As we continue our look at the past spring practice and at our team’s future, let’s discuss the offseason and what to look for from now until the team is in summer camp…

How did the offseason go?

This is crucial IMO.  First off, let’s hope Coach Graham doesn’t have to deal with any disciplinary issues at all, but if he does, how he applies his decision making is going to be critical.  It’s no secret that I believe this exact issue was a major contributing factor in the team’s lackluster play and Dave Wannstedt’s removal last year.  What I do know is that there was a strong mandate from PITT to Graham as a condition of his hire that the program get straightened out.  How he handles any infractions from now on will set the tone for his tenure at PITT.

We have seen some of his application of discipline in action already.  Diaz stepped over the line and was gone before he sobered up.  While no one has uttered the words “Zero Tolerance” that is what it has been so far.  That may be hard to sustain and unrealistic given the nature of the organization, but fairness and consistency has to be the goal.

Where there any transfers after spring camp? We have gone over this in numerous articles but it may be a big issue.  Some kids may go solely on the strength of not seeing themselves fitting into Graham’s new systems.  That would be understandable.  If we see kids leaving for other reasons that may indicate there were cracks in the façade, but I don’t think we’ll see that happen.  At least I really hope not.  IMO whoever may have been thinking about leaving before spring camp also may have a different point of view after it finished.

How did the players take care of themselves? As far as actual football goes, it will be important for the players to get into the shape they need to be to execute the No-Huddle offense.  It takes a different level of stamina than they needed under Wannstedt.  Believe me, if any players do nothing but drink beer and gain weight from now until August they will drop in the depth chart like a rock.  Graham isn’t going to allow anyone to treat summer camp as a time to diet.  It looked like the kids adapted mentally and emotionally to the changes required; will they have and apply the discipline to do the same physically”?

What to look for in Summer Camp:

First we need to know if any incoming freshmen are able to step in and contribute right away.  PITT has some depth issues that jump out, especially at RB.  We have some 4.40 range kids signed on for this year and, especially at RB and LB, they could grab a spot on the two deep right away.  Lafayette Pitts and Isaac Bennett could play right away – Pitts at either RB or WR.  Roderick Ryles at safety may contribute and Ronald Jones is an athlete.  I’d keep an eye on Nicholas Grisby, a 4 star LB out of Ohio.

How well has the Offensive line come together in the first two weeks of camp?  If Graham is still searching for the right combo of kids halfway though camp we’ll be in trouble.  If Jacobson has really smoothed out his Center play that will go a long way to the unit’s success.  But those two open spots where Gaskins, Demhasaj, Rotheram, King, Turnley, et al. are battling for is going to be the key thing to watch in camp.  Nix, Gibbs and Jacobson is a great core but it is true that an OL is only as strong as its weakest player.

Now that the nuts and bolts of the offense have been learned, how is the actual execution of the plays? If we are seeing crisp routes and good decision making (remember the Read-Option) by the QB, with accurate passing that will be a big step forward.  As it will be if the inside zone blocking is strong (see: OL above).  It was a big deal to have the intricate details of the offense learned by the Spring Game; that allows the teaching phase to be over and the execution phase to really kick in during the next camp.  The offense looked pretty good all things considered on April 16^th; they should look much better on August 16^th.

As stated above; who left the team, if anyone, and who is going to take their place?  If a QB or TE leaves, who do we have behind them ready to step up?  In the case of a QB it’ll have to be Kolby Gray back to offense or a stronger lobbying campaign by the HC to get Pat Bostick back in uniform… which by the way, hasn’t stopped since he made his decision back in January.  Graham has been on him continually to get back on roster.

How much real depth do we have at WR? Graham has gone on record as saying he wants 11 WRs on roster.  He kept recruiting after LOI day and just signed another WR in Josh Brinson.  He’s serious about this.  The reason?  It’s because the WRs will be run half to death in this offense.  It is one thing for lineman to have to scramble five or ten yards back to the LOS to get ready for the no-huddle; it’s a whole other ballgame for the receivers to run 20+ yards down field then have to run the same distance back to the LOS… all in 15 seconds or less… over and over again.  We’ll have to rotate in that position probably more than any other spot, so our 2^nd and even 3^rd stringers are going to have to play more than in the past.

Finally, is the defense really going to be as aggressive as advertised? It’s one thing to say that we will be; it’s another to actually get the personnel out on the field and do it.  We’ll see in the later summer scrimmages if this holds true.  Sending blitzes and extra pressure isn’t something you can just turn a switch and make happen during the regular season.  It has to be practiced just like any other aspect of playing football.  Send a blitz and it naturally opens up a hole in your defense.  This can’t be left to the player’s decision making alone, it has to be, for the most part, a planned event.

But I think, depending on how the LB corps actually shakes out, we’ll have the talent to do this.  It takes speed and we have that in Lindsey and Murphy at the Panther and Holley and Hendricks if we dial up Safety blitzes.  The question mark is at the Spur position, which also crowds the LOS at times.  We have seen Shayne Hale, Eric Williams and Kevin Adams there so far, but Greg Williams and Todd Thomas, when they are cleared to play, will put some speed at that position also… and our HC loves speed.

Although I really want to see Todd Thomas on the offensive side of the ball, I’m also looking forward to see how he plays on defense.  A college football guy who’s opinion I trust very much told me two years ago that Thomas was the best ‘athlete’ football player he had seen in the last 25 years.  That may be overstating but the kid has phat skilzzs as the kids say these days (I think).

Odds and Ends:

If you missed the Spring Game you can see it in its entirety here, all 2 ½ hours of it, with commercials by the way.  Note Pat Bostick’s color commentary alongside Bill Hillgrove, he does a very good job for the first time out, especially considering he’s only 22 years old.  If you look closer you can see Pat’s father up in the stands waving a sign that read “EXTEND BOSTICK’S SCHOLARSHIP!!”  Pay close attention on how the 1st team offense handled the actual No-Huddle from placement to snap with all the things required to get the next play off… pretty smooth all in all.  Sunseri has good field command of the offensive players so far.

Zeise of the P-G does his spring wrap up and states that, basically, spring practices don’t mean squat or to put it more accurately “not much really”.  His only real strong statement is negative:

The one thing that will need to happen is Pitt will need to find a legitimate big-play receiver as I am not sure there is one on this roster. Devin Street and Mike Shanahan are very good but neither are going to blow by defenders nor is Cam Saddler, who has found a spot as a slot receiver in this offense.

What he conveniently forgets is the you can have all the speed in the world at wide receiver but it means nothing if that ‘speed burner’;  1) can’t get off the LOS cleanly; 2) can’t run crisp routes and 3) won’t position himself to fight for the ball once it’s in the air.  If he wants a WR corps populated with Jon Baldwin types he can have them.  Personally, I think we’ll be more than fine with the kids we have on roster now.

Hell, I think we have more Big Play receivers on the two deep now than we have had in the last six years.  I’ll trade two or three 70+ yard TD plays a season for fifty 25+ yard plays any day.

The Trib’s DiPaola did an article on the Spring Game.  He takes a 180 degree stance on our offensive talent than his P-G counterpart:

Meanwhile, Sunseri looks to have at least four playmakers surrounding him, including former Norwin wide receiver Mike Shanahan (seven receptions, 158 yards and a 50-yard touchdown).

“Mike Shanahan sticks out to me as a leader and playmaker,” Graham said. “As he gets in mental and physical shape to run this offense, he is going to be special.”

Wide receivers Devin Street (eight, 81, one) and Cameron Saddler (six, 50) also played well, and running back Ray Graham was used sparingly (five carries, 15 yards) because he’s the only scholarship running back on campus.

DiPaola also quotes Graham about the team not having a reprise of last year’s off-season drama:

The players are faced with a lot of free time before summer camp. Some members of last year’s team couldn’t handle it responsibly, and the legal problems that ensued helped lead to Wannstedt’s firing.

Graham expects no such problems, especially after he had his players sign a document earlier this year reaffirming their commitment to the program. “I told them, all over the country between now and camp, you are going to see every day somebody getting in trouble,” he said.

Graham said it’s not enough to ask them to stay out of trouble. “Every day I see them, I am going to shake their hands, look them in the eye and tell them I’m committed, and I expect them to do the same thing. “We have given each other our word, so I have a great confidence that these guys are going to do the right things.”

PITT named the Ed Conway Award Winners for the most improved players over the Spring Practice.  They were Gonzalez on offense and Ezell and Jackson on defense.

The Pitt News had two quotes from Tino Sunseri that I didn’t see anywhere else and they strike to the heart of the matter regarding this new offense:

Despite being seen as the front-runner for the quarterback position, Sunseri is working hard to become what Graham calls “a disciple of the coaches on the field.”

“Whenever I hear him say that, I take that as I need to be basically a coach on the field,” Sunseri said. “I need to understand the situation, what can hurt us, what can help us. I need to understand the total outlook of the game —where he’s thinking the ball needs to go, I need to make sure the ball actually goes. I want to make sure I know exactly where he thinks the ball should go because he’s usually right.”

This makes sense and I think that comes with time and practice.  But it most probably also be one of the things that is transparent to the average fan watching the game, meaning that you the reader will be clueless but me the writer will understand it 100%.

Sunseri also says:

“We came a really long way. If you go back to our first practice, guys were kind of lazy getting up to the ball. They didn’t understand the tempo of the offense or what was expected out of them every play,” Sunseri said. “We got better each and every practice, and we’re going to keep trying to get better this offseason.”

If you want to see what Todd Graham is all about watch this “Meet the Coach” video.  He’s not just acting in front of the camera here; this is how he coaches the players every practice.  Case in point – if you watched the Spring Game you’d have seen him out on the field standing about five yards behind and off to the side of the 1^st string QB constantly coaching the offense as they ran plays.  He also ran down the field with the KO teams.  It appears that he isn’t content with being a sideline coach and having his staff do everything, at least not at this point.

Todd Graham was on 93.7 The Fan last evening from 5:00 until 6:00 pm.  Nothing earth shaking at all really and he rehashed what he’s been interviewed about for the last five months.

Who is the author?

“While Graham laughs. Rocking farther and farther backward against the player’s bench, spreading his laugh out across the field—laughing at the cheerleaders, the players, at Tino, at me sucking my bleeding thumb, at the offensive coordinator up in the box and the referee and the equipment guys and the thirty five thousand empty seats and the Big Nurse and all of it. Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.“

The word count of all the “Spring Practice” posts, combined with all of your reader’s comments on them, is a bit over 93,000 words.  The minimum word count for a novel is 50,000 words according to writing guidelines and an average fiction novel is 100,000 words… good work guys!!

Note: I’ll have a Press Pass for the summer camp and the regular season this year, thanks to Chas and the PITT SID staff, so I’ll keep posting on here throughout the season.  I’ll probably only do anything if news comes up from now until summer camp, then try to get back on a modified (read: lessened) schedule when things heat up again.  Thanks for the readership and the great comments you have contributed – it has been a real pleasure to be involved with you all and this blog.