Time to catch up on some media articles and podcasts about PITT football that have gone public over the last few days:

First off AD Scott Barnes has been doing some rounds of pretty detailed interviews with media outlets.  Good, that is exactly what we need at this point in time leading our upcoming season.

Here is a great piece by the University’s Pitt News who apparently got a nice chunk of Barnes’ time to answer a bunch of pertinent questions.

Of course two topics jump out.  One is timely and the other is timeless:

TPN: In light of Tyler Boyd’s recent incident, how high of a standard do you think college athletes in general should be held off the field?

ADSB: We will hold our student athletes to a higher expectation due to the front porch they sit on, and that’s more of in terms how they conduct themselves publicly, obviously, and the quality of people they are and the quality of people we recruit… 

Hmmm, that sounds familiar.  We talked about that on here the day after Boyd’s arrest. There is this interesting Q&A also.

TPN: How much do you think Pitt’s struggles to fill up Heinz Field for football games are part of the nature of having an off-campus stadium? How much of that do you think can be improved with improved amenities and fan environment at the games?

…and crickets on the stadium part of the question.  Nothing.  I think the Chancellor stated what he stated about never seeing an on-campus stadium in his tenure at PITT so this administration steers clear of the issue. Barnes spoke a whole lot on the new Fan Committee however.

This isn’t the first time the Pitt News wrote about Barnes and the on-campus stadium issue.  Here is a nice article written a while back that states the five issues that Barnes needs to deal with: Five key obstacles to tackle for new AD Barnes

On-campus Stadium

This isn’t to say that Barnes’ goal is to determine whether or not to build an on-campus football stadium. This is to say that Barnes needs to do a better and clearer job of dispelling those hopes as pipe dreams. With all the yearning for a Pitt football stadium in Oakland over the years, Steve Pederson was not able to make the unattainable demand go away.

Instead, what Barnes needs to help accomplish is facilitate a more efficient system of transporting students to and from games. It is possible to have a great game day environment without having an on-campus stadium — Barnes just needs to help prove that reality.

Here is another Barnes interview, this time with ESPN.

Here is a local CBS the Fan internet site that has an interview and a small article.  This addresses Barnes’ stance on playing PSU and WVU.  There is a radio podcast on that page also.

 “When you’re growing as a football program you want this balance between an opportunity to create momentum through winning some football games, and then good opponents that are attractive,” Barnes said. “I’d love to see, in a perfect world, both [Penn State and West Virginia] on our schedule long-term, but not both in the same year.”

Dontez Ford gets a write-up in the Pitt News also.  This lays out his college career from recruiting until landing at PITT and now being the apparent WR2 opposite Tyler Boyd.

His playing time came during Pitt’s 9th and 11th games, as Ford said he and quarterback Chad Voytik started to gain better chemistry as the season progressed.

“There were a couple times that I just happened to be on the field when the ball was supposed to come to me and that’s where he put it and I made a couple plays, and that helped build trust for him,” Ford said. “He saw that he could put the ball in the air even if there’s a defender by me and I’ll make the play.”

Ford made large strides this spring, and Pitt coaches selected him as an Ed Conway Award winner, an award given to the two most improved players on both offense and defense during spring practices.

“Dontez has made plays consistently throughout the spring,” head coach Pat Narduzzi said in a release. “He is establishing himself as another playmaker for us at the receiver position.”

Speaking of Boyd he’s had some movement in this criminal proceeding with Allegheny County courts…

Pitt wide receiver Tyler Boyd waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday on charges of DUI and other offenses related to a traffic stop.  Boyd, 20, will be arraigned July 15 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, said his attorney, Daniel Konieczka.

The preliminary hearing before Jefferson Hills District Judge Guy Reschenthaler was scheduled for Aug. 5 — four days before Pitt opens training camp — but Konieczka requested it be scheduled sooner.  “We thought it might be in Tyler’s best interest for it to be moved,” Konieczka said.

This sounds like they are going for an early ARD disposition so that Boyd can finish whatever criminal sanctions he has been awarded before the start of Fall Camp on the 5th of August.  Here is an article on PA’s ARD program.

By the way folks, don’t believe everything you read about what an “expungement” is.  This isn’t necessarily the reality of the issue:

“Upon receipt of the Expungement Order, all agencies are required to destroy all record of the arrest and send an affidavit of compliance to the defendant. Typically, the District Attorney does not oppose expunging successful ARD cases.”

Your record still exists in the netherland and if you apply for any Federal security clearance above ‘Confidential’ it can be reviewed even if you committed the act and were tried as a minor. Yes, the NSA really is All Knowing.

Here are a couple bits by the Trib-Review’s Jerry DiPaola about Voytik working at the Manning Passing Academy…

Meanwhile, Voytik is working out five days a week with Pitt’s other quarterbacks and wide receivers. He said he’s throwing more than in previous summers.

“I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life,” said Voytik, who has gained 5 pounds to 215. “I like to go into camp a little heavier because there are so many calories being burned.

“Attendance has been really good. This is the best summer, by far, (based on) the amount of work we put in. Being out there every day just gets you more and more antsy for the season to put it to the test.”

This is what makes teams do well in the fall, supposedly.  We have heard that from PITT QBs during every offseason I can remember but when Voytik says the “best summer by far” it is heartening considering he’s been here for three off-seasons.

The P-G has a piece on Nate Peterman’s transition from Tennessee to playing for the Panthers.  I’ll be doing an article soon regarding some competitive matchups for starting jobs we’ll see in the Fall Camp so some of the info in this will be addressed later.

Looks like one of our more highly regarded class of 2015 recruits continues to make a name for himself in the awards department; Tre Tipton as POY

Tipton (6-1, 180 pounds) played quarterback and receiver in football and was one of the WPIAL’s most versatile players, making the Post-Gazette Fabulous 22. He signed with Pitt after rushing for 1,028 yards on 86 carries, completing 31 of 68 passes for 515 yards and catching 25 passes for 475 yards.

… And of course this is always nice to hear from our players:

Tipton also is at Pitt already. He and Stapleton started college with a truckload of memories.

“I’m not trying to sound cocky, but I’ve really never wanted to just be called good at anything in my life. I wanted to be the best,” Tipton said. “But you can always get better. Now, it’s a clean slate with everything.”