Since LeSean McCoy and Pat Bostick were the highest profile recruits in the 2007 class and have lots of expectations that both will compete and even win starting jobs as freshmen, the two will probably be joined in the minds of most Pitt fans and the local media during their time at Pitt.
They have yet to take a snap in a college football game, but their presence alone gives Pitt hope for the future. The Panthers see Bostick as a poised pocket passer and McCoy as an every-down back with breakaway burst.
The article has a nice mutual admiration of one for the other, and Kevin Gorman does an excellent job of supplementing the story with blog posts on on each.
From McCoy:
“I’m used to fans acting like that. It was more the players and coaches,” McCoy said. “The coaches were so cool. It wasn’t like they just do that for a recruiting trip. It’s like that all the time. I’ve been to schools all over the country. I don’t think the coaches are as cool as Pitt.
“Coach (Dave) Wannstedt, I can go into his office and talk any time. And the players really were cool. At some places, they were jealous.”
The post also talks about how Aaron Berry continued to sell him on Pitt and how McCoy wants to learn from while competing with LaRod Stephens-Howling.
Then it’s Bostick:
“As much as I thought I needed to do to get in shape to be ready for Buddy’s workout program, I probably had to do 100 times more than that; I had no clue,” Bostick said. “When I first met Buddy, I should have known. I kind of needed that, to tell you the truth. It’s just a reaffirmation of the fact that I’m a freshman and I’ve got a lot of work to do. In no way, shape or form am I ready, but it makes you want to work that much harder to get to that level.”
Not that it has come easily for Bostick.
“Physically has been the hardest thing, just the weight training and conditioning,” Bostick said. “I’ve never seen anything like that, just how rigid and organized Buddy has us working. He has working hard. Buddy is doing a great job. It’s just a lot more physically demanding.
“It’s all for a purpose. It’s kind of like boot camp, being a rookie. He’s just one of those guys that will turn out to be one of the biggest influences and helps to your career. I’m glad we have a guy like that to push us.”
Expect to read plenty more about Buddy Morris’s training. As much as anything else, it’s because the players don’t have any other practices. So it’s film, playbook study and conditioning. The post also draws on the attitude similarities to football between Tyler Palko and Pat Bostick.
It’s under 90 days until the first game.
McCoy, well, just on the basis of the media coverage alone (maybe unfair, but all the typical fan has to go on), he seems cocky, but hopefully that’ll prove to be a good kind of cockiness (and not the Pinky Johnson kind)… maybe something Brandon Williams, Brandon Mason, the Walker kid a few years back, and numerous other of our top tailback recruits of the last decade might have needed, in retrospect. That and a decent OL …
