After yesterday’s topic regarding how Pitt could win, let’s take a look at why FSU is a 10 point favorite. There are plenty of reasons, unfortunately, and Pitt is justifiably a 10 point underdog. FSU is talented, experienced, and overall appears to simply be better than Pitt at most positions. (more…)

I’m going to do two columns on this subject, one today and one tomorrow since the game is 6 days away (5 days tomorrow).  Thus, tomorrow’s column will be “Five Reasons FSU Should Beat Pitt.” Even the optimist in me can’t deny that FSU is a heavy favorite (1o points according to Vegas). But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways Pitt can win this game. (more…)

Coach Paul Chryst has the press conference for Pitt-FSU today. It’s at noon and being streamed live. I may be watching and commenting. [Editor Note: Correction, it appears to be a premium feature so no live watching unless it’s being aired on ROOT.]

Okay, the game notes for Pitt-FSU are out (PDF). On page three you can find the first 2-deep.

I’m not going to try and reprint the whole thing, because fixing the formatting would take too long.

So let’s just hit the surprises/highlights/etc.

Artie Rowell is listed as the starting Center. There is no OR. Considering Roberts still struggled in training camp with the snap exchange, this can’t be a total shocker.

(more…)

There was an article on another graduate assistant. He isn’t listed in the media guide so I didn’t notice the addition of Taylor Mehlhaff as a Special Teams Graduate Assistant.

Mehlhaff was a very, very good kicker for Wisconsin. Briefly got some time in the NFL before the Saints cut him before their Superbowl run.

“He was a guy that I admired and respected a lot when he was playing, just the mental toughness that he had,” Chryst said of Mehlhaff. “It’s great having him around. He’s a sharp guy, he brings good energy.”

“When [Chryst] found out I was looking to go somewhere, I think he was pretty excited to get me here,” Mehlhaff said. “I had a couple opportunities to go to some other places, and I felt good about this. With the group of guys that I know here, it’s more of a family-type feel. It’s a close-knit group.”

Now Mehlhaff is on the Pitt staff as a special teams graduate assistant. He is assisting in a variety of special teams areas, but his focus is on working directly with the kickers and punters. That’s particularly helpful for Pitt, since the Panthers will have two scholarship specialists on the roster this season in kicker Chris Blewitt and punter Ryan Winslow.

It’s a perfect role for Mehlhaff and one Pitt can benefit from.

“In a lot of places, that’s a neglected position, and Taylor has really, really good knowledge of the kicking part,” Chryst said.

The one thing missing from the story is that Mehlhaff’s brief time in New Orleans paid off in other ways. He is engaged to a former Saints Cheerleader (and 2012 Miss Louisiana, 4th runner-up).

Okay, the news came out of Todd Thomas officially returning to Pitt football. Justin and I were both out and not able to do a real post at the time. Now, with 24 hours to digest, it’s time to review.

Starting by looking back since there is controversy over the whole thing. It started with Thomas being “demoted” to second unit on the first day of practice. An admitted motivational tactic taken by Coach Paul Chryst. Clearly unhappy with it, Thomas nonetheless said all the right things about needing it and using it.

Then came the news that he left the team abruptly.

(more…)

Hello, again. Family was in town for the last week, so I couldn’t get to the site for writing.

First off, a big thanks to Justin for going to practice last week, and heading back out this week. That was some excellent stuff. More than during the season, it’s the camps and spring practices where it sucks to be 150+ miles from Pittsburgh when you write about Pitt. Still waiting for them to add childcare services at the South Side facility (or the kids get a little older).

Rather than jump back to the practice details from reports, I figured I’d post a little on some changes to the coaching duties that happened on this past Friday afternoon.

(more…)

I had the opportunity to attend practice today thanks to Chas. He emailed Senior Associate AD EJ Borghetti to see if I could and EJ was more than willing. I have a ton of notes on practice, coaches, and I’ll add some quotes from Gabe Roberts, Adam Bisnowaty, and Coach Chryst himself as well throughout. Before I get into that, I want to extend another public thank you to EJ, who is quite possibly the nicest person I’ve ever met. For a man with all of his responsibilities to not only take the time to acknowledge me, much less introduce me to people and take me on a tour of the facility, is amazing. I’m a blogger and he made me feel like a VIP.

There was a ton of noteworthy stuff at practice…well at least to me.

(more…)

I joked yesterday in the comments section of the thread about Thomas quitting that Thomas must hate me because the news came out right after I posted my column on the offensive line. Well, lo and behold right as I put the finishing touches on the column below, it’s announced he’s coming back.

The column still has some use so I edited it just to go over the players who have left since the spring and why. Sure, the Thomas situation spurred it, but it’s still good to look at all of it. I obviously know that it’s purely coincidence, but it’s fun to joke about. We Pitt fans need to laugh a little at times.

(more…)

To break up all of the Chapman discussion, I posted a comment to see if anyone had any ideas for some different talking points and it kind of evolved into a Q&A session about a cornucopia of topics. If I missed your question, sorry, once I got close to 1500 words I had to edit so I could get back to my day job. If you see any glaring errors, my apologies.

(more…)

One last thing on Friday.

A pretty good interview with Paul Chryst on the David Glenn Show (down in ACC country). About 7 minutes long. Chryst comes off less, um, taciturn.

On the other hand, there is this Tumblr that amuses… well, me.

Enjoy the weekend.

I won’t kid you. Chryst didn’t exactly reveal much. If you watched his public appearances, he is still maintaining that the QB position is still wide open and that both Savage and Voytik will get equal opportunities. He said that in the spring as well, but it was readily apparent who was getting most of the first team snaps. During smaller interviews there was still nothing. He was quoted as saying: “I’m pretty comfortable with anyone between 5’9″ and 6’6″”

On the ESPNU interview he was asked about the Rushel Shell departure and then the attempt to return to the program late. To no one’s surprise Chryst completely avoided answering that question. About the most he said is that people make decisions and everyone needs to move on.

During his ACC presser, as Chryst drained the energy from the reporters the moderator tried to keep it going for the allotted 15 minutes by asking him to talk about the running back depth chart. His exact words were, “talk about what’s left.” There’s your motivation, Isaac Bennett. You are what’s left.

(more…)

The Pitt football beat writers all swear that Coach Paul Chryst is a nice, engaging guy. Very smart. That he has a dry, wry sense of humor. And that he is friendly enough individually. They also acknowledge that he absolutely does not show any of that in press conferences.

And man, did that show up in his ACC and then ESPNU interviews.

At 2pm the ACC streamed his press conference, after which Chryst moved to the ESPN truck for his interview on ESPNU.

Paul Chryst’s ESPNU interview 7/22

(more…)

I know some other heartwarming stuff. A new recruit. I’ll get to the football side, but I have a bunch of basketball links I just want to get off the browser.

Steven Adams has been playing in Orlando in the NBA Summer League. Coach Jamie Dixon has been down there to watch him a couple times in between hitting the various AAU Tournaments. Good puff piece on Adams.

Adams understands where he is in his development, which is why he’s taken to coaching with such enthusiasm.

“Whatever they say, I’ll do because they know what’s best for me,” Adams said.

During breaks in Orlando, Adams sat next to Thunder assistant coach Mark Bryant near the end of the bench. Bryant provided non-stop instruction, and Adams listened intently.

By the end of the week, Adams had begun raving about Bryant and the rest of the Thunder’s staff like a child who had just met his heroes.

“They’re legit,” Adams marveled. “They are awesome.”

For now, the Thunder wants to keep everything simple with Adams. His job is to defend, rebound, run the floor and set good screens. Adams said he is focused mostly on improving his pick-and-roll defense. Everything else, he said, is “just a bonus.”

…

 

When cutters attempted to get to their spot during summer league play, Adams instinctively would step in and give them a little nudge with his shoulder. When matched up against low-post players, Adams bodied up to them and consistently bumped them off their spots.

“That’s one of the things that we’re going to require out of Steven is that he play physical basketball,” Kalamian said. “Luckily for us, he likes to play that way.”

Not sure if that’s all instinctive. That reads like the basics he would be taught at Pitt to play in the Big East.

(more…)

Since Chas and Justin are doing such a great job with the day to day recruiting news coming out of the Southside I thought I’d chip in a bit with some background info I have picked up over the last two years…

Now that recruiting has heated up a bit and there have things to discuss here’s some info that pertains to Chryst and his 2013 & 2014 recruiting.  First off, if you didn’t already know, this staff doesn’t formally offer and/or accept a commitment unless;

1) They have seen the recruit in person in a game or in a PITT camp (preferably both) and visited with him personally;

2) They have visited the recruit’s HS and talked with his family, teachers and football staff there and;

3) Have had done a detailed and complete academic and personal background review on the recruit by coaches and members of the PITT Athletic Support Staff.

Let’s be honest here – they are looking at arrest records and asking about previous legal problems for any over 18 also.  How far they can legally go into that depends on the privacy laws of the state the recruit lives in.  All that takes some time especially with kids who might rise up on the recruiting big board after the camps.  

So this is also what Chryst said he would do right after he was hired. This is what fans who complain about “slow play” recruiting don’t understand. It is once they have seen and visited with the kid, determine they actually want him, then feel comfortable about him actually wanting to be at PITT with the standards listed above and do they start the pressure.

That “him actually wanting to be here” is a key component now and one that seems to drive fans crazy because it entails having the recruit take visits elsewhere and then making a solid decision.  The last thing Chryst wants is a disgruntled player on the roster who has second thoughts about his choice and thus will transfer later.  That screws everyone in the long run.  

(more…)

Every year, we here how the player transfers are so bad for college basketball. How that’s the problem. The overall transfer rate in the 351 D-1 programs is around 10-12 percent. What about coaching turnover? Firings? Taking a different job? How does that compare?

In a fantastic compilation of coaching tenure in college basketball head coaches, would it surprise anyone to know that the coaching turnover in Division 1 basketball coaches these days is worse? This past offseason, there have been 43 coaching changes. That’s 12.25% of all the jobs. In 2012, 46 (13.1%). And 2011 was a whopper at 55 changes (15.67%).

In just the last four years, 193 coaching changes have taken place. There has been a huge spike in coaching turnover.

(more…)