Some more stuff that doesn’t fit into one simple post theme.

The Paul Zeise Q&A from yesterday. Topics covered include redshirting in bulk, JUCO players impact, use of Stephens-Howling and as always the incoming talent.

Q: What is Dave Wannstedt doing so differently that he is getting so many four-star recruits?

Zeise: I think it is a matter of commitment and effort. That’s not to say the last coach didn’t work hard, but recruiting wasn’t one of his favorite things. Dave Wannstedt lives to recruit, he loves it. He goes on the road for five weeks in the spring — something that is almost unheard of among head coaches at BCS schools. Some go out for a part of the time or for a few days — Wannstedt will spend the entire spring recruiting period on the road, knocking on doors, meeting people, etc., etc., Most head coaches have no idea what a text message is (some can’t even use their cell phone or retrieve messages from their voice mail) and they have their flunkies texting and e-mailing kids. Wannstedt texts and e-mails prospects all the time. He is really into it and he has a tremendous personality. He is a guy that is very easy to like and it is clear he is very passionate about what he is doing.

The best way to sum it up is this: One of his assistants, who has been around the block a time or two and has been around a lot of coaches, said Wannstedt is the “most competitive recruiter I’ve ever been around and there isn’t a close second.” I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — if this regime ultimately fails, it will not be because of a lack of talent. That will not be the issue because this guy is going to get players. If he wants someone, he goes after them and makes it very clear they are at the top of his priority list. That makes a huge difference.

Zeise is exaggerating the supposed ineptness of college head coaches with tech. In the last year, especially, there has been no shortage of stories around the country of head coaches and their comfort and use of tech and texting. This is especially so at the schools with top programs — the place Pitt wants to get. Other than that, I can’t disagree.

Darrelle Revis joins in the growing, after-the-fact chorus of players and some sportswriters who write off last season as having selfish players not on the same page/selfish playing/not adjusting to the new coach.

“We’re together all week, every day, from 7 o’clock in the morning (at breakfast),” Revis said. “And it’s real fun. You can tell that this football team is a lot closer than it was last year.

“There was a lot of pointing fingers and stuff (last season), but this year everybody helps each other up if they have a bad play or anything. We’re a lot closer, and we’re a better team for it.”

Revis, an All-America candidate and defensive leader, won’t guarantee a level of success for the Panthers this season. However, he’s certain that the way things were last fall — the first for Wannstedt, offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh and a few other coaches — cannot be repeated.

“I think we were one of the worst teams with that last season,” Revis said. “Guys just weren’t focused on the big picture. Guys were not communicating right, and there was just a bad vibe throughout the whole season. And we couldn’t get a feel for each other. That made it tough.”

Joe Starkey for ESPN.com (Insider subs.) writes about H.B. Blades and Tyler Palko determined to go out on a strong note this season.

The bitter taste still lingers for quarterback Tyler Palko and linebacker H.B. Blades, who returned to the field this spring determined to use the experience as a cattle prod, or, in this case, a Panther prod.

“I mean, that’s embarrassing for the program,” said Palko, speaking of the season as a whole. “That’s embarrassing to us a football team, and everybody should be embarrassed as individuals. You have to use it as motivation.”

He continued, animatedly.

“You’re not going to go through life and have it be peachy all the time. It’s about, can I handle the bad times with a smile on my face and say, ‘OK, I played like crap’ and get back on the horse? Not many people can do that. That’s what separates good teams from bad teams. Can you get up in front of people and say, ‘Hey, we sucked last year. We were bad, but, we’re not going to let it happen again.’

“If you can do that, you’re going to have a special group. If you can’t, you’ll be in the same boat you were in before.”

Blades watched most of the West Virginia game from the sidelines, on crutches. He injured his ankle early in the first quarter.

“It burns inside you,” said Blades, son of former NFL star Bennie Blades. “It’s in the back of my mind every time I go in the weight room, every time I go on the practice field. We all read the newspapers and see how people talk about us. We know we’re the reason why people can say, ‘Well, they can’t stop the run.’ You know, because we didn’t. We gave up over 400 yards in our last game. That’s the truth. We have to go out there and change all that.”
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The fact that nobody expects much from Pitt is, according to Blades, another advantage. See, the last time so little was expected, the Panthers wound up in the Fiesta Bowl in Blades’ sophomore year. In his other two seasons, Pitt was ranked going into the season — and just plain rank before the end of it.

“That’s why I like us being a dark horse,” Blades said. “You know, nobody talking about us and we just creep up and surprise people. That’s the best way.”

The Panthers believe they have come together as a team under the leadership of Blades, Palko and Wannstedt.

“As a coach, you create situations where chemistry and leadership can surface,” Wannstedt said. “But, sooner or later, the players have to say, ‘This is my team. I’m one of the leaders, and I’m going to be as accountable as anybody.'”

I like, no, love the words. They do have to be backed-up by action.

He appears to be the frontrunner for Fairfield.

The search for a new men’s basketball coach at Fairfield took a significant turn Thursday when Pittsburgh associate head coach Barry Rohrssen had a second interview with Stags athletic director Gene Doris.

A source close to the situation said Rohrssen, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who has spent the last seven seasons with the Panthers, is the clear front runner for the job as the search nears a conclusion.

Rohrssen was a candidate for the Seton Hall job that went to Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez on Thursday. The source indicated that Rohrssen, despite liking his situation at Pittsburgh where he is among the highest paid assistant coaches in the Big East has a desire to be a head coach and would likely take the Fairfield job if offered.

Fran Fraschilla, who previously was considered a front runner for the job, has withdrawn his name from consideration, according to a coach who attended the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Short-term, taking the Fairfield job is a loss for Rohrssen. He’d likely take a pay cut from his present salary (estimates have it around $200,000+) plus a higher cost of living, for more work, responsibility and less prestige. Long-term he has to take the job. One of the things that really cost him the chance at the Seton Hall gig was his lack of any head coaching experience at any level.

Now here’s the other problem. Fairfield appears to be at about the end of its coaching search. Manhattan is just beginning one. Manhattan is the better gig and has been the bigger springboard (though it too probably requires a pay cut).

Does Rohrssen take the Fairfield gig if offered or try to delay to see if he’s got a shot at Manhattan?

Manhattan College athletic director Bob Byrnes issued a statement noting the search for a new coach was under way. There is no timetable in place, but finding a suitable candidate in the past has required at least two weeks.

“Seton Hall is getting a spirited and energetic coach who will demand the best of his staff and players,” Byrnes said. “At Manhattan, Bobby gave us his best, and in turn, we wish him the very best at Seton Hall.”

Gonzalez put together a 129-77 record with the Jaspers, which included four 20-win seasons and two trips to the NCAA tournament.

Pittsburgh assistant Barry Rohrssen is a strong candidate to replace the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference coach of the year. He was passed over by Seton Hall and has interviewed at Fairfield, but the Brooklyn native has major-college aspirations and knows Manhattan is a springboard.

Gonzalez credited Byrnes for consistently finding sideline talent.

“Bob understands and Manhattan understands who they are, and that’s not a knock,” he said. “They understand a guy comes here and gets experience. They mentor you and they know someday you could leave the nest. And they’re proud of that.”

Tough call.

With Darrelle Revis anchoring the secondary, it feels like it is the strongest area on the defense. This despite questions as to who will be starting at the safeties and at the corner opposite Revis. Part of that is simply because Jovani Chappel has already gotten a lot of press and impressed trying to win the other corner. Then there seems to be solid depth at the safeties — it’s just figuring out who will win the starting job and the order on the depth chart. And of course, for the other corner there is intriguing, high level freshmen talent coming aboard in August.

Still in the battle to start at the other corner position, there are upperclassmen trying to make it theirs.

“We call him Mr. Enthusiasm,” Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis said with a laugh. “He can talk and get us rowdy.”

[Kennard] Cox hopes to make a lot of noise this season. He is one of three players vying to take over the right cornerback spot Josh Lay filled last year.

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” Cox said. “I think about it every day. Everybody wants to be the guy. The greatest man is going to earn the spot. That’s what it’s all about.

“To play DB in college, you’ve got to be a great athlete. You can’t be just a normal person out there, because normal people get beat.”

If Cox is going to win the job, however, coach Dave Wannstedt demands to see more than just amped-up antics.
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Reggie Carter might end up as Revis’ backup, or he could take over on the right side if he impresses the coaches. Carter is a year older than Cox but has appeared in fewer games.

“I’ve learned from Reggie, and hopefully he learned from me at the same time,” Cox said. “We both learned from Revis — how to keep your body square, how to react faster to the ball, little things that give you an edge.”

Kelvin Chandler, a former wide receiver, and redshirt freshman walk-on Mike Toerper also are working for some playing time.

“That competition, it works me out every day,” Cox said. “There’s somebody who wants something I want. That enthusiasm, it keeps you warm.”

The wild card in the mix is true freshman Jovanni Chappel, who enrolled in January. At 5-foot-8, he is five inches shorter than Cox and four shorter than Carter. But the rookie has shown this spring that he knows how to cover — and clobber — wideouts.

No, the question on defense is up and down the line. The guy coaching the line is different from last year.

[Greg] Gattuso began his second year on coach Dave Wannstedt’s staff by switching duties. Last season, he was the recruiting coordinator and worked with the tight ends.

Over the winter, [Bob] Junko was hospitalized for a heart ailment. He is recovering, and he watches spring workouts from the sideline. Gattuso, a standout defensive lineman during his playing days at Penn State, took over as defensive line coach and handed his recruiting responsibilities to Junko.
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Gattuso hopes the line’s speed can make up for what it lacks in size. That is why he has spent every spring practice session stressing fundamentals, especially footwork.

“It’s almost as if you were teaching dance to somebody and you put the little feet on the ground,” Gattuso said. “If I could, I’d spray paint ’em on the field. We’re working on first step, second step, third step — where they’re supposed to be and how they all relate to explosion and striking ability and how the body moves.

“It takes time, and we’re struggling with that a little bit. But every once in a while you see a sign that they get it, and you see a great play. The light’s going on a little bit, and the kids are starting to say, ‘Oh, this does work. I’d better continue to try to do what they’re telling me.’ “

The speed can only be effective if they are allowed to be aggressive. Especially with an undersized line. This article lists the players and their weight and asks:

All of this begs the question how small is too small? Are the Panthers sacrificing too much size in favor of speed?

If they are, it doesn’t seem to have coaches on the team concerned.

“Obviously, size would come into play if we are lining up against a team with a bunch of 300 pounders who are lining up with two tight ends and a fullback and trying to jam it down our throats,” defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said. “In that case, we have to do a good job as coaches creating things schematically so that we don’t have our guys getting double teamed on blocks and so they are able to use their quickness and explosiveness to beat blocks and go make plays.

“The thing I think we have is a lot of kids who are physical football players and we have more speed, we are a faster defense than we have been. Ideally you’d like to have size and speed, but speed can make up for a number of deficiencies.”

Rhoads pointed to Williams and Campbell as two examples of players who, because of their quickness, are able to make plays and get off blocks, even against bigger opponents.

That’s encouraging for the Panthers because one thing the defense lacked last year was playmakers, particularly up front, and the more coaches have watched Williams and Campbell, the more excited they’ve gotten about their potential.

“I think Tommie’s made more plays in three or four practices at linebacker than he did all year at safety,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “The moves we have made, we have gotten faster as a defense. I believe we are in a better position to make plays. We have to make more plays. Last year we were in a situation where our leading sack guy was a freshmen who had 3 1/2 sacks. That’s terrible coaching on our part. We have to do a better job of giving these guys a chance to make plays and putting our speed out there and getting our defense faster is a good start.”

So, um, the primary duties of “coaching them up” and figuring out the best schemes will fall to DC Paul Rhoads? (I just tasted stomach acid in the back of my mouth when I typed that.)

So, there were a couple recruits at practice on Thursday.

Erie Strong Vincent assistant coach Jeff Gibbens and standout athlete Maurice Williams made the two hour trek to Pittsburgh on Thursday for spring practice.

“It went well, he had the chance to talk to (Dave) Wannstedt and (Paul) Rhoades,” Gibbens said. “He walked around all practice and took everything in. he got the chance to sit in on a wide receivers meeting with Aubrey Hill.”

Pittsburgh seems to be taking the pole position in the race for Williams service’s.

Williams plays QB and DB, and might be projected as a WR in college. He holds offers from Pitt, Syracuse, Maryland and WVU. Judging by the variety of positions, he might best fall into that nebulous but always intriguing category of “athlete.”

Then there was one other recruit of substantive note.

One of the visitors to practice yesterday was Cameron Heyward, a 6-foot-7, 270-pound junior defensive tackle from Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee (Ga.). The last name should be familiar to Pitt fans as he is the son of former Panther running back Craig “Ironhead“ Heyward. The younger Heyward, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds and has a vertical leap of 29 inches, is one of the Panthers top targeted recruits for next season, but they will be in a battle with a number of SEC and ACC schools for his services. He is one of the top defensive line prospects from Georgia.

As much as Pitt was his father’s school, considering the ongoing medical problems his father faces, I’m not sure whether Pitt will have a great shot at him. I would think that he might — quite reasonably — choose to stay closer to Atlanta. I don’t think anyone will begrudge him that.

The unofficial recruiting with practice theme continued with the high school road show on Friday. About 300 to 500 people showed up to watch Pitt practice. Actually pretty good considering there was a severe storm warning and the practice was actually cut short because of lightning.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has made it one of his top priorities to bring the Panthers back into the community.

Last year, the Panthers had their spring game at Gateway High School and Wannstedt said public practices will be a part of spring drills as long as he is the coach.

And while there are obvious benefits to showcasing your program at the schools were prospective players play, Wannstedt insists building the fan base is a big reason he’s a proponent of public practices.

“No, it really isn’t about recruiting,” Wannstedt said. “We just want to get out to all the areas around the city and allow our fans to become more familiar with us.

“It is a neat thing to do and it is good for both us and for the high school programs around the area as well.”

Not that there weren’t some top recruits on hand or anything.

Two key recruits attended practice — fullback Henry Hynoski and lineman Josh Marks, both from PIAA Class A champion Southern Columbia.

Well, if you still want to see Pitt this spring and you have (or plan to have) your taxes done before then the Blue-Gold Scrimmage is next Saturday, April 15. It’s at Heinz Field and it isn’t free. It’s $5 to park and $5 per person over the age of 2. It is free to Pitt students.

Activities will take place on the Gate A Plaza as fans enter from 12:00PM to 1:00PM. Will include: Pitt Band, Pitt Cheerleaders and Dance Team, Roc the Panther, US Army, Chick-fil-a, Dress like a Panther, and a Football Toss. Season Tickets will be on Sale. Official Pitt Merchandise will be on Sale.

Kickoff is at 1.