I’m doing the usual dad thing in the morning. Getting the kids ready for school. Drinking coffee. Trying to see what news is happening on the internet. Then my daughter comes up to me, and tells me her stomach hurts. Before I can even suggest she head to the bathroom she proceeds to unload the contents of breakfast, and eventually what appeared to be part of last night’s dinner on my shoes. Good start to the week.

The QB situation for this season has essentially been known since the end of last August when Tra’von Chapman was dismissed from the school and team. Owing to few blowouts in the second half of the season and an O-line that between mediocrity and injuries should have been considered a work hazard for any QB, there wasn’t the Tyler Palko-Bill Stull-esque classic clamor to get Chad Voytik some work. There may have been an occasional murmur, but nothing significant.

Nothing has changed there. Everyone knows, that Voytik is the starter. The one difference is that there is a little more comfort with it after the bowl game to finish the season.

“For me, the overall performance, it was just nice to get out there again and play because I hadn’t played in a serious game since high school,” he said. “You kind of forget a little bit what it feels like and that you can still do it. For me, personally, it was very reassuring and kind of boosted my confidence a little bit in myself, just knowing I could go in there and compete at this level.”

Now he just has to do it on a regular basis.

Voytik is quick to point out that he hasn’t officially been named the starter yet, but as the heir apparent, he has been preparing like one all offseason. This spring, Voytik and Trey Anderson were the only quarterbacks on the roster. It’s an extremely different role for Voytik, as he only played in four games last season behind Savage, and saw his most extensive snaps in the bowl game. All but eight of his passing yards and two of his attempts for the season were against Bowling Green. Because of his limited playing time, the reps with the first-team this spring were invaluable.

Trey Anderson has no doubt that Voytik is the starter. But, Anderson is essentially in “just happy to be here” mode.

“I joke with my dad all the time,” Anderson said. “I’ve gone from a junior-college commit in Texas to Pittsburgh. It’s been crazy.”

What he especially appreciates is the opportunity to learn from Chryst, one of the nation’s most respected quarterback coaches. Anderson wants to be a coach after he graduates.

“It’s something I’ve known since I was a little kid,” he said.

When Pearland won the state championship, coach Tony Heath said Anderson played a “perfect game” and likened him to “a coach on the field.”

“If I could coach with Coach Chryst, that would be awesome,” Anderson said. “Or wherever the job takes me.”

Anderson has no illusions of winning the starting job.

“I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff,” Anderson said. “None of that affects me. I compete with myself every day, try to get better every day.”

He also believes he can help Voytik.

“I definitely think I can help him with the mental aspect of it,” Anderson said. “He is definitely stronger and bigger than I am, faster and all that. But we can go through it together.”

Pitt is not in an ideal situation with QB depth, but at least the players have a healthy and clear outlook. v

Athlon Sports puts Voytik as the 5th best QB in the ACC coming into the season.

Pitt finally made the new S&C Coach, Ross Kolodziej available to the media for a puff piece. Let me state this now, I’ve made my issues with the hire explicit and clear. His lack of experience is one thing, but the lack of any real training, knowledge and certifications are bigger issues to me. At this point, the only thing that can be done is to observe and hope it works out.

I’m not going to bang on this just to stir things up. But when they finally make him available and none of the four beat guys (P-G, Trib, Scout, Rivals) on hand think to ask if Kolodziej is pursuing more education and/or certification; then I at least have a problem with the coverage and feel that should be pointed out as a glaring miss.

It’s not like they haven’t seen the message boards and received the e-mails and tweets about that aspect. Whether they just forgot about it or didn’t want to be confrontational about it, it is a question that absolutely needed to be asked. Heck, it seems like a softball question and if he answers yes, it goes some way towards mollifying people (including me) on the matter.

Anyways, you can read the various versions here, here, here and here.

Quick summary: Forging identity, “into the furnace,” weight room being expanded, Wisconsin, players love him.

There’s a Q&A with OC Joe Rudolph.

How much better has the pass protection looked?

JR: I think a lot better. There are some guys who have truly settled in the position. T.J. Clemmings stands out the most as really settling into a position and taking ownership of it. I really see a maturing in him, which is nice. He’s over there next to Matt Rotheram, and that brings some great stability. I see Artie [Rowell] getting more confident, not only making the calls and those types of things, but in his technique at center. I think at times you get into it, you do a lot of great things all through practice and the minute you get into a game you get a hair hesitant. When you do that, you’re not playing fast. You’re not playing at your best. This group is ready to do that and have that little bit more confidence you need to let it go. They’re getting there. The left side is young. Adam Bisnowaty has been limited, hasn’t been able to do a lot of team stuff, we’ve got Jaryd Jones-Smith and Dorian Johnson have been battling over there. There are some things that show their heads from an understanding at times, but we also see some things ability-wise where you say, ‘Wow.’ So we’re plugging at it.

Which roughly translates to “we’d be hard pressed to be worse than last year.”

And if you want to read a primer on NCAA crap that will dominate the summer — hey we need something else now that expansiopocolypse is well and truly over for the major conferences — this is a good place to start.