Let’s hope Nate is able to accurately hit his receivers like he did in this podcast.

Hail to Pitt!

Slow Track… Slow Day for George Hill.

Finishes a disappointing 3rd in Ohio Division II State 100 Meters.

10.98

Winning time was 10.77 which was Hill’s Qualifying Time yesterday.

Send him to Defense

jk

Mike – in this ‘trick passing’ film you can see that Peterman throws different places without a film break. Not that things weren’t edited but it looks like he hit on some of those long throws right off the bat.

PoD – no not kidding – send him to defense. I already committed the switch to the public on a Podcast so now it has to happen.

Honestly – I think we have enough quality RBs as is and we can always switch Hill back if really needed.

Guys – If I can figure out how to record a conference call and put it into the podcast form would anyone be interested in a 30-45 minute conversation about Pitt football?

I’d moderate and throw questions out to the 2-3 guys participating… then lead discussions about the answers.

I think it would be pretty cool thing to do and we could get in-depth on some issues and opinions. It maybe just the thing for off season Blather fillers when there isn’t a whole lot of current stuff to write about.

What say you?

Jester Weah was timed at 10.55 while in HS. If Peterman can hit his receivers accurately we have to all hope that Weah has recovered from his severe case of dropsy.

SPEED KILLS !

Reed fantastic idea.

I am on the fence about Hill.

I think he is needed on D because the D is the clear weakness of the team (see Navy game and others). Plus, D. Hamlin looks really thin to me and needs some weight room unlike Whitehead last year who came in already bulked up.

However, if he is heads above any one of our current RBs and is a game breaker, he needs to go on offense.

Did Peterman say that is his wife in the video? If so, good for him because she is very good looking, LOL. He seems incredibly mature and I know he has strong faith. He represents Pitt well.

Oh….and ofr God’s sake, let’s not pick apart his delivery. He wasn’t under pressure, just having fun lobbing some balls around. Take the video for what it is worth. The athletic department having some fun.

Jester Weah’s best 100 Meter time was 10.59… a tenth faster than Hill’s 10.6 last week.

Weah won the Wisconsin State 100 Meters with a 10.7

Whitehead is an awesome talent, but I wouldn’t call him “all bulked up”; he was too thin as a frosh and still excelled as a db. Hamlin can do the same and be successful as a cb THIS year if he has the talent. Where we could use talent, on the DL, is unfortunately an area that requires a few years of adding strength and bulk, which makes it really tough for an incoming freshman to contribute.

OK, now I’m selling Hill short. Weah is OFFICIALLY “.01” of a second Faster.

Seems like a Match Race is in order.

I am still hoping Taleni has a chance to get a good amount of playing time this season…

Reed… just finished listening to your “POD” cast.

First one I’ve taken the time to listen to. Really enjoyed it.

Seriously, you are better than a lot who actually get paid to do it.

Keep working with it. I think it might have the potential to evolve into something pretty special.

all I know is that Hill, Weah and Whitehead are all on our side … as is Flowers and Ffrench who both also did well in their own recent meets BTW. And I didn’t even mention Quadree Henderson who returned kickoffs for TDs in the last 2 games he played.

So let the chips fall where they may.

So let the chips fall where

Now as for your major points.

New Uniforms

Agree the New Unis need some improvement. The WIDE Pant Stripe is just about as identified with the traditional Pitt Uniform as the Script itself. Why they left off the Stripe on the Pants, who knows?

This is especially true considering how the Shoulder Stripes on the new Jerseys are SUSPICIOUSLY similar to the Steelers whose Uniforms also happen to be distinguished by a WIDE Pant Stripe.

Runningback

Qadree Ollison competing with James Conner for playing time? Now, you got to be kidding with this one.

Now, it’s not like I’m being biased. Back before he even stepped on Campus I predicted the kind of success we’ve witnessed with Ollison, including his ability to take the Ball the distance.

But, there is NO WAY Ollison is going to keep a healthy Conner off the Field. A couple of months of Summer Workouts and three weeks of Fall Camp is ample time for Conner to back close to where he was against Youngstown State.

And Ollison, despite living up to my expectations and even exceeding them… frankly, is NO James Conner.

George Hill

And of course, there’s George Hill… your favorite NEW Pitt D-Back.

You scoff at Narduzzi’s reluctantly acknowledging Hill’s request to play Runningback crediting simply to some kind of Signing Day euphoria.

Actually, considering how much he himself is convinced that Hill is best on Defense… I give Narduzzi a lot of credit for being open minded to the Hill’s wish. That also goes for Narduzzi’s willingness to grant Kaezon Pugh the same opportunity.

Well, despite Hill’s somewhat disappointing time at the Ohio State Track Final, I’m still in the belief that this Kid has the POTENTIAL to be better on the Offensive Side with the Ball in his hands.

Ask yourself, how often is Pitt going to be lucky enough to land a legitimate Runningback with Hill’s kind of Speed? The answer is of course not very often.

I will say this… Two VERY talented Kids with Two DISTINCTLY different Styles who were both STAR Runningbacks in High School are asking for Narduzzi to give them the Football.

One of them is going to get it.

Former Temple QB commit Kenny Pickett is your newest Pitt football commitment.

A three-star on most sites, Pickett had offers from… Boston College, Iowa, Temple, and Toledo (to name a few).

just saw a HUDL highlight film of Pickett on PantherLair. He has a pretty decent arm but the two things that stands out are (1) he doesn’t lock in on one receiver and will look for a secondary one, and (2) he is very nimble with his feet. Looks like he could be a playmaker

I didn’t say there was going to be a competition did I? I said that Ollison is good and would get PT if Conner isn’t up to 100% speed going into the season.

I don’t think any of us can say with certainty that a kid who just had 12 rounds of major full body poisoning pumped through his body is automatically going to be right back to where he was in early Sept of last season – I don’t know, you don’t know and really, Conner doesn’t know until he starts carrying the ball in an actual game.

I followed everything that was said and written, had some conversations with people in PGH and Conner did great – but that takes it out on a level that we don’t know. I’ll bet he does come back strong – but it just might not be right away.

Just because Hill and Pugh got 4*s doesn’t mean they are ready to play RB right off the bat in college.

Off the top of my head I can list these 4* RBs, from ’06 – ’15 who didn’t pan out at all – or that much at least:

Collier
Saddler
Burns
Shell
James
Hall

Those guys were all 4* RBs who did great in HS and wouldn’t have played RB their first 2 or 3 years at Pitt save maybe Shell who never has lived up to the great hype.

Compare that to the only two 4*s who did over that same time period: McCoy and Graham

The point is that not every ‘star’ RB in HS waltzes in and gets PT as a FR or SO.

And if that is the case he needs to be resting until he is 100%… and Ollison or someone should be playing. The last thing we should want to happen with this young man is his being allowed to rush back in if he’s not fully ready.

This has been a storybook ending for Conner so far and fingers crossed it will play out the way we all want it to – but life does take its twists and turns.

Stars mean nothing if that don’t align.

Not predicting INSTANT Stardom at Runningback for either Hill or Pugh.

Hill obviously could get early “situational” playing time being unique in the Speed he brings to the table. The one exception could be Ibrahim can run, but NOT like Hill or Weah.

As for Pugh, he’s a bit of an enigma. Obviously VERY talented and from all reports, an EXTREME Competitor.

Would never count a Guy like this out of anything.

Welcome to the Pitt family Kenny Pickett – QB from the state of New Jersey. Position of need for sure.

You’re witnessing the Canada Effect in action.

To play QB for Pitt, you have to be able to run!

And now you know the reason Bertke was shown the door.

Thanks Reed. Love the podcast and the personal touch it brings. Inflection is so important in communication and we all know that email, IM, and text are lacking there. Great stuff.

H2P!

Now what happens to the other 17 QB offers Pitt has outstanding at this time for the 2017 class after the Pickett commit?

jrnpitt – I’m not sure the Pickett verbal has been accepted since there was NO Pat signal, unless I missed it.

Can anyone confirm?

I would think the staff is heavily pursuing all QB’s at this time, and that will continue. They are pursuing the best that will give Pitt a look. These coaches seem serious about winning, and winning now. Not just in the future, but this year.

On the last article, Reed posted predictions on the P5 teams and conference standings. Of the “hated” few – wvcc, pedo state, Arizona State, Arizona, Wisconsin and Rutgers – Pitt has the best looking prediction. Still lower than I expect.

HTP!

Erie – 8-4 is lower than you expected? Holy Mackerel you are an optimist! I’ll be surprised if we finish the regular season 8-4.

Reed – I know, and I read that all the time for this season. I look at our schedule and say Clemson and Ok St are the two toughest games.

Clemson will or should be in contention for the NC. Pitt will show up and play them tough.

Ok State beat wvcc by one TD last year and Iowa St by four points. Are you all saying we CAN’T beat them?

All other games ARE winnable in my opinion and I believe this staff knows what it will take to win. The starting 11 on both sides of the ball will be solid, good players, with a mix of experienced veterans and athletic youth.

I am also tired of the last 30 years with low expectations and underachievers.

Conner’s return to the field also raises my expectations…

I respect the opinions of others and the realistic perspective some may provide. But “realistic” can have it’s grey shading – I really think this administration and coaching staff have a plan in place to win now. Execution is being taught to the players every day so they can make winning a reality. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it until our QB depth shows it’s ugly colors.

HTP!

With NP a senior one would think a juco qb would find Pitt a good landing spot for 2017 . Have the staff examined this route and are there any interesting prospects in the juco ranks ?

For all the fun it is to project and predict this time of year, I always look back at the end of each year and it’s amazing how far off most predictions are. The reason is that they are all based on a snapshot in time now and no one knows all the things good and bad that will occur during the upcoming season. That’s why the games are played.We better make sure we can not only defend the option but it also looks like with all the ACC coaching changes PS is not the only team we will go up against that will be using the hurry up spread offense this year. On Narduzzie’s enthusiasm and energy: One of the preseason annuals quotes Scott Barnes as joking to a trainer as he walked away from a football practice session “watch Narduzzie he is liable to pull a hamstring”. what a blessing after Paul Chryst’s lakamotion.

Vandy’s baseball field looks just like Pitt’s – all turf.

Hmmm…

There was a Pat Signal for the Pickett verbal.

Erie – I think we CAN win any game on the schedule… I’m not convinced we will.

We have yet to see Narduzzi coach this team to a ‘big’ win. The last two games of the season last year fit that definition to me as Miami would have given us 9 wins and any Bowl game is a big game, especially for Pitt.

Yet we choked in both and stayed at 8 wins… which is nice but we really should have taken at least one of the last two.

We can blame the players if we like but with Narduzzi’s defensive background, and six weeks to prepare for the Navy offense and then to give up 21 points and 286 yards in the 1st half was ridiculous. Against any other HC yeah – it would be bad, but that was right in Narduzzi’s breadbasket and we failed.

We were also ranked #23 and we lost to NC.

All said – yes it was Narduzzi’s first year but I didn’t see anything that made me think that we were going into PSU, OK State, Clemson and NC and winning those games outright.

As I said – we can win those games, I think we’ll take two of four, but I see maybe 7 wins this next season. Way worse if we lose Peterman… then we may tank.

I’ll revise prediction in fall camp but now 6-7 is about right for me… hope its 8 though 🙂

I’m with Reed on this. Yes games are winnable, but also loseable. The UNC, Miami, and Navy games proved that.

Hopefully Canada is more capable of getting the best out of this offense. If the offense is strong, the defense only has to be good enough to win.

No secret here, but a lot of the Season is going to depend on having a HEALTHY James Conner in the Backfield.

No reason not to expect the Defense to be noticeably improved thanks to upgrades… especially on the Defensive Line.

If Blewitt doesn’t blow the one or two CLOSE ones… and Conner is back to form… 9 Wins might be a bit OPTIMISTIC… but doable.

And there’s also Mr. Canada.

Offensive Play calling should be MUCH improved just like the Defensive Line.

No doubt Conner could be a major plus, but we did win eight games without him last year. I’m much more concerned with Peterman and Whitehead staying healthy. Possibly Ford depending on whether any of the rest of the wide-outs come through.

The only upgrade on the defensive line is Hendrix and possibly Edwards. Jarrett is the only proven D-Tackle.

I do see Conner being a huge plus in the redzone. I see him getting about half the carries he got his sophomore year, so that he doesn’t wear out. He was pretty banged up his last two sophomore games and of course was injured in his first game last year.

The schedule is much more challenging this year, and more physical.

Question… Where’s Darryl Render?

PoD, I know Render was your favorite whipping boy, but tackles from the defensive tackle position were:

Jarrett-20
Render-19
KK-16
Scarpinato-7
Taleni-4
Moody-1

While we were pretty weak last year, other than Jarrett it doesn’t look good for this year.

Freshmen rarely have an impact at this position, so we are counting on Taleni and Moody, after Jarrett. Oh and Soto has been moved to Tackle. Does not exactly inspire confidence, especially with our linebackers.

Whitehead was the leading tackler because he is great but also because our front seven missed all too many. We will still be extremely weak up the middle.

Reed – great podcast. You’re a thought leader for Pitt that’s for sure, and this is really good stuff.

As far as a conference call, a couple of buddies and I do a similar type of podcast – i.e. we call dial in and record the call – and we use a free service called uberconference. It has a feature that records the call so you can post it as a file online.

link to uberconference.com

Also if you’re going to keep doing this lets take up a collection and get you a proper mixer and a mic! (That being said, don’t stop doing what you are doing.)

gc… Do you know the answer or not?

OK PoD, you asked for it … where is your boy Bertke?? Fact is Render, a 3-star, started the last 2 years despite being injured … that’s certainly more than Bertke, who you said a handful of times 2 years ago should be moving in the QB position.

Same place as Voytik.

However, Render is the question on the table.

I have no idea

Render is replacing the Carrick 5th grade class as the artist who will create the Pitt logo at mid-field at Heinz this season.

Atlanta – my daughter gave me a good Mic – I think the podcasts are pretty clear right? I do think I need a bigger puffy thing around the head it to drown out some of the background noises though.

I use Audacity to record and Soundcloud for posting… not sure why I use both.

As to the offense – BigB got a direct quote from the horse’s mouth that “We’ll score a lot of points if Peterman stays healthy”. Again… from the horse’s mouth, Eh? (hint, hint).

We are going to see an open passing game with called deep plays on a regular basis. That horse was also high on Jester Weah and as we have seen at Pitt a lot lately Weah is on his 3rd OC. This one trusts him. If Weah does in fall camp what he’s been doing in the spring we’ll have a very good 4-deep WR rotation…. Ford, Challingsworth, Weah and possibly either Henderson and/or Arajuo-Lopes in the slot when needed…

That said – WR is where FR can step right in so Ffrench, Flowers or even Hill could get early PT there. But we won’t see Canada calling 90% of the passing plays for one receiver as Chaney did – he’d have gone to Boyd ever time if possible. Here is who we have returning.

2 Tre Tipton 6-0/170 WR SO Apollo, Pa./Apollo-Ridge
10 Q Henderson 5-8/170 WR SO Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. du Pont
17 Chris Wuestner 6-2/210 WR RS SR Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle
19 Dontez Ford 6-2/215 WR RS SR McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox
80 Challingsworth 6-2/200 WR RS JR McDonald, Pa./South Fayette
82 Araujo-Lopes 5-9/190 WR RS SO Kissimmee, Fla./Reedley (Calif.)
85 Jester Weah 6-3/205 WR RS JR Madison, Wis./Madison Memorial

I also think we are going to see Scott Orndoff go on intermediate/deep routes way more often than we have in the past. He’s almost a WR anyway at 6’5″ / 265 but with good speed and great hands. Hell, he may even split out sometimes if out OL is as good as everyone thinks it is. Orndoff was second on the team in YPC with 18.8.

I really think we’ll be way more balanced in 2016 than others do because they feel that our passing game will be poor without Boyd – on the contrary I think it will be better overall this season.

Good deal Reed! It’s clear but sounds a little bit like you are in a hallway. Perfectly fine for us Pitt fans though. It’s more about the content.

Are you posting on itunes? I’d would most definitely subscribe if you are. Also if you get enough subscribers you can do ads to help offset some of the blog expenses.

reports that unrated LB from Alabama, Cam Bright 6’1 210 is Pitt’s newest recruit. If so, I assume he impressed at Pitt Camp

Erie… I like the way you tied that all together. Very creative.

Pittsburgh Sports Now is reporting Alabama LB Cam Bright commits to Pitt.

I’ve tried looking to see whether Render got invited to an NFL Camp.

Nothing.

Which, if true… only causes me to think even more that whomever plays D-Line… it’s going to be a noticeable upgrade.

PoD, if they are an upgrade, why didn’t they show it last year?

Street to announce tomorrow at 3. 247 guys picking Sibley to flip to Pitt from O$U. One being an O$U beat writer.

Cam Bright not rated on Rivals yet but HCPN saw something in him so welcome Cam.

I hope we get Street and Sibley. Other than Paris Ford, the recruits so far have not been elite players. That is not to say they won’t be great, but certainly not guys with other big time offers.

Not the kind of guys that will give us a top 25 class.

Sibley would be the second OSU RB in two years. He would have a good chance for early PT here.

Do they have any D Tackles that they don’t have room for?

Bright was going to visit Bowling Green and Miami of Ohio, but decided to commit to Pitt. Reminiscent of a Chryst recruit. He must have really wowed them today, or we just wanted to say we got someone from Alabama. Have to trust the coaches on this one.

Bright has good speed but is small. Guys like Sibley and Judson look like they can flat out fly.

gc, if memory serves, late commits last season, DT Watts and Camp were previously committed to Michigan and USC respectively .. and as mentioned above Hill was committed to OSU.

here is some stuff on Bright link to pittsburgh.n.rivals.com

It appears that HCPN likes to develop defensive prospects with potential like HCPC would do for offensive linemen