I think this is going to be a down year for recruiting relative to the success Pitt has had in recent years. Several factors have to be considered. Fewer scholarships to give out, weaker WPIAL talent, with three of the best in this class picking Ohio State. Let’s face it, Pitt has over delivered the last few year’s in recruiting and was due to have a normal recruiting class. If they win 9 games as projected, then the recruits will follow.

I don’t think they have any five star recruits seriously considering PITT? I think the stud will end up being Dan Mason of Penn Hills, which still would be a great grab. But, not of the the blue chip quality that has headlined the last two classes.

Do I have to make a list again of the three star recruits that have become superstars in college and pros? This class is going to build on the interior lines and LBs. Dan Morgan not of blue chip quality? You sir are an ………….

Ironman,

I think what was meant by “blue-chip” was the recruits that get much more attention and by extension buzz about recruiting for a program. Getting Mason would be great, definitely an impact player.

At the same time, if he commits it will likely have a reaction of “phew” and “it’s about time” from the fanbase considering the slow start to recruiting this year for Pitt.

I have no problem with getting solid line players for development. Getting those lines strong and deep should be a goal given the recent history.

Ironman,

Chas understand my comments perfect. I could not agree with you more on the point that several two and three stars players have turned out to be fantastic. Revis is a great example. As for Mason, all I was saying is that he is not the elite of the elite. This is all based on paper not what will actually translate to the next level.

Agree with all the above posters. The surprising thing with this latest commit is that I recall Coach Zmijanac’s recruiting philosophy from a PG article a few years ago. He was quoted along the lines that he prefers not to have the recruiters distract the students during the season and school year, which is why I feel that so many of the Pitt commits from Quiptown in recent years like Lindsey, Baldwin, etc. were typically late additions to the class.

If I were to read too optimistically into the commit, perhaps Hollins and his coach looked around and saw the limited scholarships and sensed a few more commits in the upcoming weeks so they decided to pull the trigger early.

Perhaps with Brown headed to tOSU, this will open up another commitment from Hollins’s teammate Terry Patrick. I understand he is the brother of some 3-star cornerback named Revis. I am pretty sure that he turned out pretty well.

ITS June, let the season happen, then check out the recruiting. I am not worried whatsoever, we didnt get great recruits until late in the process last year as well. CHILL

I agree the size of the class may be smaller (13-17 recruits?) and it also may lack any 5-stars unless Tavon Austin is on board (Scout 5-star RB). The numbers alone will make it a lower rated class under the somewhat bogus systems used by scout and rivals. On the other hand, come LOI day in February 2009, I expect to see a class that averages ~3.3+ stars just like the last couple of classes. IMO, in quality it won’t be much different than the last couple of classes. Doubt we see a slip back to a class with an average star rating under 3.0 like in 2005 (2.38?).

Thangs for correcting me. After three recruits we can make the assessment that this class is regular. Never mind that Hale, Shady, Baldwin, etc, committed right before the signing date. Thanks for correcting me.

Also thanks for pointing out that Morgan does not produce the buzz that you want. I’m sure Romeus didn’t either. Morgan is a 4-star stud that could pick the college of his choice. His addition would mean another year where we bring in some of the top talent in the Western Pa. area. Even when we were the top of college fb we didn’t get all of the talent in the area. Some kids just like to get away rom their homes.

Why don’t you change this to the OSUhomersblather.com

The thing to consider in regards to the upcoming recruiting class is this: If Wanny misses a bowl game this year, he is going to be fired, and the recruiting class will likely be irrelevant unless we get lucky enough to replace him with a solid coach.

On the other hand, if he has a solid season, reaching 8 or 9 wins, then recruits will pick up late in the recruiting season, just like last year after beating WVU.

Since players don’t have to commit yet, some may well be waiting to see how teams they are interested in do next year. Why commit to Pitt based on their solid recruiting the last few seasons when nothing has come of it. If they have a solid season, the good players will recognize that they do have a solid future as a Panther.

Having a coach who is on the hot seat doesn’t help either. Knowing that Wanny doesn’t have any more time to put something together, a stud might be hesitant to sign with a coach who might get fired before he even gets to play for the school.

Long story short, if Wanny wins, we will do fine in recruiting.

@ johnny

I wouldn’t be too optomistic about Patrick. From what I’ve read on Scout his grades are a complete train wreck.

Also, lets not compare a Junior with 3 stars to a Senior with more stars. A lot of these kids blow up their Senior season, while some 5 star kids drop back to 4 or… All these early commits are based on last Fall’s performance with maybe some camp exposure just starting to be factored in now.

Very interesting read:
link to coacheshotseat.com

The “facts” given in support of the arguments in this piece appear specious at best. The easiest example to refute is the one regarding recruiting. The writer claims recruiting was slipping from 2006 through 2008. The writer conveniently chooses only the rivals overall ratings to show a supposed negative recruiting trend without noting that other rating services differ and that the numbers of recruits per class (as controlled by the 85 ship rule) have had at least as much, if not more, to do with the supposed trend than the quality of the recruits signed (the average star-rating per recruit was close to constant over the 3 classes mentioned). He also conveniently fails to mention that the Harris regime never put together even 2 consecutive rivals sub top 30 classes in its entire tenure–much less 3. In fact, the Tyler Palko class (2002?) was the only Harris regime class that is comparable in rivals quality to any of the Wannstadt 2006, 2007 and 2008 classes. There are many other problems with the “facts” used to reach this articles conclusions that could be described and discussed as well–if space and time permitted. Bottom line, however, is that the article is one clearly written with a pre-conceived bias. Its supporting “facts” appear, most conveniently, to have been “cherry picked” to support its pre-determined conclusion. Were it a technical paper it would have never made it through the peer review process.

Well, we’ll see at the end of the season. I’m going on record for making a prediction: either Wanny is going to be here for a long time, or he’s going to get fired at the end of the season. In a sensible world, those are the only two outcomes I can think of. Of course, Steve Pederson doesn’t exist in a sensible world (eg.: firing Frank Solich and hiring Bill Callahan).

Joshua–I too don’t know whether Wannstadt will lead Pitt to a really good or only a mediocre to poor season this year. If the latter, he probably will be gone. I just don’t buy the article you sighted as being an unbiased piece of journalistic research. it seems like something a WVU fan would write. I do tend to believe the coming season should be a good one because I believe Pitt finally has more quality talent, and more importantly, talented depth at most positions than it has had in at least 20+ years and should be fresh when most opponnets will be “gassed” in the 4th quarter. Legitimate question marks do exist at QB and on the OL. IMO, these are more likely to determine the seasons outcome than anything the head coach does or doesn’t do. If this team flops, IMO, it will be because the offense fails to put points on the board and/or gives away points and field position.