In a development that should surprise no one Brock DeCicco left camp to contemplate his future with the Panthers and Graham’s offense.   We talked about transfers in the Spring Practice articles and mentioned that the TEs were going to have to fit the mold of the H-Back Graham wants.  Hubie Graham actually played this position during his freshman year at Illinois so he’s comfortable with it.

In a continuing show of interest and support by the Post Gazette as a whole the Red Shoes Diary was written by an intern who three days of experience with the program.  To make up for his inexperience he loads photos to fill space.  Did an alright job though considering the paper sent Zeise out of town to cover the Buccos.

He does like the QB & receiver corps though:

Sunseri and Street have looked good every day that I’ve been here, though. What really made the offense stand out was the play of the younger receivers, who are all vying to be part of the top six to eight players used in the offense this season. Freshman Ronald Jones (below), sophomore Ed Tinker and redshirt freshman Salath Williams all saw time with the first team and should provide some great depth to the receiver position. Tinker and Williams were both used in the vertical passing game and Jones appears to be a good fit to at Cameron Saddler’s position.

The Tribune Review follows up this subject with an article about how Sunseri feels he has grasped the reins of leadership this season.  Interesting that he stepped in after one of his receivers was showboating a TD catch…At the center of the group was quarterback Tino Sunseri, who called a brief meeting Friday during practice after wide receiver Devin Street caught a touchdown pass and brazenly handed the football to cornerback K’Waun Williams.

It feels as though Graham wants to change more than the way the kids actually play football under his leadership:

We try and spend a lot of time explaining our philosophy of why we run on and off the field and why we don’t have earrings and foul language in the locker room. These are old school values and I think that the kids really respond to this. Our philosophy is also about really building a relationship with the players. I think these are really good kids and that they were really good kids when I got here. You will not hear me after one season blame one single thing on anything that has happened here before me.

Those are good and strong words… he’ll leave it up to us fans to make that excuse if needed.

Here is an in-depth article about the rising OLB Todd Thomas.  Although I thought he’d make an impact on the offensive side of the ball when he was recruited, he’s doing very well defensively.

Pat Bostick weighs in on what may be one reason the offense outplayed the defense in yesterday’s practice;  Putting the pads on also heightens everyone’s sense of urgency. As a quarterback, you feel and hear the pads popping around you. This gives you a much better sense of how quickly the ball has to get out of your hand, especially in this up-tempo offense. Running backs get a better sense of when to make a move and when to lower their shoulder and take what they can get. Putting the pads on can separate some wide receivers from others. Who can catch the ball and take the big hit over the middle and who hears footsteps? We shall see.