The day is upon us. The day when it becomes plainly clear that PITT is a football school.
PITT’s long awaited Spring Practices begin today and this is the point in the off-season when we can start talking about actualities when it comes to the football team itself. We have been discussing the football program and the athletic department in depth since ex-Head Coach Paul Chryst left for his alma mater back in December but until now it has been speculations about the new coaching staff and the last recruiting class… both of which statuses we won’t be able to really gauge until the season starts in September.
But now it is the players’ turn to be in the main spotlight and time for us fans to start getting some serious questions answered about what we’ll see on the field this year. Whether or not individual units; offense, defense, special teams, etc. will do well or not isn’t going to be evident during these 15 practices including the scrimmages and the spring game. I say start because we won’t know anything for sure until the two deep is set in mid-August. That is what the fall camp is for.
What we’ll see transpire over the next four weeks are basically tryouts run by the staff for both returning personnel and the class of 2015 recruits. Last year it was pretty much a continuation of what we had in Chryst’s first two year with some new issues; how would our QB play turnout, who would replace Aaron Donald and would James Conner play both ways? I still can’t believe that that last issue is still being talked about. It is the stupidest idea ever and if this staff can’t see that, like the last staff eventually did, then we have a big problem.
All these standard springtime questions are magnified when you have a complete coaching staff change because of two things:
One is that the new staff has a different approach to football than the old one did. That happens even if there are theoretical similarities among the staffs and thus the new staff comes in with their own set of expectations.
Second is that the new coaches aren’t beholden to any of the individual players on the roster or to any type or style of play. There are no prior promises of playing time to honor and no sense of having to keep someone on the roster because they were good soldiers throughout their previous years at PITT. Where you see this happen most is with 5th year seniors who have had their four years of education toward a degree.
We have discussed the 5th year guys in detail in other articles so no real need to go over it again right now, suffice to say that we’ll be discussing a lot of personnel roster moves from the time spring practices ends until the beginning of fall camp in early August. If a player is asked to ‘move on’ or has been told that his chances of being a starter, or even getting much playing time, or even if he doesn’t feel comfortable with his new coach(s) then the months of May, June and July are the times he’s looking around for a new home in time to enroll for classes and, hopefully, attend that school’s fall camp (if transferring below D1).
This attrition happens every year and with every coach so that issue will be something to shelve for now but to pay attention to after the spring practices close.
Some things to remember about spring practice, especially this year’s: We won’t see any of the 2015 recruiting class on the field with the exception of DB Malik Henderson who enrolled in February and is eligible to practice. Henderson was recruiting by our new OC Jim Cheney while Chaney was at Arkansas and obviously wanted to join them as soon as possible which is a positive thing in my mind. So recruits Whitehead, Hall, Brightwell and company will have to wait until later to show their stuff. This is important to keep in mind as we start talking about ‘who’s doing well and who is setting themselves up to start the games’ because things can change pretty drastically before the first game as we saw happen in Chryst’s first two years when he went with a solid youth movement.
That youth movement that Chryst instituted will be beneficial to Narduzzi as it leaves a firm foundation of players for him to work with: 47 Lettermen Returning with 17 Starters Returning; 22 Letterman on Offense (8 starters); 21 Letterman on Defense (7 starters) and 4 Specialists (2 starters). As we have said earlier the offense had some pretty visible talent and was well coached throughout the 2014 season so, hopefully, the new staff won’t worry too much about it.
However, the defense is full of talent question marks and the staff will use these spring practices to winnow out returning defensive personnel, even returning starters, who they feel won’t fully contribute to what most certainly be a new defensive unit.
In essence what Spring Practice is held for is to get new terminology in place, new basic schemes, and for the staff to start putting names and positions together in preparation for the Fall Camp when the rubber starts hitting the road for players hoping to hold onto starting jobs and those hoping to break into real playing time themselves. Those are answers we won’t see coming out of spring practice.
That said, what are the main questions that need to be addressed going into this staff’s first formal practices with their new team? Here are a few and they might seem redundant if you have read other media stuff on the team because, well… because they are obvious issues to be addressed.
Here is my Top Two for today:
Who will be the #2 wide receiver opposite Tyler Boyd this season? We lost our most obvious choice when Adonis Jennings took his ball and went over to the other side of Pennsylvania to play with the Temple Owls. He was a recruit that every PITT fans had high expectations for but a pretty serious injury in camp led to his debut being delayed for a returning receiver who had been able to attend more practices and, in this case, had more experience in Manasseh Garner. Garner and Weatherspoon graduated and two kids who would be returning left; Jennings as mentioned and rsSR Ronald Jones.
Honestly, those losses are not crippling as Garner and Weatherspoon were workman-like average players and Jones and Jennings were all speculation about what they might be able to do as starters. But it does leave a host of pretty inexperience pass catchers vying to catch WR Coach Kevin Williams’ eye for that starting role.
Some WR names to follow in practice are rsJR Dontez Ford, a local star at Sto-Rox HS who transferred in from Syracuse. Ford didn’t get any action until the ninth game of the season and only had three catches but he’s quick and fast and will compete in the fall. The only other WR to have any catches in a PITT uniform is rsJR Chris Wuestner who stated one game and has two career receptions. rsSO Zach Challingsworth, a WPA kid, rsSO Jester Weah and rsFR Elijah Ziese are the only other scholarship WRs going into the spring practices. Challingsworth and Weah are returning “Letterman” though so that makes me wonder what exactly is PITT’s criteria for awarding football letters? It can’t be playing time and they have almost none. (If anyone knows please chip in.)
We also have a slew of walk-on WRs to choose from but there is a glaring lack of experience at this position and odds are that the staff will want a new start with all the WRs save Tyler Boyd.
What will be the main skill set targeted for Narduzzi’s defense? We will have to wait until fall camp to see what the real nuts and bolts of Narduzzi and DC Josh Conklin’s defense will be going into the first game but we may be able to get an inkling of what type of player they are looking for to execute that defense. (The link above is a great overview of what Narduzzi did at MSU).
Right now we appear to have some big holes to fill on defense. Part of this issue though goes back to PITT’s “Chicken or the Egg” question of ‘is the defense talent fielded over the course of last season the reason it played so poorly or was there talent and it was badly misused by the dearly departed Matt House’? In reality this question may hold the ultimate key to PITT’s success in 2015 because if the talent wasn’t there it could well mean that whatever the defensive staff tries to do won’t succeed because they don’t have the quality of resources to put on the field to meet their goals.
We can’t answer that now or even during fall camp, but what we fans can do is watch is who is getting more reps on defense than the other kids this spring. Is rsJR Bam Bradley seeing a ton of time in the OLB slot? He was a 3* Safety coming out of HS who ran the 40 in 4.5 seconds so maybe his speed is what the staff is looking at. At that middle linebacker position, which may be really up for grabs with the new staff, is SO Quentin Wirginis, a guy who was a starting Special Teams kick coverage rocket as a true FR, or rsFR Jamal Davis seeing time before others there.
Both those youngsters are fast, 4.6 in the 40, defenders who impressed in fall camp last season If those three guys above, and other speed burners, are getting major consideration this spring it will signal that this staff wants as much defensive speed on the field as possible. BTW – don’t sleep on Wirginis or be swayed by his 2* recruit rating. He missed all of his SR year at Fox Chapel due to a bad foot injury and was way under the radar of the recruiting sites. He is a diamond in the rough, was the defensive hit of fall camp last year and could really break out under this staff.
I used speed as the subject for defense because that is the direction I think this staff will go in 2015. It was brutally obvious that our LBs and DBs didn’t have the across-the-board closing speed necessary to stop the deeper pass completions that ended up winning games for our opponents. I also think there is a glaring need for more speed at the MLB position. JR Matt Galambos is a heady kid who can tackle on contact but he was slow on the draw and missed way too many ball carriers by his lack of foot speed. Galambos’ 5.1 sec 40 speed just can’t cut it in major college football without some other superstar traits to compensate. In other words, it was OK for MLB Scott McKillop to look like he was running through mud because every other little thing he did was perfect and he made tackles. (Enjoy the video; it never gets old and note that on all those late 4th quarter WVU incompletions were caused by McKillop’s pressure up the middle).
So, we’ll get media info staring this afternoon on how the 1st practice, shirts shorts and helmet only today and next practice, and we’ll start looking at the practices as they unfold. I’ve decided to get up for at least one or two practice/scrimmage sessions so start passing the hat for my William Penn Hotel costs. Two nights in the Presidential Suite should set you guys back too much – just remember to ask for the 10% Military discount. Not that I haven’t stayed in the suite before mind you.
Damn, sorry Chas – didn’t see your NIT article until I posted this. Guys – please read and comment on both but pay more attention to mine because PITT is really a FB school this year.
If Galambos is the starting MLB either (1) the first choice was injured or (2) we’re in for another long season defensively.
Whitehead will be slotted directly into the CB slot in the fall, no matter how good any CB looks in spring ball.
Price will be injured for the year before spring ball is over, never giving us a chance to see what he could have been.
Zeise gives Ford a challenge but Ford is the starter and ends up being better than Garner/Witherspoon and maybe even Jennings.
Bam and Grigsby make it easy to forget Gonzo and Thomas and Grigsby is never used on the “hands team” again for the rest of his career.
Duzzi spends one entire practice on on-side kicks and actually explains that someone has to hit someone on the recovery team while his teammate recovers the ball, instead of standing around watching.
Duzzi and Conklin tell EJ to start the media blitz for Rori Blair in 2016.
Connor/Boyd prove that talent overcomes alot including an inept administration and coaching carousels gone mad.
H2P!!
Biggest question mark to me remains the DE position. A quick way to improve the defense is to get more sacks. Other than Rory Blair, who can the staff find to make some plays…
And I’m confident that another couple of WRs will emerge – all those guys can run and are good athletes.
Go Pitt.
He also said there were a lot of recruits there … not only 2015 commits like Whitehead but a lot of 16 recruits.
OK, Lafyette Pitts never turned around to look for a ball and Gallambos couldn’t outrun a duck. But why harp on the defensive ends when the tackles weren’t any better?
Render and Moody have shown they can make plays. Mosley-Smith, Jarrett, and Taleni should improve from the experience they got and from being a year older. I think Dintino will push these guys and take their playing time if they don’t improve, and maybe even if they do.
Go Pitt.
Pitt is a baseball school.
Hail to Pitt!
Seriously though, this season with the transfer loss of McClean at DE, we really need the “Price” to be right this season. His services are dearly needed at that position. Please stay healthy.
Loved the Narduzzi attitude regarding the Press questions surrounding the previous staff’s schemes and techniques. HCPN’s answer? “It doesn’t matter, this is the way we do things now, we’ve got a clean slate”! Also the one word remark in response to the question of what philosophies that the Nard Dog is impressing on his charges during the Spring,,,,,,,WIN! Simply loved it!! H2P!
I don’t want to hear anymore ‘fatboy’ jokes about Chryst or Huebner after seeing this photos (credit: Rivals.com):
… and no that isn’t because there is something in his pockets, he looks bigger than that in street clothes. My point? The physical aspects of a coach is pretty far down the list of attributes for success. If it were Johnny Majors with his red face and broken capillaries nose would have been a resounding failure (and I know this because I was his bartender many times).
“Price’s game is based on his speed off the snap, and he said Narduzzi’s defense may be just what he needs. “There is less responsibility,” he said, comparing it to recent seasons. “It’s all about speed, less constricting. I play faster. “Before we had specific assignments for everything. (Now) everything is simplified. The defensive backs know what to do. The linebackers know what to do. We are all going (fast).”
Also this bit of news; Joe Repischak, a walk-on from an Upper St. Clair, is not listed on the spring roster. That is too bad because I thought maybe he had the best arm in camp last season. Signing Peterman was the handwriting on the wall I believe.
Here is another quote from Price in the Trib article, which confuses me. I thought that Chryst was on the guys about attending classes.
“He also noted one more change from former coach Paul Chryst’s three-year tenure.
“You are not missing class anymore without nothing happening to you,” he said.”
H2P
Maybe Chaney left Arkansas because the BBQ Ribs and pulled pork were too much to handle! :>)
FWIW, I passed.
I read they put together a 25 play clip of each player that he watched.
He has not watched any game film of the defense itself. Why would he torture himself like that? LOL
Chaney has obviously watched the offense which is good.
To me, it seemed like they were trying to charge me 2.5x more for seats that were at best, equal to my current ones in terms of view of the field… and likely worse… I can appreciate the sales pitch and premium amenities, but I decided to stay in 138.
@Comment by HbgFrank 03.16.15 @ 11:45 am
The per seat donation is $125… much more reasonable than $500 in sideline club, or $250 in North Club.
Basketball, not so much. JD has put himself in a bad position with Pat Gallagher because of his assistants. First, my expectation is that there will be a meeting between JD and PG to review in detail, the assistants recruiting performance. After the meeting, JD will need to determine who he trusts on his own staff to get the job done and fight for them, which will put his head in a noose so to speak. What I would pose to JD if I am PG would be this question. Of your current assistant coaches, who would you work for? If the answer is none, they all need to go. That is a partial hiring criteria for my highest paid positions. Of course, there are lower positions in an organization where that is not the case, but for my trusted inner circle, that is partially how I do it. JD needs to hire the most qualified recruiters he can, stat. IF PG wants an A+ program, this is what it costs and JD needs to present that to him. If you want a B program, this is what it costs. Set the expectation PG and then have JD agree to it and execute.
My last note is that we all shouldn’t be stating how clean we think our program is and how we should be happy about it and trade off our wins and losses in both sports for a perceived clean athletic department. If we think that, we would then have to say that Steve Pederson did something right and I just can’t make that leap personally. I’ve noticed many similar type comments over the past month about being clean. Would anyone be shocked if there were Syracuse or NC issues occurring at Pitt? I am not asserting that we don’t have a clean athletic department. I am just saying that we shouldn’t all take for granted that it is super clean and then trying to rationalize mediocre on field results are okay because we are clean. You can do both, but the commitment comes from PG and I think he is showing that…..so far!
Sorry for being long winded, but I took some time away during the FB down period. Would be nice to get a Pat signal soon. NExt year is the big recruiting year in my mind as some of these kids already committing have been involved with programs since their freshman and sophomore years!
It may be time to move on and look forward to our new AD. H2P
We still need that big man though, but Corey isn’t a stick either.
By the way, Dokish just tweeted that he had 21 points and 14 rebounds against Michael Cage’s son who has a Kentucky offer and is in the top 50. Let’s see how you twist that to make it sound unimpressive.
Just to add to that… Artis wasn’t even close to the top 100 in his class and had a far less impressive offer sheet coming out of the prep ranks.
And he’s the best player on the team as a true soph and an ACC All Star..
Tough to predict much about most of these kids, and even harder to know who will improve and at what rate..
Earl “The Goat” Manigault
Ben Franklin (Harlem, N.Y.) ’64
There is a reason one of the squads for the Boost Mobile Elite 24 is named in his honor: “The Goat” is arguably the most well known streetball legend of all-time. There is some question how much pro potential the 6-foot-1 jumping jack had, but he was all-city at Franklin before moving on to Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Manigault had offers from all over the country, but it never worked out for him. He’s so revered the playground at 99th and Amsterdam in New York is named Goat Park.
Where the rubber meets the road, in my opinion, is how the and University’s administrative and athletic dept staffs, from the Chancellor down through the ball boys deal with the moral, ethical and the school’s own standards of business and discipline when acting as agents of Loco Parentis (in place of the parents) for their student athletes.
They are two very different things. The first is the external requirements to be met and the other is internal policies and actions. Put it this way. When a school gets caught with a booster paying kids or turning a blind eye to a players committing crimes – that falls under the Legal and NCAA purview or external.
When a school, like PITT has done, disbands a booster club as with the Golden Panthers, or by doing a fully comprehensive house sweeping after repeated extreme disciplinary and insubordinations issues as happened during the 2010 season, then that is the internal side of things and there are many pressures to bear in the decisionmaking associated with those issues.
Being ‘Squeaky Clean’ is really very simple, stay within the boundaries of two damned simple set of instructions are your university is fine. That is what PITT has done especially since the 1980s. However, PITT has gone farther with the internal administration and staff discipline than many others schools would have done. We saw that with the last two head coach firings conducted by Chancellor Mark Nordenberg when he fired Harris and Wannstedt.
I don’t remember how long you have been on here but this issue, especially as it dealt with DW’s firing, has been explained and fully discussed. It is such a hot topic button that some believe the actual reason he was fired and some don’t. But it was 100% attached to the internal standards and discipline standards discussed above. The same thing happened after 2004 with Walt Harris’ indiscretions even when his team won the BE and went to a BCS bowl.
Why is that important? It shows that not only does PITT meet and exceed the external parameters involved in being a D1 football and BB program but the administration goes a step further and have issued severe sanctions when a coach fails to meet internal rules.
Is PITT 100% perfect in ALL these issues? Of course not but whatever slips in adhesion to university standards PITT has had has been dealt with in a fair and clear manner whereas in some schools that is very questionable.
Do I think PITT can win championships as we are now. I sure do. It is the recruiting and coaching that makes a winning program, not the breaking of rules to get a competitive advantage. Some fans obviously feel differently. More likely PITT would break NCAA rules and win one or two more games a year, be caught and then sanctioned. Funny thing is that not one fan wants that to happen but lots are willing to risk the university’s good reputation to do so.
The age old adage is that we are never as good as we think, nor are we as bad, applies on the field and off. How many alleged knowledgeable folks came forward at PSU, Syracuse, NCarolina, etc.? None. Those coverups go back as much as 20 years. Hubris risk is pervasive in the higher education space.
Solid pick up of Manigault. I watched some you tube video of his uncle playing in new york last week when he became a target. Good stuff and a tragic story!
C’mon JD, make me HAPPY 🙂