Coach Dave Wannstedt spoke yesterday. There are, apparently, expectations.
The Panthers are being billed as a Big East favorite, thanks to the return of conference offensive and defensive players of the year in tailback Dion Lewis and end Greg Romeus as well as fellow All-America candidates in receiver Jon Baldwin and left tackle Jason Pinkston. They are being counted on to lead a team that has only nine scholarship seniors — including starters Romeus, Pinkston, end Jabaal Sheard and safety Dom DeCicco — but has as much depth and talent as any since Wannstedt took over in 2005.
“We have a lot of potential,” Wannstedt said. “A year ago at this time, nobody would have been talking about Dorin Dickerson, no one would have been talking about Billy Stull breaking records and no one knew who Dion Lewis was. The encouraging thing is that who they are no one knows but there are three or four guys on our team right now that have the potential to step up and have an impact on our football team. …
“To have a good team, any year, the guys that are capable of making a difference have to step up and make a difference.”
Coach Wannstedt also went on record to state again that Todd Thomas will play WR, calling him a “playmaker” at the position. There did to be some wiggle-room, so the chance still remains that he could go to play safety/linebacker. Kind of the athletic passing downs defender that everyone envisioned Elijah Fields would fill.
Some things have not changed since the spring.
Dave Wannstedt today: “The whole interior offensive line is still, in my mind, up for grabs.”
That will remain a source of great anxiety.
Pitt has been recruiting New Jersey well the last couple of years. A lot of the credit has been going to assistant Jeff Hafley. That’s not entirely the case. O-line coach Tony Wise has also been a significant reason.
Wise handles the southern part of the state; he’s already landed commitments from Winslow Township (Atco, N.J.) athlete Bill Belton and Timber Creek Regional (Erial, N.J.) linebacker Quinton Alston for the class of 2011.
Timber Creek head coach Rob Hinson said that Wise has done an excellent job developing relationships with area coaches and players.
“Coach Wise does a fantastic job recruiting this area,” Hinson said. “He makes it his business to extend himself to you and anything that you might need from Pitt. That goes a long way when you have kids they are actively recruiting.”
According to Hinson, Wise’s reputation is well-established around South Jersey.
“Coach Wise is genuinely a great guy. The coaches down here in South Jersey all feel real comfortable talking to him.”
The Panthers are also targeting Alston’s teammate Damiere Byrd, a versatile athlete with incredible speed.
The buzz around the area is that nearby Willingboro (N.J.) standouts Kyle George and Brandon Bennett are also very high on Pitt.
I admit to being surprised to learn Wise has been doing recruiting — and doing so well for Pitt. My belief was that the ex-NFL assistant was simply an old Wannstedt buddy. And coupled with his age, made him more of a teaching/adviser type of coach on the staff.
Another reason, Pitt is hitting NJ especially hard this year. Pennsylvania is not having a great year for talent.
“For me, it’s the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been doing this,” said Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Mike Farrell, who has covered the region since 1999, of the Pa. crop. “There are some talented players for sure, don’t get me wrong, but the top-end talent is a bit down from past years and beyond the first seven or eight prospects, there is a huge drop. In years past we would almost always have at least three-stars at the bottom of the Pennsylvania top 40 but this year we hit two-stars near 30.”
However, Farrell feels that players will emerge and admits that a cautious approach is being taken towards rankings in the state this year.
“Because there are players out there we haven’t fully evaluated or really want to see more of, some of the three-star guys could jump up to four and some of the twos could become threes,” he said. “But the one thing I don’t see this year, not even close to be honest, is a five-star candidate. Even though Sharrif Floyd didn’t start off as a five-star kid in the rankings, you could see that potential based on his size, ability and rarity at his position. Right now I don’t see anyone who could make that kind of leap, but I guess you never know.”
(Hattip to On the Banks)
Here’s the Rivals.com list. I know, recruiting rankings aren’t perfect. It’s about developing the talent. Flaws, biases, etc. They do serve as rough sketches, though, and it definitely is a down year for PA talent. It is cyclical and does not mean a permanent shift.
Finally, the stat wonks of Football Outsiders have added a college section. They have a preseason top-25. Pitt comes in at #22.
2009 Record (Conference): 10-3 (5-2 Big East)
2009 Ranks: 19th F/+ | 11th FEI | 24th S&P+
2009 Offensive Ranks: 16th F/+ | 17th FEI | 20th S&P+
2009 Defensive Ranks: 28th F/+ | 26th FEI | 35th S&P+
Proj. 2010 Offensive F/+ Rank: 27th
Proj. 2010 Defensive F/+ Rank: 24th
Top 25 Opponents: 1 (home)Two Signs for Optimism
1. The right players return. Pittsburgh fewer than a dozen starters, but most of their marquee players are among that group. Star running back Dion Lewis is a sophomore, and receiver Jon Baldwin returns as well. The defense has a pair of star ends (Greg Romeus, Jabaal Sheard) and safeties (Dom DeCicco, Jarred Holley), and they return their best linebacker (Max Gruder) to boot.
2. Run, run, run. While a team’s passing game can fluctuate from year to year, depending on who returns and how well a team stays out of passing downs, the running game tends to be a bit more stable. That’s a plus for the Panthers, who got 1,799 rushing yards (5.5 per carry) from Dion Lewis last season. Only two starters return on the offensive line, but they will likely start four upper-classmen, which helps. This should once again be a good running attack, and that will take pressure off of whoever wins the battle to replace quarterback Bill Stull.
Two Red Flags
1. Poor leverage. Despite their star power, the Panthers defense ranked only 46th in Standard Downs S&P+, meaning they weren’t able to leverage teams into awkward situations. Star ends can’t thrive if they can’t pin their ears back and attack the passer much. With two new starters at defensive tackle and a new middle linebacker, they could be vulnerable again in this regard.
2. New to success. While the Panthers have been good running the ball for a while now, thanks to both Lewis and his predecessor LeSean McCoy, they still haven’t been successful as a team in a while. It takes a while to prove that you can survive a lot of turnover in personnel and still thrive, and Pitt is not there yet.
Not sure about red flag #2, but #1 is a really good point. There were a lot of points last year, where the defense just couldn’t make the big stops. That really was exposed in the Cinci game. Just no way they could get that stop in the second half to end the drive and get off the field.
I simply don’t dig that deep into the recruiting stuff — and I don’t pay for recruiting site subscriptions. The fact is, there isn’t much written about Wise as a recruiter. Heck, there just isn’t that much written about Wise, especially with recruiting. Most of what is mentioned about Wise is as a teacher. As I noted, most of the attention for NJ recruiting success in the past year has been credited to Halfey.
I’d rather admit where I don’t know things than pretend otherwise.
I was probably a little flip with the “old Wannstedt buddy” comment, but you also cannot deny that those ties run really deep and long.
Wise has a good history as a coach. But when he came back to college, it was after 18 years of NFL coaching. I’ve been a little gun shy about ex-NFLers coming back to college after a long period following Matt Cavanaugh’s run.
I was getting somewhat upbeat about this season, with the apparent progression of Sunseri, the great recruiting year, and all. But then ESPN U had a replay of the Pitt Cincy game from last year, and I made the mistake of watching it. And I remembered Wanny pacing the sidelines, with that helpless, angry and perplexed look on his face, as Cincy came back from 21 points down to win the game. And remembered the same thing from the WVU game just a few weeks before, the NC State game, and countless others over the years, and came firmly back to reality. I think Matt Millen did the color on the Cincy game, and I think he said something, very emphatically, like “Dave Wannstedt is the perfect coach for Pitt.” I remember thinking that, if I were a Penn State alum, I would feel the same way.
Really worried about 2010. Tougher schedule, BE teams plus ND with significantly upgraded head coaches, tough road games. May struggle to be 6-6, and not because they don’t have the talent to compete with any team on their schedule, save Miami perhaps. As we have Wanny until 2015, I really hope I am badly wrong about that.
I watched that same telecast.
IF I were Dave I probably would’ve 1) made sure Gilyard was nowhere near any kickoff and 2) run some more clock during our last drive.
But would that have insured victory? I don’t know, our defense was being dominated for all but 2 or 3 series.
Those same OLs under Tony Wise have helped produce two of the most successful offensive seasons we have had at PITT in years at 27 and 32 PPG respectively – since Wise has only been here two year and one of which – 2009 – our OL was one of the absolute best in the country, I can feel safe in saying your pretty far off base.
The Cincy game reference is off topic also as the OL had no hand in that loss, quite the contrary as we put up 44 points and rushed for almost 200 yards. Maybe you confused the offense with the defense.
And 6-6? Really? You are the only person in the US who feels that way. We need to meet in person and bet on the season… please!
With the staff budget the way it is I’m not sure PITT could afford two football staff members who didn’t actually get out on the road… In 2006 Bob Junko was Ass’t HC & Recruiting Coordinator then had to take a seat after his heart attack in 2007 – he’s now Director of Football Relations.
Finally, although DW & Wise go way back I don’t think DW’s hiring him was a matter of finding a spot for an old buddy. Tony Wise had an excellent resume’ and his results speak for themselves. He’d a been a great hire even if they never knew each other.