Are we really expecting lots of information after the first day of practice? Real clues? In non-contact, padless practice? Don’t we know better?

Sure we do. It’s just that it has been an eternity since any semblance of actual sport. After the off-the-field police blotter stuff. Recruiting obsessions. Parsing every puff interview. It doesn’t matter. Give us the crumbs!

First practice in the books. No questions really answered. No depth chart issues resolved. From that, the only reasonable conclusion one can make is that Chryst is not the answer. A real coach would have everything resolved and set in stone. He would know exactly what players will be starters and where based on their unsupervised off-season conditioning program. It is time to move on to another coach.

The most noticeable thing from the first day of practice was that Todd Thomas was not playing with the first team defense at weakside linebacker (WLB). Instead, Mike Caprara was moved over from middle linebacker (MLB). There was no subtlety to the move and Coach Paul Chryst and Todd Thomas didn’t hide from its meaning:

“I did (need motivation), a little bit, little extra,” Thomas said after practice. “I am going to keep working hard and see how it unfolds. … That’s how the cookie crumbles. I have to go out and earn a spot.”

Chryst downplayed the existence of first and second teams in practice, even though there is a clear division during drills.

“Right now, everyone has to prove they can provide a role that you can rely on and play with,” he said. “Then, you find out how many of those guys you can use.”

Thomas said he used the demotion as motivation while knocking away three passes. He practiced with an attitude, getting physical in coverage with tight end J.P. Holtz and running back Rachid Ibrahim.

“The motivation worked, definitely,” Thomas said.

Chryst said before practice that Thomas can make an impact.

“I think he can give us some stuff, but he can play at a higher level than what he’s been, need him to. That’s not negative.”

He added, however: “I think he thinks a lot of himself, you know, and match it.”

Told after practice that Thomas used the demotion as motivation, Chryst said, “I would hope so.”

“You love the energy he brings. You love the competitiveness he brings. If you look around, a lot of players respond to Todd. That’s all good stuff.”

When Thomas is healthy, he is one of the best players on the defense. The problem has been staying uninjured. It has to be hard to want to bring it in practice when you were injured during practice as a freshman. Then njured again in 2011 which was slow to fully heal and delayed a return last year. So the temporary demotion right at the start of practice was a good way to get his attention.

As for Caprara, it is immediately clear that the coaching staff has plans to play him. They just aren’t going to limit him to the MLB. At the risk of going too cliche, too early. Caprara is just a football player.

One of the things you can pick up from what Chryst is saying after the first practice is the need for the upperclassmen to do more than show up. Not simply set an example. They have to recognize their attitude, their actions, their words impact what the younger players do and how they go about things. You can see that in his words talking about Todd Thomas and with Devin Street.

Pitt senior Devin Street is the team’s best wide receiver, but coach Paul Chryst expects more than big plays from him.

“Devin is one of those guys we need to play at a high level and lead at a high level,” Chryst said.

Street led Pitt in receptions last season (73), but Chryst said he hasn’t reached his potential.

“He did a lot of really good things, but I’m excited because I still believe he can continue to get better.

“He realizes what he’s got and the value of (wide receivers) coach (Bobby) Engram coaching him, day in and day out.”

Street has clearly responded to what Chryst and WR Coach Bobby Engram has brought. It was obvious in his change on-the-field last year. In Street’s first two years of playing you could see the potential, but he lacked that desire. He didn’t fight for balls. He let footsteps bother him. Last year, that went away.

Street isn’t shy to admit that, over his four years at Pitt, he has not seen the type of leadership he thought was necessary for a successful team. Sure, there were players that he personally respected and looked up to, but no one who accepted accountability for the team.

It didn’t help that three coaching changes in a span of two years led to players in the locker room recruited by three different coaches. It rarely bubbled to the surface, but Street confessed that divisions were sometimes there.

“I think last year we did have some of that with older guys,” Street said. “It was hard to trust what the coaches were going to be like, everything like that.”

Last season, Street started to pursue more of a leadership role. Teammates noticed, and Street’s production on the field even began to tick upward.

And he has taken it to the natural progression where there is no real doubt who will be a team captain this year.

“I kind of took that upon myself just because I’ve been here, going on my fifth year, I’ve seen a lot of things,” Street said. “Coaches in and out, players in and out. I’ve seen a lot of things. I’ve seen how not to respond to things, and I’ve seen how to respond to things. I’ve learned from all of it.”

It was a long first practice. Four hours outside, and even without pads a shock to the system for the players. Especially freshmen.

“At Clairton [High School], I didn’t even feel sore like this after the first two practices,” freshman wide receiver Tyler Boyd said. “The first practice here, it was a huge difference. I’m sore already. I’m cramped up, I don’t usually get cramped up early in camp.”

Boyd is one of the freshmen who appears slated to play this year — and could even earn a starting job — but he said he plans to take training camp one day at a time and appreciated the help he received from older wide receivers such as redshirt junior, and former Clairton teammate, Kevin Weatherspoon.

“I’m used to the pressure,” Boyd said. “I came from a school that won 63 games in a row, so pressure was all on us, especially me. As long as my team has my back and they ride with me, and I’ve got them, I think I’ll be cool.”

Nothing “neat” about today. Instead, the word of the day from Coach Chryst was, well, see if you can figure it out.

“It’s a competition with yourself, it’s a competition with another guy at the position, it’s a competition with someone across the ball, it’s a competition with those teams that we’re playing,” Chryst said. “There’s a lot of factors that you’re competing against.”

Speaking of the C-word, the drama of the starting QB provided little. Savage ran the first team. Voytik ran second team. Not much to report otherwise. Sorry folks, just not much else in the news there. Neither newspaper had any reports on that front. Not surprising. It’s the first day of practice. There are no pads. No real contact.

The main thing that will be noted is who is running with which group.

There was a ton of rotation at most of the skill positions, so it’s tough to tell if there’s any sort of pecking order beyond Devin Street and Isaac Bennett at wide receiver and running back, respectively. At running back, James Conner certainly looked the part of the bigger back. Rachid Ibrahim definitely has to put on some weight, but he got some runs in with the second team, as well. Chryst said after practice that there’s no real depth chart at this point. While that’s textbook coach-speak, I really think they’re evaluating all their options beyond the top guys beyond Street and Bennett at these two positions. At wide receiver, Ed Tinker and Kevin Weatherspoon got most of the wide receiver reps, but Chris Wuestner and Tyler Boyd got in there as well.

I noted how thin Pitt is at safety, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that a cornerback is getting some practice at safety. In this case, Cullen Christian is seeing action there.