Last week Jerry DiPaola of the Tribune Review had an article where Pat Narduzzi was quoted as saying this:

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Friday he’s leading a different team than he did a year ago, and he’s not just talking about the departure of 10 seniors and at least 10 other players who have left the program since the end of last season.

“It looks like a different football team,” he said, referring to the physical growth of many players. “That doesn’t mean you will win more games, but they do look different … just physically.”

Aside from the fact that we hear that from every coaching staff in their initial time at Pitt what struck me was the fact that 10 players other than the 10 SR and rsSR players we had on the roster have also left the program.

By my unofficial count we have to get rid of seven scholarships at this point in time.  That doesn’t include the five guys listed below who we know have already left the team and who were all scholarship players.

They are; rsJR QB Chad Voytik, DB Pat Amara, RB Chris James, LB Jamal Davis and WR Chris Wuestner.

Interestingly enough Voytik and Wuestner are still listed on the official roster (which has been updated lately) because they is still enrolled at Pitt and working toward degrees (yea!) while the three players have been removed.

So those other “at least 10” players are actually a mystery at this point with the exception of those five above.  I sent a query into the Pitt Media people but they deferred to provide a list because 1) a new roster is coming out soon prior to the start of spring drills on March 15^th  and 2) I suspect because that maybe an informal breach of privacy for those kids.

I really don’t know who has left either voluntarily or not by choice but am trying to figure this out because it has gotten under my skin a bit.

In blue type above are the rising rsSRs for the 2016 season and we can speculate as to which of those will be graduated and/or asked to hang up the cleats.  Again, Pitt’s informal policy in the past has been to allow a player a full four years so as to get his undergraduate degree.

That has been modified in the past few years especially with Paul Chryst’s purge of 38 players over his first two years and Narduzzi did almost the same in his first year at the helm as at least 13 non-SR players who were on the 2014 roster didn’t make it onto the 2015 roster.

I’ll take the first guess.  Looking at the bolded names above of the new rsSRs I’ll say that seven are expendable so to open up scholarships.  None of them are injured as Dan Mason was going into his rsSR year so was let go and that’s a good thing.:

We know Chad Voytik has quit the team – so that’s one although I really wish he would have stayed with Pitt.  I think with a new OC anything could have happened at the QB spot as we saw in the fall camp on ’15.

WR Chris Wuestner was on scholarship and had only two catches in his career so far and played on special teams.  I hate to see him go as I was really rooting for him to get playing time.  I watched him in Chryst’s camps and though he was pretty good.  Maybe it was because he was from an Army family with his dad being a full bird Colonel.

If I had to wield the sword I’d look at positions of need and where we can afford to take new blood rather than keep the old. (* = scholarship)

* OL John Guy  – even though he was a BE All-Academic kid way bacjk when he’s not seen the field hardly at all… 16 games all on the PAT / FG unit.

WR Manny Stocker – Transferred in from Tennessee at Chaney’s request and sat on the bench.  I do love it when kids transfer in as it shows they want to be here but Manny didn’t get field time at all I don’t think.

LB Anthony Rippole – Walked on as a FR in ’12.  Another academic honoree and let’s hope he finished that degree.  Played in one game I think with no tackles.

*LS Pat Quirin – Only depends how badly Narduzzi thinks he needs this scholarship.

This is a tough one for me as the Long Snapper is very important to the special teams.  Make a mistake with that and you either take points off the board or perhaps turn the ball over.

If the staff has seen another player who could do that and play regularly then maybe he’ll go.  However – any doubt at all and I say keep him in the mix as the starting LS.

Even if those four are chosen, and remember this is a guess on my part, they may be way more valuable to the staff than I think they are, that leaves

As to getting rid of roster players to open up new scholarships and non-scholarship spots (walk-ons) to keep under the 105 body limit, and to the 85 scholarship limit  that really doesn’t have to happen until the end of fall camp.  Going into the first game week is when the roster has to be set.

However what usually happens is that the end of spring practices is when the staff knows who they want to go into fall camp with.  That gives the players who are leaving a good amount of time to get into another program if they wish… and the Pitt HCs have been good at working hard lobby other coaches so that the kids who kept their noses clean and went to class have a soft landing elsewhere.