Everyone does realize that Matt Cavanaugh still hasn’t departed for the Jets as QB coach, right? Sorry, have to remind myself as well, there is still no official or even unofficial word. It has been a whispered immenint departure since last week and still no comments.
That means it is still speculation and some dreaming.
Q: Here is the perfect opportunity for Dave Wannstedt to go out and get a REAL “college coordinator,” someone with vision and an aerial attack. I’m thinking colleges like Boise State, TCU, Tulsa, Houston. Thoughts?
Zeise: This is a question I’ll answer very simply with another question — in four years of observing Wannstedt, have we seen anything — anything at all — which would make you believe that there is any chance at all of a spread, read-option, option, five-wide guy being hired by him? He even said it the other day: The Panthers will run a pro-style offense, period. So while fans are getting all giddy because their favorite whipping boy Cavanaugh is leaving, I’m thinking I am not going to go too far out on a limb when I say whoever gets hired will be very similar in philosophy to Cavanaugh. Now, the play-calling might change a little, but I just don’t see it changing dramatically.
I’m not expecting that. I am expecting a little creativity and just possibly using both tight ends at the same time on some plays.
As the names continue to percolate, the OC of the Chicago Bears rises.
One name that has surfaced is Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who preceded Cavanaugh as Wannstedt’s offensive coordinator with the Bears from 1993-96. Turner, like Harris, played at Pacific and was head coach at Illinois from 1997-2004 before returning to the Bears in ’05.
Turner is the brother of San Diego Chargers coach Norv Turner, who coached alongside Wannstedt with the Dallas Cowboys. Turner is also the uncle of Pitt graduate assistant Scott Turner, who is Norv’s son.
It is not a prospect that has Bears fans living in fear.
This certainly only counts as rumor and speculation at this point, but Turner has to be feeling the wind blowing in his direction as the Bears OC. If he was offered the job, maybe he’d consider it his escape hatch.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but “Bring it home, Wanny!”
Yeah, that’s not promising. But Turner’s agent is not considering an escape hatch when the money is not right.
“Ron hasn’t called or anything or talked about anything like that,” [Frank] Bauer said. “It’s untrue. There’s no way unless Pitt wants to pay him a fortune. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where that is going to go.”
Yeah, I’m filing this one in the “Wannstedt connection-speculation” file.
I still think Wanny will get it done but he appears to have a one track mind when it comes to offense. I wish he would hire a OC and let him run the offense.
I believe it time to quit the Cav bashing and look forward to the new OC regime.
So, according to my sources (sorry – always wanted to use that) … anyway, I hear that Walt has to work out an issue with his Stanford buyout before possibly being hired by Pitt. And, alhtough it is by no means a done deal, Walt being hired as OC is not as much of a long shot as many may think.
I agree with Z-boy, part of the reason we weren’t successfull during Wanny’s first two years was because he was trying to play his style of football with players that were still better suited to playing Walt’s brand of ball.
Now, I think that Wanny has some guys that can play his style of offense, but what I mentioned just shows that he is a little bit stubborn.
I understand our offensive line is getting bigger and better, but didn’t he just recruit a boatload of small but extremely fast backs? He might want to spread ’em out a little bit, just a tought.
Also, he did say recently that he is more willing to have a running QB in his offense. Let’s look into this: Stull and Bostick can’t run. Sunseri and Gray are both known as mobile guys. Maybe we could even use Greg Cross, if he’s not punting or coaching special teams or whatever Wanny has planned for him next year.
I think a Wanny/Walt partnership could work. If pass-happy Walt is filtered through conservative Wanny, maybe we could get close to some balance on offense. Egos will keep this from happening though.
link to msn.foxsports.com
– After seeing the playmaking that the Cincy QB (Pike) made against the Pitt defense, he realized the importance of a mobile QB. Immediately, they sent out letters to many of top QB prospects which eventually led to the recruitment of Kolby Gray
– But he still plans to use a pro style offense has no plans for a spread or read option, nor will the importance of running the ball be lost.
2 important notes:
Kolby Gray ran a pro style in his junior year where he threw for many more yards than his senior year when he ran much more using a read-option style. Also, I saw a couple of games that T Sunseri played in his senior year when he led Central Catholic to the state championship, and he was mostly in a pro set but showed many times he could make plays on the run.
Unfortunately, note that we are talking about Wanny who will always value experience before anythign else — thus, I’ll be surprised if B Stull is unseated
Now it should be known
Second, when people talk about Walt, they talk about him like he invented or believed in some wild scheme that turned out offensive juggernauts. He simply ran a more vertical style of the West Coast offense. It’s not too far off from what Cavanaugh tried to do when you figure his offensive philosophy was based on throwing WR screens, running up the middle, or throwing jump balls vertically down the field. Walt believed in running the ball too. It’s just he could never build an O-line that produced a consistent running game.
hail to pitt