Pitt has a new commit for the 2013 class. Inside linebacker Matt Galambos has given a verbal.

Galambos has 3-stars from 247 and Scout.com. Rivals.com puts him down for 2-stars and ESPN.com doesn’t have an evaluation on him.

He has offers from Syracuse and Rutgers. There is some interest from PSU, BC and Maryland. Galambos is also holding offers from Harvard and Yale, so he is not an academic risk.

In fact, his academics were a big help in getting an offer from Pitt.

The #Pitt coaches made a lot of decisions in the '12 class based on academics. '13 targets considering Ivy League schools=continuing trend

— Chris Peak (@PantherLair) August 16, 2012

Linebacker is a position of need for the recruiting class.

After the jump is his highlight reel.

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Going into PITT’s 2012 season PITT fans were stating that our running game was going to be the biggest strength of our offense and that there were no worries on that front.  This was partly because we had a returning senior in Ray Graham who is one of the best running backs in the nation and we just landed true freshman Rushel Shell, the all-time leading PA schoolboy rusher.

Great!  On paper fantastic!  However the reality of the situation was, is actually, quite different.  Graham suffered a season ending ACL tear that put him in a long rehab so there’s a real concern regarding when he can get back to full speed and Shell is totally unproven at the college level.  Thus the two best known backs we have are questionable leaving us with two returning and relatively unknown youngsters to fill the bill.  They are Malcolm Crockett, who in redshirting last year hasn’t taken a snap during a game yet, and Isaac Bennett, who got spare playing time late in the season as a true freshman.

But now, on August 16th and only 16 days before PITT’s opener not too many people are worried any longer.  Why you may ask? It’s because one player has stepped up and assuaged the fears.

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I realize Pitt is re-transitioning to a 4-3 defense, from the 3-4, but given that it was only one season. And most of the players were already schooled in the 4-3 principles, I’m not going to be buying too many excuses for struggling based on that move.

On the other hand, the linebackers themselves may be a big concern. Todd Thomas appears to be slower coming back from his ACL injury than hoped. Shane Gordon is out, Ejuan Price is coming back slowly from a spring injury, and several others appear to be dinged up at the moment. Heck, moving to a 4-3 may have been necessary based on the depth chart.

With Thomas out, and linebacker Shane Gordon “day to day,” fifth-year seniors Manny Williams and Joe Trebitz have filled those roles. Wednesday, redshirt freshman Jason Frimpong found himself practicing with the first-team linebackers after Eric Williams went down with an injury.

Trebitz played in 12 games last year, but registered just five tackles. Manny Williams didn’t see meaningful playing time.

Now, Chryst said, is the chance for those guys to prove they deserve playing time once the presumed starters return.

“We’ll find out [about our depth] as you go through in practice,” Chryst said. “Because of the guys that aren’t practicing, other guys have opportunities and we’ll see what they do with that opportunity.”

Lots of questions about how the linebackers will turn out, since there isn’t a lot of experience.

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Okay, football stuff coming later. First a bunch of links to touch on some other topics.

The daily bomb threats on Pitt’s campus last spring should not re-occur. The FBI has their man (sort of). It’s as weird as possible.

A 64-year-old, wheelchair-using Scottish man from Dublin, who already has served a prison sentence for emailing hoax bomb threats, was indicted Wednesday as the person responsible for emailing a series of 40 false bomb threats targeting the University of Pittsburgh during the spring semester.

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh also charged the suspect, Adam Stuart Busby, with sending emailed bomb threats to federal courthouses in Pittsburgh, Erie and Johnstown and with threatening U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton.

Speaking at a news conference announcing the indictments, Mr. Hickton said Interpol had been alerted to the federal warrant charging Mr. Busby, who currently is in custody in Dublin on a Scottish warrant for similar crimes there. He would not speculate on any timetable for extraditing Mr. Busby from Ireland to face prosecution.

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According to The Irish Times, Mr. Busby has multiple sclerosis and is a leader of the Scottish National Liberation Army, which seeks independence for his homeland. He recently was released from prison on a 2010 conviction in Ireland for emailing two false bomb threats in 2006 to Heathrow Airport in London. Those threats, which cited specific international flights, claimed to be from the Scottish National Liberation Army, according to the Times.

Since last month Mr. Busby has been held in custody in Dublin on a European Union warrant seeking his extradition to Scotland for additional charges of sending false threats, according to Irish media outlets. He is charged with making hoax threats in 2010, mostly by email to media organizations, that threatened then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a noxious substance, and claimed buildings would be bombed and that the English water supply would be contaminated, Irish news media reported.

The FBI wouldn’t give a reason for why he targeted Pitt for the bomb threats (Editor note: I know this is somehow related to you, McClearn).

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