Can you feel the excitement?

I can’t. A disappointing season and real questions about when the kids will actually be helping Pitt, seem to have muted reaction to another outstanding recruiting class (the LeSean McCoy verbal excepted). Maybe it’s because last year it was all about keeping the local area kids and this year, the class is more diffused. A bunch from the eastern half of Pennsylvania. Just a wider geographic pool. That reduces the local coverage and puff pieces on the kids coming to Pitt. Just a theory.

Well, add another verbal. This one decommitted from Alabama.

The Panthers received a verbal commitment Tuesday from Tampa Middleton cornerback Sherod Murdock, a Florida Class 4A first-team all-state selection who had previously picked Alabama last summer.

Murdock took an official visit to Pitt Jan. 12-14, the same weekend the Panthers introduced former Alabama assistant Chris Ball as their new secondary coach. Murdock followed Ball, his primary recruiter for the Crimson Tide.

“It was a big part of my decision,” Murdock said. “Pittsburgh was considered the frontrunner already. When coach Ball got there, that sealed it.”

Murdock chose Pitt over Kansas and Alabama, which stopped recruiting him after coach Mike Shula was fired and replaced by Nick Saban. Murdock also had scholarship offers from Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Nice that the new hire brought some more help for the secondary. Especially a pretty good one. Scout.com and Rivals.com each have him as a 3-star recruit overall. Scout.com puts him as the #78 CB recruit nationally, Rivals.com says #49 and ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. ranks him #23 (Insider subs).

He possesses ideal height, average bulk and the frame to get bigger. Is a smooth and fluid athlete for his size. Possesses good top-end speed. He shows excellent acceleration when tracking the ball. Hips are smooth and he can plant and drive with ease. He has long arms and good leaping ability to challenge for the ball in the air. He plays aggressively in run support. Fills hard, takes decent angles and should develop into a solid open field tackler.

Rivals.com also ranks him as the  97th best player out of Florida.
So in the always amusing Recruiting rankings Pitt comes in at #8 according to Scout.com; #23 with Rivals.com; and tied at #26 with Texas A&M on ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc.

I have no idea what it means. I suppose if I was that curious I’d lay out the rankings of each player from each site to see where and why the variations are. The good news is I don’t have that kind of time and I’m not that curious.