defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads this season. Usually by this time there is at least one piece puffing his defense and he is regularly commenting on how the defense is doing. Not this year.

As part of SI.com’s College Football Preview, they have a column on newcomers to watch.

Rashad Jennings, RB, Pittsburgh
6-2, 239 pounds
High school: Lynchburg Christian Academy, Forest, Va.

Pitt’s rushing attack was ranked 105th in the nation last year, but with this Eddie George-like bruiser, the Panthers won’t be averaging 97.75 yards a game on the ground this season.

Originally part of the Panthers’ 2004 recruiting class, Jennings was academically ineligible to enroll at Pitt after graduating high school. He regained his eligibility after taking summer classes, but by that time, preseason camp had already started. Jennings took ’04 off, trimming his fullback-sized, 265-pound frame to a lean, powerful 239.

Now he’s making up for lost time. After running for 118 yards on 19 carries in the Blue-Gold scrimmage, Jennings appears poised to start in the Panthers’ Sept. 3 opener against Notre Dame at Heinz Field.

“He’s definitely a power back,” Dave Wannstedt said of Jennings in the Pittsburgh Tribune. “He’s a tough guy who holds onto the ball.”

And in short burst from last year, Rob Petitti — the only Pitt player drafted last spring — is having a great camp. How great?

“My goal is to start,” Petitti said, some four months ago. “I’m not here just to make the team as a backup or something. I want to start.”

And while it was never out of the question, considering the Cowboys’ needs at right tackle, the declaration was rather unrealistic for a sixth-round pick to even dream of stepping right into the starting lineup.

However, here we are, just more than two weeks away from the season opener, and Rob Petitti, that sixth-round pick from Pittsburgh, is closing in on winning the starting right tackle job.

Kind of also indicates that Dallas may be a little thin on the line.

As the season looms, uniform changes abound and Paul Lukas at UniWatch for ESPN.com, Page 2 has a round-up.

Pittsburgh is now Pitt again, as you can see on its new helmet. But whoever added that gold side panel on the jersey should be pink-slipped, pronto.

This, ahem, coordinates with what we said back at the unveiling.

To just follow that up, back in April when the new unis were revealed I e-mailed Lukas about the new unis and logo and what he thought:

I prefer the script, not the block. But hey, I went to a college that didn’t even have a football team!

Meanwhile, Syracuse is making Pitt look stable in the realm of logos. 15 months after they changed to a new logo, they are changing again. The new logo is here. I like the simplicity, but they sure keep things confusing.

With the coming season, knowledge is power. Or something like that. For easy reference here are the team blogs of Pitt’s opponents this season (cribbed from Fanblogs from their full list of college team blogs):

Notre Dame

The Blue-Gray Sky
The Backer
Kanka’s Sports
Kelly Green
NDCHOOCHOO
Brendan Loy
Their Irish Brogue

Ohio University

None (not exactly a shock)

Nebraska

Husker Extra
StrugglingJoe

Youngstown State

None

Rutgers

Knight Hawk

Cinci

Bearcats Blog

USF

The Bull Pen

Syracuse

Orange Juice
Syracuse::44::Orange

Louisville

Before I Get Old

UConn

None (for football)

WVU

WV Law Dog Blog

Joel, I don’t know if you did this, but now my head really hurts.

Yes, I too thought I wouldn’t be posting anything about Levon Kendall for a couple months. But here it is barely a week later. Courtesy of the rapidly indispensable Big East Basketball Report, Levon Kendall has been added to the Canadian National Team as games begin today in FIBA’s Tournament of Americas for qualification to the 2006 World Championships. Also on the team is the seemingly eternal UConn Huskie Denham Brown. Seriously, how long has he been with that team. It seems like he has been there since Ray Allen left.

This is actually fairly significant for Kendall. The competition is better and older and he is still being counted on to produce.

Among the most significant additions are Carl English of Patrick’s Cove, Nfld., and Levon Kendall of Vancouver, a pair of young forwards who’ll be asked to handle a majority of the team’s scoring in the 10-country tournament which starts tomorrow and ends Sept. 5.

English, who played last year with Florida of the NBDL, joined the team for practices last weekend, while Kendall was the best player on the national under-21 team that won a bronze medal at the world championships earlier this month.

If he does well here, then you have to like his chances to earn and keep a starting position for Pitt.

The Beaver County Times has been doing a Friday feature where they look back at an area great. Past Pitt players are heavy in this thing. This week, a look at former Pitt player and coach, Foge Fazio.

Fazio’s first stop at Pitt came in 1969 when he was named the defensive coordinator under coach Carl DePasqua. It was during his four years in that post he became familiar with Hopewell great Tony Dorsett.

“I was recruiting Tony and wanted to make him a free safety,” Fazio said. “That’s how smart I was.”

Dorsett ended up going to Pitt as a running back, eventually winning the Heisman Trophy. Fazio wasn’t there to share in Dorsett’s days with the Panthers. When Johnny Majors took over at Pitt in 1973, Fazio left for the University of Cincinnati.

After four seasons as the Bearcats’ defensive coordinator, Fazio returned to Pitt as an assistant under Jackie Sherrill. Following five years of coaching under Sherrill – the last three as defensive coordinator – Fazio was named Pitt’s football coach when Sherrill left for Texas A&M.

“It was a great honor, but with it comes pressure because being from the area, people know who you are and they expect a lot out of you,” Fazio said.

Added pressure came when Pitt was the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the country in 1982.

“I guess since we were 11-1 the previous three years with key players (like quarterback Dan Marino) returning, I guess we were the logical choice,” Fazio said.

Injuries to key receivers affected Marino, and Pitt ended 9-3 with a loss to SMU in the Cotton Bowl. The Panthers were 8-3-1 with a loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl the following year. Things went sour in 1984 as Pitt went 3-7-1.

“We lost some real good players and probably didn’t recruit as well as we had in the past,” Fazio admitted. “But I was the head coach. It was on my watch.

“We were taking kids who we were sure would graduate,” Fazio said. “A few years ago, Dean Billick, who was the assistant athletic director (at Pitt), told me I had the highest graduation rate of all the recent Pitt coaches. I said, ‘Well, that still didn’t save my job.'”

He may not have been a very good head coach, but he was a solid assistant, and remains a good interview.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Aaron Smith of Gateway high will announce his choice of school live on FSN Pittsburgh in between the Pennsylvania Kickoff Classic II games being aired.

Although Pitt is considered the favorite, Gateway coach Terry Smith warned not to count out Maryland.

Aaron Smith visited the College Park campus last weekend, and the Terrapins are recruiting him as an athlete who could play receiver or defensive back.

“They’re neck and neck,” said Terry Smith, Aaron’s uncle. “They’re sending five or six handwritten letters a day. They’re all calling me, trying to reach me because they can’t call kids until Sept. 1.”

Anyone else wonder how the coaches at any program have that kind of time to write little notes to players. I have to believe that is the job of a cadre of student interns in the athletic department.

Also, September 1 is the first day written offers and telephone contact can be made by college coaching staffs for high schoolers of the class of 2007. According to the story the following local kids can expect lots of attention.

Hampton linebacker Steve Paskorz, receivers Toney Clemons of Valley, Jon Ditto of Gateway and Derek Moye of Rochester, Central Catholic lineman Stefen Wisniewski and Greensburg Central defensive back Nick Sukay.

Gentlemen, start your speed dial.

Yes, I am now doing some ads on this site. As the season begins, and my roadies to Pitt games are ready, I need to do something to show the wife that it isn’t really just an outlet for my obsession and an excuse not to spend time with her and the kid.

This ad is for a book by a very infrequent poster to PSB, but a good friend and Pitt grad. I encourage everyone to at least take a look. Hopefully this will also spur John to post a little more on life as a Pitt guy teaching and living in Morgantown.

Derek Kinder doesn’t want to be just the 3rd receiver.

“I want to start,” Kinder said. “I want to be that second receiver. I want to be there right behind Greg [Lee] and even pushing Greg. That’s what all of our goals should be. It is nice to get some time and be recognized right now, but it doesn’t mean a thing yet.

“Coach made it clear he wants us to be pushing for that starting job and so that’s what my goal has always been. This is a good start, being third, but I haven’t done anything yet.”

Kinder’s attitude — along with his improved play and consistency — is a big reason he has been moved into the third receiver spot. His desire, however, is why coaches don’t doubt he’ll continue to climb the depth chart.

“Derek has goals, he has dreams,” wide receivers coach Aubrey Hill said. “He wants to be the best. He is always trying to learn from Greg [Lee] or get tidbits from Joe [Delsardo] and then trying to use them to make himself a better player. So there is no doubt in my mind that he isn’t settling for third. He wants to be No. 1.[“]
…
One other area where Kinder, who played in nine games last year as a true freshman and caught one pass, has separated himself from the others is as a blocker. A big part of Pitt’s offense is running the football, so receivers must be involved in downfield blocking.

“That’s the hardest thing to understand when you are new to this,” Kinder said. “Blocking is important. Everyone wants to catch passes. I want to be the most complete receiver I can be, so I have really tried to take pride in my blocking and work on ways to become better at it.”

With Pitt looking to run a lot more, a receiver willing to do the blocking and dirty work stands a great chance of getting in the game. You would hope that maybe someone asks Hines Ward of the Steelers to stop buy and advise a little.

Coach Hill indicated that redshirt freshman Marcel Pestano will be the 4th WR , with freshman Oderick Turner pushing also. Terrell Allen and Marcus Furman are somewhere in the mix, but are already unable to stay healthy.

Furman is still expected to be playing on special teams. He just wants to help the team.

Fullback Kellen Campbell is still waiting to find out where he fits on the Panther depth chart.

“I’ve had a new running backs coach just about every year I’ve been here,” Campbell said with a laugh. “So at least I’m used to proving myself to a new position coach.”

As camp draws to a close, the question hanging over the running back lineup is whether senior Tim Murphy will be used as a tailback or a fullback.

“We’ve got some good fullbacks,” Wannstedt said. “Kellen Campbell and Justin Acierno, those guys can both line up and play.

“The decision’s to be made is, is Tim Murphy one of our two or three best tailbacks or do we leave him at fullback?”

That decision likely won’t be finalized until next week, when Wannstedt and his crew begin planning for the opener against Notre Dame.

So once again, Campbell will have to wait a while longer before learning his fate.

Campbell could be anywhere from 1st to 3rd on the depth chart. Then there will be worrying about what happens when Shane Brooks or Conredge Collins gets shifted over to FB.

While it seemed obvious that H.B. Blades is something of the vocal leader — or at least the front man/face — of the defense, apparently Coach Wannstedt is still looking for linemen on the defense to take charge. Okay.

Redshirt freshman Adam Gunn attracted attention for his move from Safety to Outside Linebacker. As is the danger for multiple newspaper coverage, you have two stories with virtually the same headline — I guess there are only so many variations the headline editors can concoct.

At 6-foot-1 and 220-plus pounds, Gunn’s a little heavy to play in the secondary at Pitt and a little light for linebacker. But he was moved from safety to outside linebacker in the summer and has been a pleasant surprise during training camp this week at the UPMC Sports Complex.

“The position change with Gunn has been good,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He’s got enough speed to play linebacker, but he wasn’t going to be fast enough to play in the secondary.

“When you move a guy from safety to linebacker, sometimes you’ll find out if they’ll be willing to handle the toughness part of it. But I’m real encouraged with where Adam is at right now.”

Pitt linebackers coach Curtis Bray told Gunn that the transition from safety would be tough, but Gunn took that as a challenge and met it head on.

“I’m loving it right now,” Gunn said.

It has been a change he has been working on since the spring.

Gunn got the news after spring drills, and he spent the summer preparing for his new role. He had plenty of time to study the playbook, meet with Bray, watch film and get a lot of reps in summer workouts.

“This year, I’m coming in thinking any day I could be the starter,” Gunn said. “Last year, I didn’t approach it like that.”

Working mostly at the strong-side (Sam) spot, Gunn is backing up Clint Session and Derron Thomas. But with both of those players nursing injuries, he has gotten more action during workouts the past few days.

He has speed, and with Coach Wannstedt, that will get him in the game.

The kid is apparently telling people different things, or someone is lying.

Arlington Country Day coach Rex Morgan confirmed to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Wednesday that Pope, a 6-foot-8 forward considered one of the nation’s top juniors, is attending the private school in Jacksonville, Fla.

“He’s enrolled and going to class,” Morgan said.

Aliquippa coach Marvin Emerson, however, said that Pope was supposed to return yesterday to Aliquippa, which starts classes Aug. 30

“From my understanding, he’s coming back,” Emerson said. “He was down there and he didn’t like it. I got a phone call this morning that he’s on his way back today. There’s so many things I’m hearing, I don’t know.”

Pope could not be reached for comment.
…
Arlington Country Day was the Florida 2A state champion last spring and was expected to be ranked nationally this season. Its lineup already features 7-foot-2 Jason Bennett and 6-8 junior A.J. Stewart and a Florida State recruit in point guard Josue Soto.

Country Day also has games scheduled in Hawaii, Kentucky, New York,

“(The transfer) was for academic as much as athletic reasons,” Morgan said. “A lot of people are impressed with our graduation rates and student-to-teacher ratio.”

Pope, who chose Pitt in March, also told the Trib in July that he wouldn’t renege on his verbal commitment – “I’m not changing my mind,” Pope said. “I love Pitt.” – but Arlington Country Day’s Morgan said Pope has decided to re-open his college recruitment.

“Pitt is at the top of his list, but he’s keeping his options open,” said Morgan, who played on the University of Jacksonville’s 1971 NCAA finalists. “He told me he wants to have other people come in and watch him.”

Yes, transferring to a Florida prep school for academics. If by academics you mean easier to get a high school diploma.

This is just getting real seedy. The thing I worry about is that it is the open seedy. It’s the kind of chain of events that somewhere, somehow, a school or a coach goes down for something. With Pitt in the middle of it, I worry.

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.