The PITT Blather is in the “Dead Period”  where there isn’t much football news to discuss so let’s throw some info around.

There have been some legitimate worries about how Paul Chryst is going to be able to finish off the PITT 2012 recruiting class.  Sometimes you need a Mayan Calendar to know who can do what and when during these last few months.   Here is a good PDF that shows the calendar dates and what recruiters can do during them:   2012 Recruiting Dates.

Now that you have that here are the definitions for what can or can’t be done during those times:  NCAA Definitions.  Here are the three which concern us the most .

Contact Period   During this time, a college coach may have in-person contact with you and/or your parents on or off the college’s campus. The coach may also watch you play or visit your high school. You and your parents may visit a college campus and the coach may write and telephone you during this period.

Quiet Period   The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents off the college’s campus. The coach may not watch you play or visit your high school during this period. You and your parents may visit a college campus during this time. A coach may write or telephone you or your parents during this time.

Dead Period   The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents at any time in the dead period. The coach may write and telephone you or your parents during this time.

The bottom line is that it is always a “Contact Period” except when it isn’t.

Since there is a Dead Period until Jan 3 anyway he’s not missing much on the recruiting side by being at the Rose Bowl until that date because he can still call the recruits.

But the key for Paul Chryst is going to be the Jan 13-28 Contact Period is when he’s going to do his lion’s share of recruiting as he can host recruits on campus and call them as much as he wants.  That’s 15 days of face to face talks with some of these young players.

Understand that we can only pay for official visits by a recruit but we can meet with anyone who wants to come to campus on their own.

The National LOI (Letter of Intent)  Day is on Feb 3^rd this year.  That is when we’ll find out how well this recruiting class actually stuck together.

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There has been a prevailing media myth about Pitt basketball the last few years. It has been repeated ad nauseum about how Pitt is a great defensive team, but is offensively challenged. In truth, Pitt has been anywhere from a good to mediocre defensive team with a highly efficient offense.

What has been true about the defense, regardless of the media storyline, has been that Pitt players have taken pride in playing defense. That a strong defensive series tends to energize them and has often fueled their offense. That has not at all been the case this season.

Forget, if you can for the moment, the poor defensive performances this season. What we haven’t seen on the defensive side is enthusiasm to play defense, unless the offense is flowng. When the offense is going, the team’s energy is higher. While there hasn’t been great showings this season, we at least knew the effort on defense was there.

Now, compare that effort over the last couple of games — specifically the second half.

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