PITT held their fifth practice on the Southside yesterday and the last one before the squad’s first Saturday scrimmage. All in all the HC seemed pleased with the progress of both offensive and defensive units, although one gets the feeling the team is still in kindergarten when it comes to what he wants to install.
During the customary postgame video Graham was accompanied by OL Coach Spencer Leftwich with Special Teams and Safety Coach Randall McCray. Again, it was a nice bit of advertising for the staff and the program but not really that informative… but a little better than in the past.
One thing you do have to say about this staff, they seem to really enjoy working together and giving each other the business. You see it a lot in this clip and that is, IMO, good to see as it seems they are loose and ready to succeed. At one point in the video Leftwich can’t remember one of his starter’s names and Graham has to help him out. It really does feel like they are talking with you around a table with a beer in front of them.
The offense outplayed the defense again giving it a 3-2 edge if you are counting. One fact does jump out though, yesterday was the first time the 1st string offense didn’t have any turnovers. This after having some days where they gave the ball away six times. That is good news, especially given the difference in going 100% to the shotgun formation for the QB.
Regarding that, Graham was quoted as saying this regarding the snaps from center:
“The thing that’s different for us is that we’re not used to snapping the ball in the shotgun as much — that has to be a 100% deal. We can’t have some of the things that are happening. A lot of the times we’re not mishandling the ball, but it snaps to the left. It has to be right down the middle. Huh, the ball just snaps itself to the left? Freakin’ liberal attitude is what that is… no room for that in football.
The offensive line theme continued with this bit from our Lucas Nix in a good article about the teams conditioning and the Offensive Line adjustments…
“There are definitely big differences,” said senior Lucas Nix, a two year starter on the line. “But actually, for us linemen, things are a little bit more simplified with our schemes. That doesn’t make it any easier, because the schemes are obviously different than we’ve had in the past, so we need to adjust. We’re learning all of the concepts and getting used to it now.”
Greg Gaskins has been 1st string at Center with Brandon Sacco behind him. Graham talked up Matt Rotheram at Right Guard also behind Nix and Ryan Schlieper worked behind Jacobson on the left side.
The inside running game was effective yesterday and Ray Graham made some power runs to solidify that. After all, as the HC says, that is the “PITT Way”. Quick, someone tell Hynoski about this. We’ll see how much that sticks when the regular season begins though. Ed Tinker again played some RB. That may be an interesting development as he seems to be breaking off big runs each practice.
McCray talked about how the defense has the responsibility of funneling the play back to the middle of the field. He mentions, with passion that is almost visible, how much they love Bryan Murphy at the Panther position. With this quote he describes the fact that Murphy plays like he’s in a Tijuana cathouse: “He’ll strike your rear end and hit you in the face.” Well, if you recall the actions of Jon Baldwin and Jeff Knox over the last year this fits in perfectly, although we were convinced this staff was hired to avoid just those types of things.
From the Spur position Eric Williams made a play that gave him a direct shot at “blowing up” Sunseri (Nitro Defense, remember), but pulled up to let him “live another day”. If nothing else Coach McCray has colorful speech.
Conditioning is going to be a main issue with the coaching staff and will continue to be through the first season of play I believe; the no-huddle offense really is that big of a change for the kids.
Bryan Murphy is used to it though: “Too much jogging,” he (Graham) screamed at an offensive unit that he considered slow in getting into position. “You sprint onto the field.” Pitt outside linebacker Bryan Murphy, if he noticed, might have smiled and nodded in appreciation. That type of tension is what he learned under at Don Bosco (N.J.) Prep, where he became a high school All-American and led his team to a No. 1 ranking by USA Today in 2009.
“That’s how we are bred at Bosco,” Murphy said. “All the kids are like that. These practices (at Pitt) are pretty hard, but I am used to them.”
Graham continues the Murphy media blitz with this: “Right now I can’t tell you how pleased I am with Bryan Murphy. You draw up what we wanted, toughness, and he epitomizes it. He’s tough, physical and disciplined. He’s a guy that you trust sending in there across the white line. He’s very impressive. He brings it every single play. He’s violent, physical, he has a motor, he does not stay blocked, he’s diligent about learning whether it is in period three or 24, he only has one mode. It doesn’t change.”
One of the fan’s complaints about the Wannstedt years was although he recruited well, it didn’t seem like he and his staff ‘coached up’ the players well enough. Graham addresses his thoughts about that subject this way:
Six of our guys are former high school coaches so we’re teachers. We’re teaching these boys. I feel good about the relationships here. I think the kids have really embraced our staff. I feel really good about that. “I challenge that in our coaches. The first thing I say every staff meeting is to remind them that ‘You are a teacher. That is your job to teach, inspire, motivate, strain and train these kids’. We are going to strain the players. It’s a tough game, but we’re going to do it with restraint.
Then, and this was a bit surprising to hear from a coach, McCray stated “a lot of people are scared to lead these days” and said the staff’s responsibilities to the players is as a father figure and to “lead the players the way they should be led”. Whether that was a veiled reference to the past or not, this is what the PITT administration mandated when they hired Todd Graham. They wanted a head coach that wouldn’t be afraid to understand what a leadership position is, and should be, and to have his staff be that for the players under their charge. It was refreshing to hear someone state that so forcefully in public.
Odds and Ends:
The Pitt News has a piece stating that for the players, the new terminology, names of plays and system of the new coaches have brought have been the biggest adjustment so far. “It’s just a change. Coach Randolph is very adamant about my language,” defensive tackle Chas Alecxih said, referring to the new terminology. “And when you talk to me, talk to me in my language, not what you used to call it. It’s a little bit of an adjustment. I’ve been corrected more than once.”
The Special Teams have been split up to have the return teams handled by the offensive coaching staff and the kicks themselves, kickoffs and punts, handled by the defensive staff. Who is going to call the Time Outs before deciding to punt hasn’t been determined yet.
In what has to gladden the hearts of every PITT fan, Coach Todd Graham mentioned on Tuesday that the last few years mean nothing when it comes to the 2011 season. He added that the best players, no matter what they did or didn’t do last season, will play when Buffalo rolls into Heinz Field for Pitt’s opening day matchup Sept. 3. This quote especially hits home:
“Like I’ve said from the beginning, Tino (Sunseri) has someone that he has to beat out. That hasn’t changed there. I’m very impressed with Mark Myers and Anthony Gonzalez. I think over the past two days Gonzales has gotten a whole lot better whether it’s executing the times, throws and things that he needs to do. This can’t be over emphasized folks; it is part and parcel of what sports is about.
Paul Zeise of the Post-Gazette has a defensive frame of mind article today detailing the transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4, in it he says:
While the other defensive position coaches struggle with a lack of depth, the depth and talent Wannstedt left him has made Randolph’s spring exciting. Mosley-Smith and Donald are two of the best examples. “Those two are extremely talented young men,” Randolph said. “But that isn’t the best thing about them. The best thing about them is they are very smart, they always have a smile on their face and they work their tails off every single day. I’m truly excited about both.”
Graham likes Donald and Smith so much he calls them “Prodigy One and Prodigy Two” Sounds a bit like Dr. Seuss is in charge.
Some names that we thought we’d hear more of seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle a bit: Redshirt sophomore Tyrone Ezell will join that group in the interior while senior Justin Hargrove, junior Shayne Hale and sophomore T.J. Clemmings will battle Donald for playing time. But, in all honesty it is way too early to write anyone out of the two-deep. We do seem to have depth along the defensive line though.
The interior LB position is still thin in depth. However, that is because some of our players who would fill those positions are injured and haven’t practiced yet: Dan Mason, Greg Williams and Manny Williams particularly. Graham also said that “Kevin Adams has to learn the position” so he’s a bit behind in his progress it appears.
By the way, any self respecting PITT fan hits the www.notpleased.com website when they first wake up in the morning. It is a good repository of PITT related links to get the blood flowing along with your first cup o’ Joe. Just links, no witty repartee like you’ll find here on the “King Of Blogs” Pitt Blather.
Next practice: Saturday, March 26th; Scrimmage #1
2) Omar and others, the untalented Matt Howard had 20 and 12 against the tall Badgers .. just think how far Butler would go if they had any talent
3) while I’m certainly not inplying a firing of Dixon, like it or not, Sean Miller’s NCAA record is subatntially better than Dixon’s (look it up). In fact, the only time that Pitt got further was when a 25 ft shotclock beater by Levance Fields in the final minute pushed much more talented Pitt team over Miller’s Xavier team.
The product will generally speak for itself. Enough of the “High Octane” crap. Call it what you want. Just get the job done. We don’t need a gimmicky name and oversold job at PITT. We hard straight forward, direct, and simple folks.
I hope someone pulls him aside and tells him to stop overselling this thing. It is making him seem like this is his first big time rodeo (and it is)and he is too eager to talk a big game for fear that his flaws might be discovered. In the end he can either do the job or he can’t. The good news is that this is an objective benchmark measured in W’s and L’s (and no police reports).
The videos are nice but it is becoming a little too much. Let the media in on the practices and let the them write what they write. It just seems a little too scripted.
However, the real key will be if they keep the ‘closed door’ policy in effect during summer training camp when the real football is being practiced. I would caution against that if I had a voice. PITT fans will be very interested at that point and are too knowledgeable to be force fed info.
I can’t help but feel this is orchestrated with the Athletic Department specifically to control the image of PITT football. Personally, I can’t disagree too much with that either as there is some real damage control to be done after last season’s issues.
As to Graham’s demeanor – I get your point and it is a bit of showmanship, but give me that anytime over what we just went through. As you said time will tell with the results on the field, but IMO there is no reason to be negative about the new climate until it’s proven not to work.
I am confident that Graham will succeed in bringing change and we wil have to be patient to see if the change can turn into more wins.
and I’ll fix it in the article, thanks.
Pat Bostick wrote a fantastic article about the new offense. The same day the Trib article was about Taglianetti(sp?) and most of the article was not football related.
There is a new staff, new offensive and defensive schemes…that is plenty to write about. The media limitations are not to blame for the lack of good coverage.
many of us have felt that Zeise / PG went out to lunch at the beginning of December and his coverage is getting worse. Many people on this blog have defended him though so who knows. PG wants you to keep going back to the site to see if Zeise updates so they get more ad impressions vs. telling us when he will update to set our expectations so that we won’t get ticked off. it’s BS and I gave up.
Alexi, Caragein, Donald, Mosely-Smith, Ezell, Lindsay, Murphy, TJ Clemmings and the PG mentioned Shane Hale & Carl Fleming as well. So that’s 10.
With the LB corp very lame, I was hoping that Murphy & Clemmings would be switched to LB to get them on the field, since they were both highly sought after recruits. Or it seems the 4-3 would seem to be more warranted since again we have 10 pretty good d-linemen for 3 positions, yet not many good LB’s for 4 positions. Not looking forward to seeing Roberts, Williams & Gruder look lost again, is anyone?
Nonetheless, when Zeise does report on the team, it is almost always very accurate and comprehensive. You may recall that when the Tom Bradley was hired rumor circulated, he immediately reported that there was no basis for this and was the first to do so.
I find him very knowledgeable, not only about college FB and the Pitt program, but knowing what Pitt fans really want to read about.
I’m sure Graham recognizes this but we’ll have to wait and see how he handles it. Graham mentions often that he will evaluate the talent and adjust accordingly. I hope he finds a way to put the best 11 on the field. The videos after practice are nice but he probably isn’t going to go into detail any time soon. Still, like one of the posters above said, I’d rather have the after practices than not.
“Low Octane Offense”
“Panthers sputter with un-leaded offense”
“Panthers offense needs booster”
“Panthers offense needs tune up”
etc etc etc
Both Noll and Belechick never said much, as did Wooden as well as Jamie Dixon for that matter.
Having said all of this, I agree none of this matters … it will be what Pitt does on the field that does. Heck, if Graham can produce as well all hope we will, then I’m sure I’ll more tolerable of his banter.
IMHO I like the fact that coach Graham is playing it close to the vest. I have no problem being suprised on game day with whatever they come up with. Stache, on the other hand, went out of his way to tell us (and his competition) exactly what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. I remember hearing Wanny last year say “we are a power 16 team” and I thought that if I was a opposing coach that would be a good place to start on defense. Stop that play and it will make a difference. I know that I am simplifying it greatly but my point is this… We should be fine if coach Graham tells us, the press, his opponents….nothing. If people want to know what Pitt is going to do, show up on Saturday (Friday, Wednesday, Thursday,etc) and watch a game.
Pauly & Wbb – A lot of this is personality and background. Don’t know if you’ve ever lived in Texas but this really is how people talk down there. I take it with a grain of salt and try to get the underlying message… if there is any and sometimes there isn’t.
I used to cringe when I listened to DW and his mangling of the English language then I had to put it into perspective and realize that this is how he grew up speaking in Baldwin.
Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see Bostick in some official capacity with the football program or the athletic dept. before too long. They love him at PITT.
Y’know, at first I thought Graham said this, but then I realized he’s not that goddam dumb.
I now know who you are, Reed. You sound like one of those guys who goes to church just to be seen going to church. Try to stand for something, OK? This site’s supposed to be about sports, asshole.
And, Chas, you wanna ban my IP, go right the hell ahead.
@ Reed – Keep up the good work.
1. Not taking sports too seriously.
2. Not taking politics too seriously, and
3. Not personally insulting others under the cloak of anonymousness.
BTW – haven’t been in church in 30+ years.
I agree, Bostick does have more access to the team. However, the article he wrote could have been written by any reporter. It was the kind of article I am sure many Pitt fans have been waiting to read.
BTW, I thoroughly enjoy reading this blog and the information provided in it. I was in no way referring to anyone here with my rip on the local media.
Maybe posting at 1:40AM after too many beers is a bad idea, hahaha.
It is just sports folks…it really isn’t that important.
Still, Spanky needs to keep reading, commenting and hopefully enjoying The Blather. As we said, we can’t have too much of PITT football stuff at this time of the year and in turn a blog can’t have too many readers.
Actually, when I travel one of the things I make a point to do is check out local church architecture.
However, it is disheartening that the older you get the more the wedding/funeral ratio tilts over to the funeral side.
I lived in Tejas for three years, and get all of that….but don’t you think this sales pitch is a direct function of Steve’s marketing team buzz machine? It’s nauseating, frankly.
Scoring 45 points vs Buffalo & NH; then failking to get over 20 points vs. Iowa and ND will not go oveer well… I hope, for his sake, he backs up what he says.
I have sold for years, and agree 100% with wbb…..the biggest talkers are compensating for an inferior product. Wake me up in Iowa, and we’ll see how we all feel then about Graham…
But you know what? After last year I completely understand it… see my 3/26 article where I addressed this subject:
But, I also have to think that what we see may be what we get with Todd Graham. Some people are naturally like that. Granted, those are the guys you want to slap after listening to them for five minutes, but they are genuine… perhaps Graham is also.
