The other stuff I hadn’t had a chance to post on this week.

Assistant Head Coach Bob Junko is taking a leave of absence from the team as his recovery from heart surgery in February has gone much slower than hoped. Junko is an underrated recruiter for Pitt, and has been Pitt’s recruiting coordinator this season. Not sure if the perceived slowness in the Pitt recruiting this summer is actually related considering how hands-on and active Coach Wannstedt is.

Taking over on the field for Junko is Charlie Taafe.

“We were fortunate to be able to gain the services of a highly knowledgeable coach in Charlie Taaffe on such short notice,” Wannstedt said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to the University of Pittsburgh’s football program and help Coach Wannstedt build Pitt to the level of prominence it is accustomed to,” Taaffe said. “There is a real excitement and anticipation here and I’m glad to be part of it.”

Taaffe was Maryland’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2001-05. Prior to Maryland, he served as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League (1999-2000) and The Citadel (1987-96). Taaffe additionally held collegiate assistant coaching positions at Army (1981-86), Virginia (1976-80) and Albany (1973). He was a graduate assistant at NC State (1975) and Georgia Tech (1974).

Taaffe was something of the scapegoat at Maryland for the team’s struggles. After leaving Maryland unexpectedly to “pursue other options” Maryland HC Ralph Friedgen announced he would serve as his own OC. Can you say scapegoat? I knew you could.
Alan Robinson is the longtime AP sportswriter for Pittsburgh. He has a piece noting some similarities to what Coach Wannstedt has done with recruiting in his first year to what his old boss and mentor Johnny Majors did back when he started at Pitt.

Maybe there’s not a Tony Dorsett or a Bill Fralic in the bunch, both players who were known nationally before enrolling at Pitt and went on to great college careers.

Less than a week into summer camp, though, it seems evident Pitt’s 27 freshmen have the potential to be the best such group at Pittsburgh since Dorsett’s in 1973. That class was greatly responsible from transforming the Panthers from one-game winners in 1972 to unbeaten national champions in 1976.

Maybe the names aren’t well known yet outside of recruiting circles, Pitt’s fan base and opposing Big East teams, but coach Dave Wannstedt didn’t bring them to campus to let them sit. That means the Pitt team that takes the field Sept. 2 against Virginia may not closely resemble the one that ended last season with an embarrassing 45-13 loss at West Virginia.

There probably hasn’t been a bigger changeover in the roster from one Pitt season to another since first-year coach Johnny Majors, during the days when there were no real scholarship limits, brought in scores of new players in 1973.

That’s one to save from the memory hole to review in a couple years.

Shane Corson is learning to play Center. Viewing it as the shortest route to playing time. It’s gone as smoothly as expected as a Guard moves to a position never played before.

Scott Corson’s training camp practice debut for the University of Pittsburgh was rather inauspicious, but at least he left a lot of room for improvement.

A former GreaterJohnstown Trojan lineman, the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Corson was moved from guard to center with the freshman group and mishandled consecutive snaps to the quarterback in the opening team drill.

“That was a tough start for Scott, but he’s learning a new position,” Pitt offensive line coach Paul Dunn said. “So, he’s going to make some mistakes, but he’s gotten better already. And he’ll continue to improve.”

Corson didn’t think it could get any worse.

“I was real nervous that first day because I never took a snap before in my life,” Corson said. “Then, we had two fumbled snaps right off the bat, so I had to make sure it didn’t happen again. I needed to be confident and approach the next practice with a better frame of mind.”

Interesting to note that in the story, Chris Vangas, who was challenging Villani for the starting Center position in the spring before an injury shut him down is now been moved to Guard. I would presume because he is good enough to be playing somewhere on the line, and Pitt needs depth and the best players out there.

Finally, Tom Dienhart at the Sporting News doesn’t think much about Pitt this season in his Big East quickies.

He does the least with the most: Dave Wannstedt, Pitt

…

Offensive coordinator on the spot: Matt Cavanaugh, Pitt
…

Watch him now, because he’s turning pro: Darrelle Revis, CB, Pitt

If this guy gets hurt, his team is toast: Tyler Palko, QB, Pitt

…

They’ll be worse than advertised: Pitt

Safe to call this the conventional wisdom of national sportswriters heading into this season.

Once more, I am doing the Blogpoll. Here is my ballot.

1. Ohio St. — I don’t think there is a clear #1 team going into this season, but someone has to be at the top. Issues with all of the teams in one way or another. Yes, I have big questions about how good their defense will be. I also have questions about their offense. Tressel has shown a reluctance to loosen up the offense at the start of the season. Playing things a little too close to his sweatervest. OSU gets the early judgment as to whether it deserves this ranking with the Texas game.

2. ND — Another team with big questions on the D. No real questions about the offense (unfortunately). Would love to put them lower, but…

3. Texas — If Vince Young was back, a no doubt #1 team. The QB situation seems murky. Still a very good team in most other places.

4. Auburn — I like Irons for the Heisman. This is a very good team. The SEC schedule is very favorable as all their away games (Miss. St., SC, Ole Miss and ‘Bama) are against weaker teams. They get Florida, LSU and Georgia at home and miss Tennessee completely. Their non-con may hurt them again in the BCS, though.

5. WVU — There’s no reason that WVU can’t run the table and be playing for the national championship. They have a very good team, their lines are excellent. I have to give grudging props to Rich Rodriguez for the way he has carefully built the Hoopies, and is clearly an excellent coach. He squeezes much of the talent from every kid he gets. Yet, echoes of 2004 are still lingering.

(more…)

An important thing for Henry Hynoski, Jr. was to make a decision before his senior year of HS began. He is Pitt’s 11th verbal and the 5th from the Eastern half of Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t just Coaches Wannstedt and  Dunn (who’s recruiting responsibility is to focus on the Eastern part of Pennsylvania). Running Backs Coach David Walker gave Hynoski clear visuals of how he could and would be used and coached.

Pitt is in desperate need of fullbacks, with sophomore Conredge Collins and junior Mark Yezovich the only scholarship players at the position. Hynoski was told by Panthers running backs coach David Walker that he could play in both traditional and one-back sets.

“He showed me all the films from when he used to coach at Syracuse. He had five fullbacks who made it to the NFL and said that’s his goal for me,” said Hynoski, whose father, Henry Sr., played at Temple and was a sixth-round draft choice of the Cleveland Browns in 1975. “It’s a long way down the road. I’ve got to take one step at a time.”

With Hynoski, Pitt and Coach Wannstedt laid the groundwork early.

“I always knew in the back of my mind that it was going to be Pitt, ever since my sophomore year when they started recruiting me,” Hynoski said before approximately 50-60 friends, family, teammates, coaches, and members of the media. “I just wanted to go through the whole process, just to make sure that I covered all of my options.”

At 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, Hynoski is a physical runner who gets many of his yards between the tackles. In his first three years of high school football, he’s rushed for nearly 5,000 yards and scored 72 touchdowns. His college choice ultimately came down to Pitt and Iowa, and both schools promised to use him as a running back and receiver.

“That’s what was so appealing about Pittsburgh,” Hynoski said. “I’m not just going to be in there to be a blocker. A lot of schools, that’s all they want nowadays. (The Pitt coaches) are thinking that I can run the ball from the fullback spot. I can line up as a single back and tailback. And I can move out to wide receiver, and create mismatches on linebackers.”

[Emphasis added.]
Hynoski announced at his high school (and the link to the quoted article above, has a picture of Hynoski donning a PITT hat).

For all the attention other schools and their fans have paid to the “wall” comment about Western Pennsylvania, Coach Wannstedt has also been working very hard at rebuilding recruiting in the whole state. He did this from the first spring at Pitt when he went on the rubber chicken circuit and visiting high schools in the eastern half. Something he did not neglect this year, either. After just one season, dividends are being seen clearly. This should be something to be of greater concern to schools like Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland and such. Pitt is not going to concede any part of Pennsylvania, and that is clearly not just rhetoric.

Aside from the brief drama of a couple homesick freshmen, training camp was relatively quiet. No overarching themes or big news. Just a lot of little notes and impressions from the beat writers.

The passing offense looked a little off yesterday.

DE Chris McKillop hurt his shoulder during practice was the only new injury. Other players were still with minor dings sitting out practice.

Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Mick Williams (migraines) missed practice for the third consecutive day. Freshman receiver Dorin Dickerson (ankle) hasn’t practiced since Thursday. Other regulars who did not practice were safeties Jemeel Brady (shoulder) and Irvan Brown (shoulder) and receiver Cedric McGee (hamstring).

Lowell Robinson and Aaron Berry are splitting kick return duties and backing up Darrelle Revis on punt returns.

Shane Brooks keeps getting noticed in practice for dishing out punishment to the defense when he carries the ball.

Neither McKenzie Mathews or T.J. Porter were going to be made available for interviews after taking a practice or three off to work through some homesickness issues.

Pitt director of football operations Chris LaSala said it isn’t uncommon for young players, particularly those from out of state, to go through some rough times and the team has support systems in place to deal with such issues. He said there are people to mentor the freshmen on everything from academic issues and life skills to campus life as well as life as a football player in a major college program.

He said camp is often the toughest time for freshmen because the players come to a new environment and do nothing but football-related activities for about three weeks. Because there are few students on campus, the opportunities for social interaction and activities are limited and so some players deal with loneliness as well as homesickness while they are struggling with the pressures of trying to earn a position.

H.B. Blades, essentially speaking for the players, does not see a big issue now that they are back.

That’s why it was easy for him to understand the plight of Porter and Mathews and why he knows there isn’t anybody on the team who is looking down on them. He said every player has gone through similar struggles and the tough part is finding a way to survive them.

“[Quitting] comes up in every player’s mind when you are a freshman,” Blades said. “At some point, every player considers it, especially when you are away from home and you have no family. You are in a new atmosphere with new people. It is tough at first, but we’ve all been there and you have to grind through it.

“We need T.J. and we need McKenzie. We need them to be here and contribute if we are going to be an elite team.”

At the same time, he points out they do need to take responsibility for their actions.

“I think they owe some people apologies, as far as coaches and their families,” senior linebacker H.B. Blades said. “A lot of people made sacrifices for them to be here. I’m sure that they’re going to regret it.”

So what could have been a big deal has quickly become a minor bump.