Questions on the field. Questions off the field. Questions about the coaches. They are all there. Some will get sorted out in the next few weeks. Some will only be put to rest once the season begins.
Here are my top issues as camp begins. Actually, this list kind of got long, so I’m splitting it into a few posts.
1. Quarterback. Natch. Covered this yesterday so I won’t repeat it.
2. Defensive Coordinator Matt House. The defense is expected/needed to be the strength of this squad. The man in charge of the defense is a first time DC. A man with a total of 4 years of position coaching experience. Outside of new Defensive Ends & Linebackers Coach John Palmero the rest of the position coaches on the defense have 4 years or less of experience coaching at the college level.
This has me terrified. The defense started shaky last year, but improved noticeably as the season continued. Coach Chryst eschewed more experienced defensive coordinator hires to promote House. Unlike on the offensive side, there is not a lot of experience in the position coaches (as well as the head coach) for the top coordinator to turn for advice and help.
3. Someone to help Devin Street at WR. Everyone is waiting for Tyler Boyd to take the field. He gave Pitt fans every reason to believe his impact could be immediate with his performance at the Big 33 game. Boyd did it in so many different ways in that game, that at the very least he has to be back on special teams for kick returns from the start.
The Big 33 was a complete Boyd showcase.
Boyd could play in any classification, said Pennsylvania coach Art Walker, who led North Allegheny to the Class AAAA title in December.
“He could have played for or against anybody and excelled,” Walker said. “Pitt has got a weapon; we used him a bunch of different ways.”
Someone that versatile will get on the field. It just isn’t known if it will be as the starting WR.
There is Ed Tinker, Kevin Weatherspoon and Brandon Ifill. Ronald Jones was thought to be a strong possibility at the #2 WR until his suspension was announced (though, the preseason depth chart in the Pitt media guide should have been a hint of his coming suspension).
The other possibilities are redshirt freshman Chad Wuestner and freshman Zach Challingsworth. Wuestner went from preferred walk-on to scholarship player. This was a question from the spring that are still unanswered.
These questions at WR are why I expect to see 2- and 3-TE sets frequently this year as the balm for all the WR issues. The TE spot looks loaded with J.P. Holtz, Manasseh Garner and Scott Orndoff. I don’t see how Coach Paul Chryst doesn’t take advantage of this especially as it leads to the next question.
louisville got into the ACC becuse it had a top football and basketball program not becuse of
academics.
so pitt does not need to be yale if that is what the powers that be want we should have joined the ivy leage not the ACC.
We’ll see Garner play TE, FB, and WR. We’ll see Holtz, Orndoff and Garner all on the field at the same time and it’ll be a passing play. We’ll see Orndoff go off and Tinker/Boyd/Ifill plays outside WR with Garner in the slot.
I think we’ll see a lot of what Wanny did with Dickerson plus more plays as a WR. Garner will only see less field time than Street and Holtz. He may see more than Holtz.
I can just imagine the conversation behind closed doors that Coach Chryst had with John Palermo when he was interviewing for the DC position.
PC- Come on John the DC job is yours, I could really use your help on this one.
JP- Thanks but no thanks, I’m too frickin old to be sleeping nights on the couch in my office during the entire football season if I take you up on this one. I just don’t want to put in the time and anyhow I don’t have the energy anymore to do it. Don’t you have any young studs in mind for the position who would be hungry for the opportunity?
PC- Yeah I do, Matt House is an up and comer but he still needs some time to mature into such a position as DC. I like him, and he’d love the opportunity but he just doesn’t have the experience.
JP-I’ll make a deal with you, if you offer it to House and he promises to do all the required heavy lifting and take all of the grief, then I’ll come on board as an assistant coach to hold his hand and serve as kind of a mentor for him while he gets his “baptism by fire” this coming season. But realize that I want to remain under the radar on the staff however. Been there done that and I have no desire these days to be answering reporters questions on why we are getting beat up on defense while we get our feet under us in our first year in the ACC.
PC- I promise you! Matt will work his tail off, plus he will be a welcomed constant that this defense so dearly needs with all the coaching changes and turmoil that these guys have been through in their playing careers up to this point. You got a deal.
JP- Remember I said I’d help him out, not take over for him, I want to sleep in my own bed during the season, OK?
PC-No worries, we sure could use you to coach up our linebackers and tight ends.
JP- That job should allow me to get home daily in time for dinner, where do I sign? It will be good working with you. Lets see what we can build here at Pitt.
Has me somewhat terrified as well. While the defense did appear to get better as the season continued, was it a result of the schedule getting significantly weaker or not.
Let’s take a look.
After giving up 31 points to D2 YSU
And getting hammered in Cincy 34 points
Va Tech came to town with QB problems and it showed early & often. D only gave up 17 points
Let’s line them up:
Gardner Webb 10 points Louisville 45 pts
Syracuse 14 points Notre Dame 29 pts
Buffalo 6 points (a lame) Uconn 24 pts
Temple 17 points Cincy 34 pts
Rutgers 6 pts Ole Miss 38 pts
USF 3 pts
* Note USF, Rutgers, Temple & Buffalo had one thing in common. Some of the worst D1 QB’s in college football. Just horrid. made you know who look like an All-American.
The difference is quality of teams is quite vast between the columns with the exception of Uconn. Who really should be in the left column, but somehow we managed to lose to that pathetic team by giving up 24 1rst half points. And getting behind with ..you know who at QB….was a certain defeat.
So I’m not convinced that last years #15 (or whatever it was) defensive ranking was at all …..legit.
I’m just hoping that this House kid, is a frickin genius !
Old Dominion is also better than Gardner Webb, them and about 200 other colleges.
There is no USF, Temple, Rutgers, Buffalo & Uconn on the schedule this year. (4 of our 6 wins)
Thank God for the Orange !
Duke is no longer a total liteweight in football, as they went to the Belk Bowl last year and damn near beat Cincy who we got clobbered by.
And while UVA only had 4 wins last year, they did beat Pedo State, Miami and NC State. 3 teams that would have probably PITT last year.
I don’t see the gimmes in the ACC like we had most certainly with last years schedule.
In fact everyone else we play in the ACC went to a Bowl Game last year. Save Miami who would have, but imposed a bowl ban on themselves.
I hope we’re going to be UP for the challenge !
Veritas et Virtus !
i said i would stop bitching untill after the first game.
so i have nothing to say abought him good or bad
untill the game is over.
The defense is gonna have to keep us in the FSU game and create turnovers like they did against VA Tech for us to have a chance, imo.
For our O-Line might get totally manhandled by FSU’s defensive front. And that would blowup Pitt’s offense.
Therefore I hope PC has our O-Line practicing against our frontline D-Line in the later days (week) of camp, to help get them up to speed.
FSU defense only gave up 14.7 ppg last year. #6 in the country.
On a positive note, USF gave FSU a game in Tampa only losing, 30-17. Of course that was before USF’s star QB (BJ Daniels) got hurt. He rushed for 74 yards and 2 TD’s that game. We got the dreadful backup QB by the time we played them.
list him at TE he is a WR which is what he played at wisconsin.
here is a piece from the referenced article above:
“At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, he said he was timed in 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a scouting combine prior to last season.
“I ran pretty well for a white guy,” he said.
Yes he does and you can see it when the team does sprint drills. Don’t be surprised if he gets a lot of playing time this season.
He reminds me a lot of UW’s Jared Abbrederis only bigger bigger. Chryst was in love with Abberderis when he was the OC at Wisconsin and used him a lot. Abberderis was a three year starter and led the Badger’s in receiving yardage his JR and SR years and average 17 ypc over his career (Baldwin was 18 YPC over his career).
Like Wuestner Abberderis ran a 4.6 40.
him in at WR next to street did he not play WR at
wisconsin.
they have enough TE explain this becuse i dont get
him at TE.