masthead.jpg

switchconcepts.com, U3dpdGNo-a25, DIRECT rubiconproject.com, 14766, RESELLER pubmatic.com, 30666, RESELLER, 5d62403b186f2ace appnexus.com, 1117, RESELLER thetradedesk.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER taboola.com, switchconceptopenrtb, RESELLER bidswitch.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER contextweb.com, 560031, RESELLER amazon-adsystem.com, 3160, RESELLER crimtan.com, switch, RESELLER quantcast.com, switchconcepts , RESELLER rhythmone.com, 1934627955, RESELLER ssphwy.com, switchconcepts, RESELLER emxdgt.com, 59, RESELLER appnexus.com, 1356, RESELLER sovrn.com, 96786, RESELLER, fafdf38b16bf6b2b indexexchange.com, 180008, RESELLER nativeads.com, 52853, RESELLER theagency.com, 1058, RESELLER google.com, pub-3515913239267445, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0
August 15, 2008

I always enjoy a good puff piece, but I found it odd that the AP essentially re-ran the Dorsett-McCoy story that dates back to April. It looks like some new quotes added from Dorsett, but it’s the same story.

Tony DeFazio of Pittsburgh Sports Report had a longish piece about Pitt and rising to meet expectations this year.

Does he feel any pressure to win in his fourth season at Pitt?

“There’s a sense of urgency, yeah, but I wouldn’t say pressure,” he says. “Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the heck you’re doing. We know what we’ve got to do in order to win. There’s a sense of urgency, though, to get it done.”

Cavanaugh is more direct.

“There better be,” he said. “We’ve been a .500 football team for three years and that’s not anywhere near acceptable. Every player, every coach, everybody in the equipment room, training room and weight room better feel a hunger to win, and an urgency to win.”

“We had five wins last year. We weren’t good enough,” said Wannstedt. “I think we’ve got enough talent to win, but we have to go out and get it done. We’ve got to prove it.”

That’s the issue. No one is doubting the talent on the team almost anywhere. The doubts are about the guy who gathered them.

I was surprised that someone would go back to the well on punter Dave Brytus’ involvement with MMA. Even with it getting mainstreamed in 2008. Even more surprised that Gene Collier at the P-G would be the guy to do it.

“UFC is like the NFL of MMA,” Brytus said acronymically. “The top guys in UFC are getting six-figure salaries, but, obviously, you could do better in the NFL.”

In the NFL, you can casually wander the sidelines most of the week, learning stupid punter tricks such as throwing the ball to the grass and making it bounce back into your throwing hand (no known application), then actually kicking a few times on Sundays and occasionally being called on to make a tackle, which Brytus would love.

In UCF, you train exhaustively and more or less constantly for the opportunity to enter a caged octagon against a single opponent carrying payloads of excess testosterone and who knows what else.

“Football’s better for a career, I guess,” Brytus said. “It’d certainly be better as far as my parents are concerned. My mom’s not a big fan of MMA, but you know, if I have to take a couple of punches to the head to make some money, so be it.”

The only problem with that plan is if you take too many blows to the head, you forget whether you got paid or not.

SI.com has their photo gallery countdown of the top-10 players in the Big East. Scott McKillop is #7 and LeSean McCoy #2.

I have to do a little more on this for FanHouse at some point soon, but I am amused by the new replay rule with the Big East.

There is a new “clause” in the officiating manuals about the types of plays that are reviewable through instant replay. It states that while only certain plays are reviewable, the replay official has the discretion to “correct egregious errors,” including plays involving fouls that are not specifically reviewable.

I’m taking that to mean, like when they really screw it up on the field and ESPN commentators are hammering them for it (like the fair catch signal the refs missed in the UConn-Louisville game).

Please don’t turn this into gratuitous Walt Harris bashing, but it looks like he is doing some work with Ohio State.

The rumor mill has former Pittsburgh and Stanford coach Walt Harris, a former Ohio State quarterbacks coach, hanging around Buckeyes practices, presumably as a precursor to him joining the coaching staff or serving as a consultant.

An OSU spokeswoman said Harris was in town in July for an alumni golf tournament, but she said she regularly attends practice and hasn’t seen Harris since.

It’s been rumored for some time that Harris was looking to get back into coaching.





Say what you will about Walt but he was very good for QBs. Look what he did with Turman, Priestly, Gonzalez, Rutherford, Palko, Trent Edwards…

I bet he would help Pryor realize his passing potential.

Comment by Jon In Cbus 08.15.08 @ 3:09 pm

McCoy is actually #3 on the SI list, not #2. I can see White and Selvie being #1 and #2 because they are also stars, but McKillop has to be #4 at worst. And that’s not a homer pick, but come on.

Comment by Mark 08.15.08 @ 3:51 pm

I would love to have Harris as OC replacing Matt Cavanaugh. This will never happen.

Please don’t everyone pile on at once I have a bad back.

Comment by Tony In Harrisburg 08.15.08 @ 5:03 pm

Remember when Harris was so hot, he actually got have gotten the head job at Ohio St?

He returned to pitt to finish what he started-we all know what happened next, but man this guy could coach during that stretch.

However, he never seemded to have a program, just a collection of a few top recruits.

I think Dave has a program-now its just about what he can do with it..8 wins min this year should be the expectation.

Comment by the delaer 08.16.08 @ 10:19 am

Cider

Let the games begin.

Comment by steve 08.16.08 @ 11:03 am

I will not criticize Harris. I still remember the utter chaos and mediocrity of Pitt football before he came. He took Pitt from what…75-0 losses?… to a BCS championship game. I don’t recall any scandals (e.g. PSU and Joe Paterno’s players). And as far as I know, most of Walt’s players received degrees. As a coach, I believe that he was a net positive for Pitt.

Comment by BigGuy 08.16.08 @ 11:07 am

Chas, I hope you make it to the scrimmage. I look forward to your analysis. (I enjoy your board.)

Comment by BigGuy 08.16.08 @ 11:09 am

BigGuy, please don’t exaggerate. It was 72-0 (@ Ohio State.)

For some reason, I was at that game. I’m glad it happened because that is what finally got them to fire Majors.

Comment by Jon C 08.16.08 @ 11:14 am

Jon C – Did you make it through the entire game? At least traffic was light getting out of there, right? Didn’t OSU only play 8-9 guys on kickoffs at one point (and still return it for a TD)?

Comment by C 08.16.08 @ 11:46 am

Unfortunatly we had friends at Ohio State so we went with them. So we had to stay through that whole game. Yes there was a punt OSU returned when they only had 8 guys on the field. It was certainly a proud day for Pitt. I think we accidently got our first first down late in the 2nd quarter.

Comment by Jon C 08.16.08 @ 12:04 pm

“In UCF, you train exhaustively and more or less constantly for the opportunity to enter a caged octagon against a single opponent carrying payloads of excess testosterone and who knows what else.”

I go to UCF for grad school and this misquote is surprisingly accurate

Comment by matt in orlando 08.16.08 @ 12:51 pm

AP Poll is out- and the Panthers will start with a lovely #25 next to their name against Bowling Green. Two weeks until kickoff!

Comment by merlin 08.16.08 @ 1:01 pm

Pitt just landed a big commitment from Raymond Graham…4 star RB….damnnnn

Comment by Bob Berto 08.16.08 @ 3:13 pm

Nice to see Pitt becoming a factor in NJ recruiting again!

Comment by Kurt 08.16.08 @ 6:58 pm

I wonder if that means we’re out of the Tavon Austin sweepstakes. Doesn’t seem like you’d really want to take two smaller, scat-back type players in the same class.

Not that I really know anything about either one; I just wanted Austin because he’s from Baltimore and he looks like Marlo from “The Wire.”

Comment by Jeff 08.16.08 @ 9:23 pm

Lets not get into another Walt vs Wanny pissing match. I wish Walt the best but I am glad we have a program builder in Wanny.

Comment by titleman 08.17.08 @ 10:18 am

Walt was creative as OC, but what I always found very frustrating was his inability at times to make play call decisions, particularly in important contests. I remember a few games when he blew through a couple of timeouts in rapid succession just because he couldn’t make up his mind.

Comment by Hollow Panther 08.17.08 @ 10:50 am

I don’t think Walt was a really good HC. However, he was an offensive genius and he worked wonders with QBs.

Comment by Jon in Cbus 08.17.08 @ 11:35 am

Walt was a good man for the job of taking Pitt from one of its lowest points to an 8 or 9 win team. I am glad he got the ball rolling again and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. He certainly mentored young QB’s well and was regarded as a bright offensive mind. My biggest criticism at the time was that he could not delegate and wanted to micromanage too much. I feel any coach who takes on the head job as well as OC and QB coach has taken on more than he can handle. It doesn’t matter if it is Walt, or Bellicheck, Mangini, etc. It is just too much to handle without some delegation, leading to a few of the frustrating timeouts Hollow Panther and I remember.

Still, I am sure he has learned from his experiences and I wish him nothing but the best at his new job.

Comment by johnny 08.17.08 @ 1:26 pm

Palko’s infamous 3rd down slide not-withstanding, I thought Walt was a pretty good play-caller.

Things ended up a disaster for him out in Stanford. I think he is best as an OC of some sort.

Comment by Ryan M. 08.17.08 @ 3:53 pm

Walt “swinging gate” Harris was not, and is not, a head coach. Majors was a head coach. Disregard the second stint as Pitt was so far down at that point, it needed an infusion of energy which Majors did not have at his age. His first tour was a ride. Majors knew that head coachs recruit and coach 3 hours on Saturday, but assistants develop the team. Any succesful coach does this in college. Wannstadt’s problem is he hasn’t figured out how to do the Saturday part, which by the way is why he failed in the NFL. If he would just leave the assistant’s alone and take a course from Lou Holtz on play calling………………………

Comment by steve 08.17.08 @ 8:59 pm

Being a head coach is totatlly different from being a position or coordinator. The positions are certainly very, very different. However, I am cautious when people talk about Wanny failing in the NFL as a HC. I mean, if you look at his record, he was above average in a league that is designed to make you average. I am of the opinion, after watching Coach W. assimilate to the college game, that he is taking the correct action to be a successful HC in college. I would venture to say that the majority of Wanny’s losing record in college wasn’t based on coaching problems on Saturday. I am not giving him a free pass, but….talent, injury, bad breaks, etc….all can be considered an influence to a Saturday result.

Hail to Pitt

Comment by Jason 08.17.08 @ 10:57 pm

Yeah…imagine if Wanny had only left Paul Rhodes alone last year…we could have lost all of our games…Wanny took that defense over mid season after 2+ seasons of leaving Rhodes alone and the result was dramatic. Now he hired a DC to run the defense that he wants. I expect continued high level production from our defense.

Comment by HbgFrank 08.18.08 @ 12:53 pm

HbgFrank,
I agree…I thought that turning point was a pretty good indication of Wanny evaluating the state of the club and making appropriate adjustments.

Comment by Jason 08.18.08 @ 2:50 pm

Powered by WordPress © PittBlather.com

Site Meter