Really, is there a college coach who wouldn’t want to redshirt his freshmen if he could? They’d also like to be able to lock the players for all 4 years with 1 or 2 extra years of eligibility. Last year 16 freshmen played and 11 redshirted for Pitt (2007 Media guide, page 107). With 23 freshmen (including gray shirt Justin Hargrove but subtracting Kyle Hubbard), Coach Wannstedt can talk about it for the future, but it is likely to be a similar comparison this season.
In fact, the actual number of freshmen who see the field likely will be less than a handful, and Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said that is a sign his program is slowly getting to the point where it has enough depth to not have to rely on many freshmen.
He said that will be a welcome change from the way things have been in his first two seasons, when a number of freshmen were thrown into action out of necessity before they were ready. And while he believes there will always be a need for some freshmen to play, he hopes to get to the point where he has the luxury of redshirting most of his freshmen.
“It would be nice to be able to redshirt as many as we can,” Wannstedt said. “I’d hope to be able to do so. You’d like to get to a point where you have enough depth where you’re playing only four or five of the guys, particularly the skilled guys. We’ll redshirt as many as we can but we’re not there yet. We probably need two more recruiting classes. We’ve had two full classes since I’ve been here and need probably two more to really have the depth to start being a little more choosier about who we play and who we redshirt.”
Here are the players not likely to redshirt from the 23 because of depth and/or talent reasons:
- Justin Hargrove — DL
- Dom DeCicco — S
- John Fieger — OL
- Greg Gaskins — OL
- Jordan Gibbs — OL
- Chris Jacobson — OL
- Tony Tucker — DL
- LeSean McCoy — RB
- Maurice Williams — WR
- Aundre Wright — WR
- Aaron Smith — CB
- Buddy Jackson — CB
- Sherod Murdock — CB
- Henry Hynoski — FB
- Shariff Harris — RB
- Myles Caragein — DL
That’s 16 possible. Again, not all of them will, but based on the first week reports from camp, projected talent and (lack of) depth at positions these are the most likely to be on the depth chart and seeing playing time this season.
The battle for the remaining back-up Defensive End was the subject of this story. Chris McKillop and Joe Clermond are the starters and Greg Romeus seems to have one back-up spot nailed down. That leaves the other with redshirt freshman Tyler Tkach, and freshmen Hargrove, Tucker and Sheard.
“They’re different kinds of players with different strengths,” defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “The hard part is getting them comfortable, because in our system they’ve got to know both sides. The faster they can learn, the faster they can play.”
Sheard appears to have the inside edge. He worked with the second unit opposite Tkach in team drills Monday, while Romeus ran with the first team in place of McKillop, who was resting a sore hamstring.
Sheard was also the focus of the story. The hook is that Sheard was a swimmer and a lifeguard. He’s raw but athletic and talented according to Gattuso.
In Zeise’s brief Q&A yesterday evening he thinks a lot more of the balls that would have gone Derek Kinder’s way will be spread among the three tight ends.
Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com blogs briefly (Insider subs.) that he doesn’t buy the Ron Cook premise that Pitt will be better in the long run with Kinder out for 2007.
I disagree. To me, that’s like saying I was better off in the long run when I told my parents the truth behind what happened to their sofa while they were out of town when I was in high school. Sure, it opened the lines of communication, but did that year of awkwardness really make things better between us? No, of course not. Now Pitt is more likely to struggle in 2007. This will only further undercut Dave Wannstedt’s talk of being a top 25 program to recruits and make it that much harder to battle the West Virginias and Louisvilles of the world.
Good point, since we’ve been focused on wins and losses and the possibility of 2008 as the season actually gets close. Recruiting and perception-wise another sub-par season only hurts Wannstedt on the recruiting trail and whispers that he can’t do anything with the talent he recruits.
Justin Hargrove — DL
Dom DeCicco — S
Greg Gaskins – OL
Chris Jacobson — OL
LeSean McCoy — RB
Maurice Williams — WR
Aundre Wright — WR
Aaron Smith — CB
Sherod Murdock — CB
Hopefully Mo Williams and Chris Jacobson redshirt. I think they have too much potential and they won’t have a huge impact if they play. Williams because there are a bunch of receivers, even with Kinder out. Jacobson because I believe Dom Williams will be the backup at both guard positions.
link to msn.foxsports.com
Pittsburgh will once again underachieve as soon as the schedule stiffens in the second half of the year. It’s been only two years, but the early returns on Dave Wannstedt, now 11-12 at his alma mater, have not been promising, even as his recruiting classes shine. Plus, there’s a palpable feeling in that locker room dividing Wanny’s kids and Walt Harris’ recruits. It bears watching, especially if the Panthers lose a game they shouldn’t early on in the year.
aside from everything else…has ANYONE heard about the ‘palpable feeling’ that divides walts and wanny’s recruits???
BTW, in 03 and 04, we had 1 single 4-star recruit (Graessle, the punter) and 0 5-star recruits. So to all the moron journalists that now want to rewrite history and say Harris didn’t leave the cupboard bare – check the facts, and go fuck yourselves. He didn’t have a half decent class since ’02 (with Fitzgerald and Palko).
Let these Wanny classes at least become upper-classmen before we start tossing the “underachieve” word around. Granted, maybe he could have come in and put some fuckign crazy ass system in to steal a few wins instead of a pro offense which relies on more talent (see: that shithole to our south) – but thats not a way to prepare for a solid program continuing into the future, and prepare kids for the NFL. We’re still having to play true freshman at several positions – and not because they’re so amazing we have to get them in the game. In 08 some of these good kids will be juniors and in 09 we’ll have some good seniors and juniors! Imagine that! If he can’t win in 09, then i’ll be pissed.
Right now i’m tired of these second rate journalists reprinting crap they read in other articles from some other second rate journalists. They get paid for this dribble?
I see this year is a pivotal year-with next year being expectation year.
How many games do you think Pitt and Wanny need to win to be succesful in recruiting this year and taking the next step for the program the future?
i think wanny is a hell of a recruiter, and even if we only win 4 or 5 games he’ll find some way to spin it. but i think next year we’ll see 8 or 9 wins once the young guys come together on this team.
At the same time, when these two great classes get to be a little older in 08 and 09, i think we’re inevitably going to have some great classes again in 09 and 10 because those juniors and seniors in HS will see us winning again and want to be a part of it. If adults have short memories, imagine kids in HS. They want to win yesterday.
What would make me happy this year? That 7th (or 8th…or 9th…or 10th) win comes at WVU. There is a reason that QBs who pretend to be RBs don’t do anything in the NFL. I’m hoping having WVU on the last day of the year will pay some dividends due to the stupidity of their system.
And Joe Paterno “leaves” so that we can get back to scheduling them.
He’s still bringing in 4- and 5-star players.
I don’t think WVU’s system is stupid. Quiet the opposite. I enjoy creativity and that system is a good example of it-along with the guy down at Texas Tech.
Both these schools have setup systems and went out and got guys that would fit them rather than competing head to head with the big boys.
I’d like to see Pitt go in this direction instead of trying to convince recruits to pick us over tOSU.
This model has worked for the Big East and TV. Don’t try and compete for Saturday night games with the SEC..have your own night on Thursday (and exclusive to boot I my add).