Glad I got that TE’s post off when I did, because the house lost power for almost 24 hours. Plenty of townships are in a state of emergency because of the rain/wind/other natural disasters. I was going to go over to McKnight Road until I saw on KDKA that it was covered in a foot or two of water — ugh. Hopefully all of you readers out there in the Pittsburgh area are doing well after an ugly day.

Another place that knows a little too much about rain and wind damage is the City of New Orleans, Tyler Palko’s new home. Palko, who turned 24 yesterday, is going to have an opportunity to take some big steps towards the Saints’ third-string QB job. Once Drew Brees plays the first quarter, Palko will be next in line to play against the Buffalo Bills’ defense tonight.

He’s going to get a lot more playing time than he did against the Steelers on Sunday — it’s expected that he’ll play deep into the second half.

“I just want to know what I have with a player, and the only way I can do that is play him,” Payton said. “I’m anxious to see his development, his progressions, his ball security, how he handles his decision-making and seeing if we can move the ball while he’s in there.”

He knows what he has to work with in order to impress the coaches.

“It’s exciting, but your window of opportunity is very small,” Palko said. “So you have got to make the most of it when you get your chances. . . . Here (at camp), you’re kind of like an afterthought. You have to continue to have the mentality of getting reps and stealing reps — watching Drew and Jamie, really taking from that.”

On Sunday, Palko was 4-for-8 for 53 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. He also almost got teammate Robert Meachem killed while leading him over the middle with a pass.

Dorin Dickerson continues saying all the right things in this AP story about his move from WR/RB to Linebacker.

“I told my friends, if I could do it all over again, I’d like to play middle linebacker (in high school) and have like 200 tackles,” Dickerson said. “It’s better than scoring touchdowns, it’s the same thing. As long as we win, that supersedes everything.”

Tackles preferable to touchdowns? Dickerson insists he’s sincere in saying he would rather play defense than offense.

“I had a lot of time to think about it before they even asked me,” Dickerson said. “I said, “You know what, linebacker might not be that bad a position.’ I was kind of excited, actually, that he (Wannstedt) asked me. I said, “You know whatever works for the team, I’ll do it.’ I guess that’s the best position for me to play on this team and I’ll do to the best of my ability.”

Dickerson and the linebackers have stood out so far, though, as Wannstedt said Thursday, the defense is traditionally ahead of the offense in the early stages of preseason camp.

He’s also smart enough to admit he still has a lot to learn.

Over on the offense, T.J. Porter is also having a great start to camp. He’s probably a player of extra interest these days since he had a bit of a struggle adjusting to the team. Leaving briefly and having some flare-ups in practice.

This was what Pitt expected from Porter when he arrived last summer. Not the petulant player who left the team for a day the first weekend of training camp. Or the one who later stormed off the field after a tussle with Darrelle Revis.

Not the one who, in his own words, was “acting up.”

Now, Porter is battling to become the starting split end opposite All-Big East flanker Derek Kinder. Of the six candidates, Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Porter “might be the most dangerous guy with the ball in his hands.”

…

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore adds a different dimension to a diverse receiving corps, with an explosive burst and the ability to shake defenders out of their shoes. It’s why he will again return kickoffs and is in contention, along with cornerback Aaron Berry, to return punts.

The Pahokee, Fla., native understands that earning a starting job will depend not so much on athletic ability, but his maturity level.

“It’s all about maturing,” Porter said. “Last year, I didn’t realize the importance this had to do with my life and my future. I just realized that this is it. This is something you can’t play around with.

“They can’t sit there and wait on one player to get his act together. It’s about the team. It was either get with the program or get left (behind). I got set back a couple days and was behind the eight-ball from there on.”

It’s always great to see kids start to get it, before blowing their chance.

The potential at WR and TE is so big. Pitt just needs to be able to get it to them. That has a lot to do with both getting Bill Stull ready and having an O-line give Stull enough time. It won’t do any good if they can’t get the ball.

Not hearing much in the recruiting.

Pitt has finally finished with hiring staff. Brian Regan will take over as Program Assistant/Video Coordinator as Brandin Knight moved up to Director of Basketball Operations.

Regan, a Pittsburgh native, had been a top assistant at Colgate for the past 5 years. (Geez, does anything point to the difference in programs and pay scale than going from a top assistant at a D-1 Patriot League team to lowest paid rung on a top Big East program?)

Regan actually began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Pitt under Paul Evans from 1988-1990.

Andy Katz at ESPN.com notes some of the non-com scheduling and notes Pitt playing Duke thanks to an assist from Dayton.

Pitt wanted to play Duke and got the Blue Devils in their second home court at Madison Square Garden. But for this to occur, Dayton had to agree to move a game at home against Pitt even though it wasn’t on the same date (two days later). So, the credit goes to Brian Gregory of Dayton for doing; he didn’t have to accommodate Pitt.

It’s appreciated. Though, I’m guessing Dayton wouldn’t mind another home-and-home at some point in the future as part of the consideration.

Coach Dixon was in California this past week. Presumably to see his family, but while he was there he joined a slew of top coaches in attending the Harold Pump Foundation Celebrity Dinner. The charity event which also included a golf outing and coaching clinic is sponsored by the Pump Brothers who are backed by Adidas in their summer basketball activities. Of course the Pumps are also (sometimes notoriously) involved in ticket brokering, coach searches, and coaching clinics.

“They’ve brought everything together under one roof like a good corporation would do,” said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. “What they’ve done is used their contacts in one area to help them in other areas.”

Consequently, the Pumps now run one of the premier summer teams (the Pump ‘n Run Elite), one of the best search firms (Champ Search), one of the largest gatherings for coaches and athletic directors (the Collegiate Business Conference) and a charity aiding cancer research that hosted a dinner last Thursday night in the same room where the Golden Globes are annually held.

(Harold Pump, Dana and David’s father, died of cancer in 2000.)

Among those attending the $400 per plate event emceed by Rich Eisen were college basketball figures like UCLA’s Ben Howland, Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt, Kentucky’s Billy Gillispie, Southern Illinois’ Chris Lowery and Nevada’s Mark Fox. That was to be expected.

But others floating around were Joe Montana, Mike Tyson, Penny Marshall, Tommy Hearns, Bill Russell, Bill Walton, Magic Johnson, Chris Mullin, Paul Pierce, Baron Davis and countless additional stars who, on the surface, benefited professionally in no obvious way with their presence.

During the events, Billy Gillispie was one of the clinic speakers. One of his issues of discussion was using more of your bench to keep all the players still involved and think a little like football coaches.

Toward the end of his session, Gillispie talked about how in his early years as a head coach at UTEP he really only played seven players because he believed he only had seven good players. But what he realized going forward was that regardless of how much the talent level increased on his roster — first at UTEP and then at Texas A&M — his instincts were still to play no more than seven or eight guys.

“So the problem wasn’t the players,” he said. “The problem was me.”

Gillispie noted that if you’re only playing seven guys, nearly half your roster isn’t playing. Over time that group becomes disenchanted and ceases to feel like a part of the team.

His solution: Create special teams for basketball, things like a team that specializes in blocking out during crucial free throw situations or a team that specializes in defending inbounds plays under its own goal with less than eight seconds on the shot clock — the idea being a group of players that might otherwise have no chance to get on the court will suddenly take pride in a particular aspect of the game the same way a fourth-string tailback takes pride in covering kickoffs or a third-string quarterback takes pride in holding for field goals.

“You just make up reasons for people to be a part of the team,” Gillispie said. “I think it helps team chemistry.”

Considering the number of player who will be vying for playing time on Pitt’s roster this year, this kind of  idea might be one Coach Dixon might feel like considering.

Chris Vangas gets a little coverage. The senior center is of course hoping to win the starting job.

After three seasons as the primary backup at the University of Pittsburgh, however, Chris Vangas is eyeing the starting center spot this fall. But before he even took a snap during training camp, the Panthers fans had Vangas as a bridesmaid once again with classmate Mike McGlynn or junior C.J. Davis moving to starting center.

“I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Chris,” offensive line coach Paul Dunn said. “He’s done everything that he can to prepare himself for this season. So, I feel very strong about the way he prepared in the summertime. Buddy Morris describes him as a warrior, and I would have to concur.

“He’s going to give you everything that he has, and that’s anything a coach could ever want. And Chris has played some football here. He just hasn’t been a starter, so that’s probably why he’s being overlooked. But that’s not by us. We think very highly of Chris, and his work ethic can’t be overlooked.”

Okay. Um, it wasn’t the fans moving him down the depth chart at Center. It was Coach Wannstedt saying that McGlynn might be moving to center to get the best  starting 5 O-linemen on the field. With McGlynn out of the practices still, it’s not like Vangas (or Bachman) have exactly done anything to seize the job according to what the beat writers are writing.

I think most fans would like to see Vangas step it up and win the job. That would mean the chance for some actual depth with the O-line rather than living in complete fear after every snap.

Not having McGlynn in practice means the O-Line looks as shaky as ever, and it seems the center position hasn’t exactly been looking good so far.

But center exchange problems have been frequent, which highlights the Panthers’ biggest need — finding a center. And, with fifth-year senior Mike McGlynn recovering from shoulder surgery, the coaches have not had a full group. That’s made it tough to shuffle players around and find the five best linemen.

Left tackle Jeff Otah, who did not have a good day but is expected to have a big year, is the one player who is set in his spot. Right guard Joe Thomas, who started most of last season, also is expected to step forward.

That leaves unsettled spots at left guard, center and right tackle until McGlynn, clearly one of the five best linemen, returns. C.J. Davis also seems to be one of the five best players, so he’ll either be the left guard or center and Jason Pinkston is likely going to be a starter. That all could change if senior Chris Vangas, penciled in as the starting center, proves he can handle the job.

Please do.

Just one of those days where there was little time to get to the computer. So, covering all that was quickly.

The starting safeties have want to prove they are healthy, an asset and won’t be a liability to the team. Between the safeties and the linebackers, no wonder everyone says the d-line looks good. At least the d-line seems like a known quantity at this point. Throw in replacing Revis at one of the corner spot, and I guess it’s a good thing the run defense was so bad last year. Statistically it will be hard to be worse so improvement can be claimed.

John Malecki is now playing with a healthy shoulder, and looks good too.

LaRod Stephens-Howling’s local paper notes he has competition as the starting tailback from LeSean McCoy, Shariff Harris and Kevin Collier.

Confirmed, the Pirates September 8 game against the Chicago Cubs will remain at 7:05 pm and not be moved to a 3:35 start. No conflict with the Grambling game.

While we keep hearing about the 3 tight ends for Pitt, there is a fourth who walked-on initially as a linebacker and has earned a scholarship. Dustin Walters gets some love from his local paper in Maryland. As does TE Coach Brian Angelichio — also a Maryland native.

Paul Zeise observes that the O-line looks bad.

It is only the first day in pads and, as most coaches say “the defense is always going to be ahead of the offense early” (a line used by Dave Wannstedt today, but the defensive line absolutely dominated the offensive line in this morning session. And it wasn’t even a close battle.) That’s not a good sign, but it is early. And as if watching the defensive line run past the offensive line and blow up just about every play the offense tried to run wasn’t bad enough, the offense’s problems were compounded by the fact they had far too many fumbled snaps.

…

There is far too much skill on this offense for it to be wasted because the Panthers can’t block anyone — which is an old story with this team. I think the pieces are in place for the offensive line to be fairly good, but that remains to be seen.

On the bright side, the D-line looks good. Of course if the O-line is doing nothing then it still remains a question about how good the D-line really is. It can be a vicious circle that will drive me crazy for the next several weeks until they actually play a meaningful game against a team with some legit talent. I’m thinking, maybe the September 15 game against Michigan State.

Plenty from Kevin Gorman’s blog. He agrees that the defense dominated the offense in the 1st team practices.

LeSean McCoy gave everyone a scare when he went down while making a move. Kevan Smith continues to struggle to get a handle on the ball on the snaps. Almost want to see him get some time with the 1st team just to determine how much is him and how much is the guys snapping it to him.

Aundre Wright has looked good, and might make a push to break into the deep and talented WR rotation.