Shane Murray as the weakside linebacker for a Dave Wannstedt defense does make sense. He wants speed and athleticism there, and doesn’t mind if he’s undersized for the position.

“I knew Shane was a tough guy, or we wouldn’t have moved him,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “You don’t have to be the biggest guy or the strongest guy to play in this scheme, if you’re smart and you can run.”

Murray played QB in high school and was initially moved to safety. Linebacker, though, was something he was taught by his dad when he was younger. It seems he still has the knowledge with the footwork and leverage. That’s promising. Murray would be the type of player that Rutgers Greg Schiano would stick at linebacker for speed.

As soon as the end of the Blue-Gold game this Saturday, you can expect the coaches to hit the recruiting trail. That, of course, includes Coach Wannstedt who also doubles it up with the rubber chicken circuit. This year, that includes going into Ohio for Wannstedt.

He will be the featured speaker for the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. It will be May 8 in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake. That’s going to have an odd feel for it. Wannstedt will be the featured speaker at an event in the Cleveland area where Bernie Kosar and Jim Tressel will be in attendance. Strange billing.

Since this world could use a lot more good people, and the people running the Oakland Zoo seem to be those good people, I figured I could pass this along to any students (or anyone else I suppose) who perhaps want to help:

Tomorrow (April 10) we will be joining former Panther, Charles Small, for a clothing drive. We will be collecting clothes and taking them to a local homeless shelter. Also, following the clothing drive we will be going to the homeless shelter to serve dinner to the people there.

We will be collecting at the following locations:

William Pitt Union 9 – 4

Sutherland Lobby 9 – 12

Towers Lobby 9 – 12

It’s great to see student organizations, especially ones connected to our sports teams, getting involved with the community.

Just got back from a little vacation and Spring Break, and I see I’m returning to some interesting items. While I was out, I did hear that WVU hired Huggins but was too busy to give any though to it.

Well, I’m home and ready think. I never liked Huggins too much while he was at Cincy; now that he’s a Mountaineer I really don’t like him. If I had to list five hoops coaches that I strongly dislike, in no particular order, it would probably be something like this:

Calhoun
Boeheim
Huggins
Crean
Pitino

Five Big East guys, huh?

I also saw that the Pitt-Navy game was moved to a Wednesday night. Thankfully, it’s not as much of a problem for me as it is for Chas. Living 15 minutes north of Heinz Field isn’t a bad drive and I don’t have a huge problem with it. Still, I’d rather spend a Saturday afternoon watching the Panthers play rather than a Wednesday night.

So, the AAU and high school hoops showcases are in full swing already. And not just for the seniors looking to show-off one last time. The younger kids have the tournaments as well, like the “Boo Williams Invitational.” This is encouraging about early Pitt commit, Nasir Robinson.

Some marriages just work. You can’t explain why they do but they do. That can be said about Nasir Robinson. The Pittsburgh commitment doesn’t play particularly pretty, but he is sure effective. Outside of Evans, Robinson was the only other productive player for Team Final. His style of play fits in perfectly and should be a great union with the way Jamie Dixon instructs his tough, defensive-minded players. Robinson was a master of grabbing the offensive rebound and getting to the line.

Another young Philly player already has Pitt’s attention as well.

Philly area sophomore Dalton Pepper is probably a year away from making a splash at the 17 and under level. However, he is on the radar for Villanova, Virginia, Pittsburgh and Florida early on.

Have to like the new aggressiveness and pursuit of players in the Philly area.

In the opening to Zeise’s Q&A, he noted that the secondary looks to be in good shape.

The defense has been very hard to peg because so many key guys are hurt, but the secondary looks like it will be much improved (I know. Given how bad the safeties played last year, that isn’t saying much.)

Eric Thatcher is healthy and hammering people again. Mike Phillips looks like he regained his 2005 pre-injury form and Aaron Berry is a tough guy with the right mix of feistiness and finesse and he’s the kind of talented trash talker every secondary can use. He’s going to be a good — maybe a great — one.

And then there is Elijah Fields, who finally is starting to look the part. He really has come on strong and that is good news for the Panthers because I really believe he can be a big time player for this team.

The new secondary coach Chris Ball, is also enthusiastic about them.

Ball also is excited about the talent level of the younger players in the secondary, particularly cornerbacks Jovani Chappell, Aaron Berry and Aaron Smith and safety Elijah Fields. He said all four have improved should be ready to play significant roles in the fall.

“Jovani is sort of that swing player, he’s played both sides, he’s played some safety — he’s done a great job,” Ball said.

“Elijah and Aaron Berry are just very talented kids. They both are working hard, they both have a chance to do some really special things. And Aaron Smith, for a kid who has never played corner much before, has really come on. He’s a great athlete, he’s just trying to catch up with the mental aspects of the position.”

Is it too early to wonder how the safeties will do in run defense support?

Remember, this is spring practice. A lot of what happens and what the coaches say don’t mean a lot. So, after a week plus of reading about the running game looking a lot better, there were complaints about its performance.

Although the offensive line got a big push on that play, the running game struggled overall. LaRod Stephens-Howling, Kevin Collier, Shane Brooks and Conredge Collins combined for 39 carries for 116 yards, a 2.97 yards-per-carry average.

“The thing I’m disappointed in is we’re not running the ball like we’re capable,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do with running the football on offense. I thought we threw the ball fairly well, we protected fairly well but we did not run the ball like we need to to become a good football team.”

It’s actual meaning.  Very little. If, as believed the QB competition doesn’t start until Pat Bostick arrives. It is safe to say that the RB competition doesn’t start until LeSean McCoy gets to Pitt in August.

If Pitt is going to have any success this year on offense, the O-line will decide it. That’s even with the unknown of the running game. The Pitt receivers have everyone liking the talent and depth.

“That’s definitely a good feeling to know that you’ve got five guys capable of going in and playing,” Hill said. “Coach Spurrier always said, ‘If a guy doesn’t want to play, the greatest ally is the bench.’ ”

It has caused a fierce competition, as Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Pestano and Porter are pushing Turner for the starting job at split end.

Through the first two scrimmages, Porter is tied with Kinder for the lead with eight catches apiece, but Pestano’s big-play ability has shined brightest.

Once perceived as fragile, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Pestano has repeatedly proved his toughness. The redshirt junior has seven receptions for 142 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown pass from Kevan Smith that was the longest play of the first scrimmage. He caught a 32-yard pass from Bill Stull in double coverage Saturday.

“I think I can be the guy, but I’m not the only one with ability,” Pestano said. “We’ve all got talent. We’ve all got different qualities.”

Porter admits he struggled adjusting last year to college and practice as a freshman. Meanwhile Oderick Turner got a jolt about assuming he would hold onto the #2 receiver spot without having to try when he got demoted in spring drills. Pestano has looked good, and it got Turner’s attention. He had his best day of practice.

“It was good to have Oderick Turner join the team for the first day of spring,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said with a sly smile. “I’m halfway kidding, but it was nice to have him show up and play like he’s capable. I reinforce that our receiver position is going to be pretty good.”

This still goes back to the O-line, though. Pitt’s QB (who ever it will be) won’t be able to get the ball to the receivers and the tight ends if the line doesn’t give the QB time to throw. We saw it in the second half of numerous games last year. The defenses started bringing more pressure up front and go straight after Palko to keep him from having time to hit a receiver. It was a lot easier to stop the ball at the source rather than try and cover all the possible targets.
Regardless of who the starter is at QB, bringing the rush and pressure at a rookie QB should be standard for any opposing team’s game plan. Especially with the depth at WR and TE for Pitt that makes the passing game potentially excellent. So, it will be up to the O-line to give the QB a chance to get the ball to someone. You have to expect seeing a fair amount of max protection for the QB this fall. Or at least, there should be.

John Bachman is struggling to learn to play center. He admits that it still a thought process with snapping and assignments. Not instinct and natural for him. Still, he doesn’t want to go back to tackle. He seems determined to make the change and become very good at it. O-line Coach Paul Dunn thinks coming back from injury is also an effect in the back of Bachman’s mind.

“I think, for him, the hardest thing is to overcome the fear of getting hurt again,” Dunn said. “He’s battling that more than he’s battling assignments, technique and those things. What John doesn’t know as a football player, he sometimes compensates with his athletic ability. The more he works at it, the better he’s going to be at it.”

That fear came to fruition Saturday in Pitt’s third scrimmage, when Bachman sprained his right ankle and had to be helped off the field. The injury doesn’t appear to be serious, but Bachman is likely done practicing for the remainder of spring drills.

While the O-line has plenty of questions, at least there seems to be depth. Corson is now the back-up and he has some potential as well.

The general rule when you have to give bad news to the public and media, it is best to do so on a Friday afternoon, when less people are paying attention. If you can time it for a holiday weekend, even better.

Safe to say, the Pitt Athletic Department knew that the news of moving the Navy-Pitt game to mid-week would be poorly received. They didn’t break the news until late afternoon on Friday. Not just a normal Friday. Good Friday of Easter weekend. A good time to get out some bad news as it can slip past a lot of people a lot easier. No chance for any additional comment on the news from Pitt’s AD or Coach Wannstedt except the notes in the media release. No matter how they spin it as a good thing, they knew it wouldn’t be received as such by the fans. The timing of the release is the giveaway.

Kevin Gorman in his blog wonders if Pitt agreed to the Wednesday night game because the only other choice from the Mouse Monopoly would be on Friday night — something Pitt and AD Long stressed they would never agree to do. Interesting point, and totally believable. You have to remember, Pitt only has a little bit of leeway when it comes to when the games get played. The Big East and ESPN have a lot more say considering they are the rights holder.

I don’t know. I do know that this is why for all the attention and exposure the Big East and Pitt gets from ESPN in basketball, the football side is treated as programming filler. It’s why I’m not particularly wild about Pitt and the Big East’s TV contract.

Two of the biggest names in the 2007 Pitt recruiting class are DeJuan Blair and Darnell Dodson. Both are hitting the high school all-star circuit hard.

On Thursday  Dodson played in the Capital Classic and had 18 or 20 points.

DeJuan Blair is in France for an all-star game.

Reports, though, are that both are not yet academically eligible to play for Pitt next year. Yes, Blair may have gotten the SAT scores in order, but there are still the grades portion that remains unfinished. I’m hopeful, but he’s not there yet.

Colin Dunlap for the P-G, however, really hates the HS all-star games. Or at the very least, he resents the fact that part of his job is to cover them.

ESPN has moved the Navy-Pitt game from a Saturday nooner on September October 13, to a September Octobaer 10, Wednesday night prime-time game at 8pm (hat tip to Chris).

“We are pleased and excited that ESPN has provided us with the opportunity to renew the Pitt-Navy series in front of a national television audience,” said Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long. “Playing the national college football showcase game on Wednesday night allows us to take advantage of an opportunity for national exposure without compromising our desire to not play on Friday nights out of respect for the traditions of Western Pennsylvania high school football.”

“This is a real win-win for us,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We’re getting a nationally televised game, which is always great for our program and recruiting. The date change also gives us a week-and-a-half to prepare for two consecutive opponents in October (Navy and Cincinnati) which we hope to use to our advantage.”

The Panthers’ remaining six home games will all be played on Saturdays. Additional television games are expected to be announced in the future.

Obviously this is a huge pain in the ass to those who want to attend, but at least it is early in the season when it is still warm.

Really, I wanted to rip it more, since I have a 2 1/2 hour drive and a mid-week game plays havoc with scheduling and planning. Then I thought about the original date and realized I would have missed it as the game would have fallen right on Rosh Hashana. This actually will break a streak with the moving of the game. It’s the first time at least since I’ve been holding season tickets that a Pitt home game won’t fall on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur.

Still not sure I’ll make this game, but it’s hard to be as pissed when I definitely would have missed it on it’s originally scheduled day.

Might as well pass along this bit of general weirdness as porn star Joanna Angel talks about being the most observant Jew in the porn industry. I’m really not sure there needs to be a punchline to this.

UPDATE: Strike that, I am pissed since I looked at the date wrong and saw September not October.  Yom Kippur falls on the home game with UConn. The streak continues.

This may be one of the silliest in a while. The ongoing mess at Arkansas. The number of dominoes falling over for various schools with coach poaching. Now Kentucky fills it’s spot with Gillispie leaving Texas A&M for Kentucky (I called that one a week ago). Andy Katz notes the names initially being bandied about in College Station (Insider subs).

The names already being tossed about in College Station: Pitt’s Jamie Dixon (who is now entrenched in the Steel City but did play in Texas at TCU), Oral Roberts’ Scott Sutton and Nevada’s Mark Fox.

I’m not taking this seriously. This is just the idle list period. Cast eyes about for potential lateral move coaches or up-and-comers with some/any sort of geographic connection and then put their name on a list. Hell, for whatever reason, Dixon’s name was mentioned with regards to the Arkansas job.

I guess, though, from a historic perspective there’s some natural wariness when Texas A&M casts its eye towards a Pitt coach.

The whole meme, by the way, about Pitt needing better players has now gone beyond conventional wisdom. Smizik is now on board with it. I’m really not sure what the point of his column was. This was clearly a filler column as he needs to wait a bit longer to start complaining about the Pirates.

UPDATE: It wasn’t just Katz tossing out the name.  Earlier that day, a columnist in Texas had also made reference to at least some passing interest in Dixon.

I repeat, this is the fun part for the media. Some of it is  trying to get some inside sources to give something useful, but it’s really too early for anything serious. What they are doing are trying to make some reasonable guesses as to who would be on the list and why.

I see from the comments regarding Huggins to WVU the speculation is heavy that Pitt might be involved to get Beasley if K-State eventually releases him from his Letter of Intent. PSR-Keystone Recruiting also noted it. There’s speculation that Pitt might find a way to free up one extra scholarship to get Beasley. He’s a tremendous talent that might be worth it. But would he be worth two scholarships and complete disruption?

A fellow Fanhouser posted on Dominique Sutton — another K-State recruit — claiming that he and Beasley are a package deal to go anywhere. Sutton claims that NC State, FSU and USC all have expressed interest. The other point is that the real question is where does Beasley’s former AAU Coach and Huggins assistant Dalonte Hill go? He’s the one that got Beasley to first verbal to Charlotte then move to K-State when he got hired there.

Just not seeing this happen.

Hey, folks. Sorry to be down on such a big day. Lot of stuff in the offline world and who knew this was going to be such a wild day. I just pushed a quickie on AOL for what Huggins going to WVU means for a lot of teams in the Big East. Suffice to say, that beat writers all over the Big East are very happy today.

For Pitt, specifically, this is a very big deal. Beilein was a very good coach, and much to my annoyance, I liked him. He was creative with the talent he had at WVU. Huggins, though, is a villain. There are never enough good villains. He brings a huge nasty edge back to the basketball part of the Backyard Brawl. Let’s face it, a little hate is good in a rivalry.

Then there is the recruiting aspect. As we all know, the Pittsburgh and Western PA AAU teams — the various JOTS teams — are under the control of J.O. Stright. Stright, of course, is a very close friend of Huggins.

The biggest prize in the recruiting aspect is Terrelle Pryor. It’s kind of scary how logical it could look for Pryor at WVU. Consider Pryor’s athletic talents as a QB in the Mountaineer spread offense. Then going over to basketball with Huggins there and Stright encouraging that. Uh, yeah. I’m going to stop thinking about that now.

The move makes a lot of sense for Huggins when you think about how strong his recruiting connections are from Western PA all the way across Indiana. Cinci won’t be happy. And guess what, neither will Xavier and Sean Miller who now has to have Huggins back recruiting against him much more locally.

Next season just got that much more interesting.

Something that just happened. The way too early 2007 top-25 predictions have already begun trickling out. Luke Winn at SI.com only does a top-10 but then lists a slew of “on the fringe,” including Pitt (at about #25). Andy Katz has his for ESPN.com and puts Pitt at #20:

Why: The Panthers are losing their big man in Aaron Gray and his sidekick Levon Kendall, but when is the last time the Panthers really slid under Jamie Dixon? How about never. The Panthers will still be in the thick of the Big East race and a top-20 team throughout the season with the core of their guards returning and incoming freshman center DeJuan Blair to fill the role.

This is a new thing. Pitt will have lost 3 starters. The face and focal point of the team is departing (arguably the second straight year of that with Krauser and now Gray) along with the team’s best perimeter defender in Graves.

Despite that. Despite a lot of unknowns about next year — will Sam Young’s knees be better? Who will be at center? Which freshmen (redshirt and actual) will crack the starting line-up and the rotation? Gilbert Brown? DeJuan Blair? And that’s just a superficial scratching the surface of the issues.

Despite all of that, the team has earned a reputation as one that does not slip very far. The expectations are, that this team will put in the right players and they will continue to still be a nationally ranked team.

Next year will be a very different team and I don’t exactly know what to expect. It could be more of a struggle then expected (just look at UConn), it could be a bubble-team season, or even better. Pitt, though, has earned a benefit of the doubt.

A profile on a DE prospect out of Ft. Lauderdale, Jeremy Longo. He’s got a bunch of offers already including Pitt, Iowa, Wisconsin, UConn and South Carolina.

Although he hasn’t visited either Iowa or Pittsburgh, he says he has family in both places. “I’ve got some family in Des Moines,” he said. “I really like the Big Ten and they have great facilities from what I hear. Also, their coaches have been there for a while and really know what they are doing.

“I also have some family in Pittsburgh and I’ve already talked with Dave Wannstedt and told him I’ll visit them this summer for sure.”

So, that’s another one to keep an eye on. Longo apparently wants to narrow the choices down this summer and make a choice before his senior season begins. Not sure how realistic it is though. The read comes off like he’d really like to stay in the South.

Close to home, Shayne Hale from Monroeville is one of the most sought after linebackers and a part of Scout.com’s National 100. The Ole Miss Scout.com site interviewed him since that school was one of the latest to offer.

What about his home state college, Pitt?

“I just got back from Pitt the other day. I went for a photo shoot. I talk to the Pitt coaches a lot. We have connected. They are cool coaches.”

He’s only been to Pitt and Maryland for campus visits but does plan on going to UNC for a look. This one reads like he is no where near even considering a decision.

Finally, ESPN.com Insider/Scouts, Inc. has a profile on Mike Cruz (a good indicator of his national talent level if they already have an evaluation done). He has great hands, really can grab the ball, runs good routes and they like his build. On the downside they criticize his blocking (too raw), that he gets tackled too easily, and worry that he has already matured physically (at age 17-18?). What’s interesting is that he’s a TE they can see changing position.

His in-line blocking ability has yet to be seen consistently which makes it difficult to rate him as a complete tight end. However, when you see his raw ability at defensive end you can tell that that the tools are there to become a successful blocker. Do not be surprised if those tools make him attractive on the defensive side of the ball to colleges.

Given Pitt’s depth at TE, and the crying need for defensive linemen…