New Press Release from the ACC & PITT regarding some media info:

Atlantic Coast Conference Spring Football Media Teleconference—Reminder

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22, 10:20 a.m.-12:50 p.m.

The ACC will hold its annual Spring Football Media Teleconference tomorrow,  Wednesday, April 22. The teleconference will begin at 10:20 a.m. with each of the Conference’s 14 head football coaches available as well as Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. Each coach will be available for 10 minutes. This teleconference is for accredited members of the media only. The teleconference will also be streamed live through theacc.com and transcripts and audio files will be available.

The Schedule of Coaches:

10:20 a.m.—Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

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Let’s get the general atmospheric stuff out of the way first.  It was a fantastic weather day at 80^o and sunny with enough breeze to cool the skin and blow away the scent of the bullshit being thrown around in conversations… in other words a perfect football day for a Spring Game.

The Station Square Riverhound stadium was jammed packed with fans wearing Blue & Gold and who were very involved in the day’s events.  PITT officials had said that they would allow the first 4,000 fans into the venue, a number which I was a bit skeptical of seeing, but the reality is they squeezed 5,300+ into the seats, standing room only spots and under the bleachers where a lot of moms and kids ended up because of the shade.

You guys know I don’t go off the deep end with positivity or expressing things in bold stokes but I will say this in all honesty, of all the scrimmages and spring games I have attended this was the only one with a true electric atmosphere in the alumni rooms, the sidelines, the media areas, the stands and most importantly with the coaches and players involved.  It buzzed all afternoon.

This wasn’t a case of just great logistics and advertising the football program for more season ticket sales, although it served that purpose also I’m sure, but it created a genuine excitement in the fans due to the numerous changes we have had since last Dec 26^th when Narduzzi was hired. Interestingly enough the students and the fans in the stands actually stayed put until almost the end of the game and then left early only because the parking lots were jammed and there was a traffic jam in store.

Also, and maybe more importantly, there were beers to be had in the bars nearby afterward.  The athletic Media Department has done a very good job of highlighting the changes and using its resources to drum up interest and excitement for the 2015 season.

No, fans wanted every bit of PITT football they could get yesterday and PITT gave it to them.

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Pitt Spring Practice #13;  April 14, 2015

Some interesting stuff came out of yesterday’s practice. The first thing that caught my eye is LB Coach Harley talking about Caprara and Bradley. It certainly appears that not only does Caprara have a shot but that he may just win the SLB position outright.  I have heard he’s really showing leadership and FBI (Foot Ball Intelligence) out on the playing field.

Challingsworth has been in the news more and more lately and it seems he’ll be in the Top Three WRs going into the fall camp.  Good for him and he’s a local kid and a fan favorite.  Here is some of Jerry DiPaola’s article in the Trib today:

Tyler Boyd caught 78 passes last season for Pitt.  The next four wide receivers combined for 47, and that entire quartet is gone.  Somewhere in assistant coach Kevin Sherman’s “little pod” of young pass catchers, Pitt needs to find some help to prevent opponents from continually putting double-team defenses on Boyd.  It’s still early in the process — even after 13 practice days this spring — but Sherman has candidates.

Junior Dontez Ford appears to have won the starting job opposite Boyd (at least for now), while sophomores Zach Challingsworth and Jester Weah and redshirt freshman Elijah Zeise are chief among players competing for the No. 3 job. Challingsworth might be slightly ahead of the pack at the moment, a designation that could change as soon as Saturday at the Blue-Gold spring game.

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Pitt Spring Practice #9;  April 2, 2015

 Pitt Live Wire Blog

PITT is moving into its final six practices of the spring sessions and starting a five day hiatus to allow the players time off over the Easter vacation weekend. How the rest of the practices break down is they will resume on Tuesday April 7^th and have four straight practices in pads, then one in shorts (of the required three non-pad practices mandated by the NCAA) the end up with the Spring Game on Saturday, April 18^th – see you there!

There has been a surprising level of very positive chatter about rsJR Mike Caprara since the spring drills opened.  We PITT fans know him as the ‘undersized’ Woodland Hills linebacker who broke the school’s record for tackles in a career… no small feat considering the prominence of Woodland Hills in WPIAL football.

This is something of a theme this week as just the other day we were hearing and reading about SO DE Rori Blair being ‘undersized’ for the starting role. Personally, I think that a strong drive for success, a big heart and intelligence can make up for a lot of physical shortcomings.  One way of accommodating situations like these is to put those smaller guys in the right position to succeed, such as Conklin’s moving Caprara from the MLB position and utilizing his speed and quickness on the outside.  Honestly, I have like Caprara since his recruitment and am hyped to see him get some real playing time.  You don’t do what he did in HS without some real talent and desire involved.

On a side note it is interesting that Woodland Hills has pumped out a bunch of major football players in its history.  In 2012 alone they had five alumni on NFL rosters: Rob Gronkowski, Ryan Mundy, Darrin Walls, Shawntae Spencer and Steve Breston.  Not a bad snapshot of talent and to think that Caprara bested all of the past defensive players from that HS.  Aside from Spencer they all made poor college choices of course.

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Pitt Spring Practice #8  March 31, 2015

One of the more interesting developments of Spring Camp is the continuing battle for a starting LB spot between Bradley and Mike Caprara.  Not too many of us fans would have thought that would be a main issue for discussion during these practices.  Again, legit depth chart movement or motivational tool?  It may well be the this defensive minded staff sees what the last staff didn’t, at least as far as the personnel goes.  Let’s hope this is the case and we truly get the best 11 guys on the field.

Also, there is a lot of hair pulling regarding 3* Safety Tony Butler who committed to PITT last week then promptly went on recruiting trips to OSU and Michigan.  From the link:  Pittsburgh commit visiting:  Michigan will host Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward safety Tony Butler on Thursday. He committed to Pittsburgh recently, but has planned to visit Michigan for several weeks. His former high school coach, Rick Finotti, was recently hired by the Wolverines as director of football operations

Onto the actual practice stuff…

Coach Pat Narduzzi impressions on practice No. 8:

Video: Coach Pat Narduzzi

“Day eight was pretty good. We talked about adversity today, just fighting through adversity. The defense won the scrimmage the other day but it didn’t look like the offense punched back. If I punch you, you get punched back on the field. Today we talked about fighting for what you want. If you lose a period, there’s another period to come back and do it.

I thought our guys did a heck of a job. One of the best practices we’ve had so far where the guys are punching back and not taking it. Sometimes you think they’re beat today and they don’t think they can finish the practice. I’m really excited about what we did today.”

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A common theme among PITT fans when discussing the football program, at least over the last two years, has been our defense and how poorly it has played.  There really can be no denying that opinion, especially with the taste of last season’s bowl game and Houston’s Sherman to PITT’s Georgia rampage.  This is so very obvious it wouldn’t even be worthy of any long discussion save for one fact.

PITT hired one of the best defensive minds in college ball when they pried Pat Narduzzi from his Michigan State Defensive Coordinator position.  His defenses were in the Top 25 in many major categories whereas we had one, our pass defense which is mind-blowing considering the last two quarters of our season last year:

Yea us!!  We beat them in passing defense!!  But that was it.  The table above and the graphic and convincing numerical rank superiority that MSU had over PITT is the reason we fans are chomping at the bit to see Narduzzi and Conklin’s defense out on the field of play.

So to answer the question of the title I believe yes, it was as bad as we believed it to be in our guts.  Of course they played well in some games and made some nice plays here and there but overall we were what we looked like – bad.

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Pitt Spring Practice #7  March 28, 2015

Scrimmage # 2 was held today and below are the videos, stats and quotes from today’s practice session.  This is the last full scrimmage until the Spring Game on April 18^th at Highmark Stadium in Station Square.

Video: Saturday Scrimmage Highlights

Some things in that film jumped out at me that might not have been referenced in the quotes below.  You’ll notice that this scrimmage saw a lot of TE use as receivers by both Voytik and Bertke. #81 rsFR Tony Harper is a TE who looks bigger than the listed 6’2” & 220 and who presents a large target and #83 Scott Orndoff is as much like a TE/H-Back hybrid as he is pure TE and I think we’ll see him some more in that H-Back role this season.

Even though Orndoff is 6’5” & 260, the perfect size for a college TE, his ability level and quickness allows a staff to set him back into the backfield (almost) and either act as a alternate Fullback with Parrish, but to also drop into pass block and/or release for swing passes out in the flat.

Anyway, from seeing the videos this spring it looks like we may see some of that in the fall.  Holtz, on the other hand, is a bruiser who is very hard to take down after the catch.  You get him the ball on a 3^rd and long anywhere near the sticks and he’ll move them.

I have been touting #37 rsFR RB Quadree Ollison on here since the moment he set foot in fall camp last year.  Watching those practices and scrimmages (ah, the good old days) you could see his talent level was right up there with Chris James. Actually Ollison might have been better in camp but the staff went with James for their own reasons.

In a conversation with RB Coach John Settle in mid-camp last fall he told me that the decision on who to redshirt would go down to the final practice before the season started.  If you look back at Ollison’s offer sheet you see it is pretty impressive with 12 other FBS schools wanting him including PSU and Wisconsin.

I kind of expect to see a lot of Ollison this season because since it is almost automatic that James Conner goes in the draft (short RB shelf life) we need Ollison’s size , he is up to 6’2” and 235 now) and speed to complement James’ semi-bowling ball running style.

There has been a lot of camp talk about #30 JR MLB Mike Caprara lately and apparently this staff likes undersized linebackers who have heart.  Kidding there, he is a kid who set tackling records (350) at his Woodland Hills HS and has a nose for the ball.

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I just saw this article from DiPaola of the Trib and thought it would be good to get your collective blood pressure up before you really start your weekend…

New Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said Friday former Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson never received proper credit for the Panthers’ move from the Big East to the ACC.

“I hope people realize what an unbelievable job Steve Pederson did for Pitt basketball and the university,” Howland said on TribLive Radio. “You would not be in the ACC today were it not for his vision.”

Pederson hired Howland in 1999 and guided the Panthers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.  Howland left Pitt for UCLA, where he guided the Bruins to three consecutive Final Four appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2005-2006. His lead assistant with the Panthers, Jamie Dixon, succeeded him at Pitt.  UCLA fired Howland after the 2012-13 season. Mississippi State hired Howland on Tuesday.  Pitt fired Pederson in December.

“If Pitt was still in Pitt Stadium and playing in (Fitzgerald Field House), you’d be in the AAC in a no-bid league with (non-revenue) football and wondering what we’re going to do next,” Howland said.

Discuss please until we have news from today’s scrimmage to talk about…

Note: the number to call if you feel like you are about to hurt yourself or others is 1-800-STEVEAD

In-Between Practice Notes #4

Pitt Spring Practice #4, March 21, 2015, Scrimmage Highlights

Video: Saturday scrimmage highlight package

Here some plays, and thoughts on them, that caught my eye as I watched the tape.  Some will be talked about by the coach and players in the interview below. Every time the #1 Offense was out there it was against the #1 Defense.  From watching the short video and listening to the interviews it sounds like Chad Voytik is completing a large amount of his attempts and that OC Jim Cheney has him starting to air out the ball a bit more than the last staff, but that is an inference on my part.

A reverse by Boyd – he was trapped for what looked like a Tackle for Loss (TFL) but worked his way out for a positive gain.

Looks like WR Dontez Ford is making a real play for that open #2 WR position; he had a TD catch in the right corner of the end zone on a 20+ yard pass.

WR Zach Challingsworth was shown with two catches one of which was a longer TD.

WR Chris Wuestner had a couple of big plays – a fade and the 40+ yard reception.

Boyd caught a nicely thrown intermediate pass at the five and went in after beating the defense down the sideline.

DB Terrish Webb intercepted a pass on a tipped ball.

WR Jester Weah had a long TD catch at the end of the scrimmage to put the Offense ahead for the 77-72 win (unknown scoring rules).

 Coach Pat Narduzzi on the scrimmage: Video: Coach Pat Narduzzi

“We talk about game day is game day. You can have a good practice; I’ve seen guys that come out and have great practices and then come into a scrimmage and don’t do so well. I think when it’s game day, you need to prepare. I think our coaches did a great job of getting our guys out there. (We) really prepared for a game. That’s what we tried to do and the kids came out with great emotion.

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Here are the digs from various media reports on Thursday’s practice.

Something that jumped out at me seems a small bit disturbing, but then I jerk myself back to reality by saying there is still months to go before the opener against YSU (better than last year we hope.)   But we have heard from the minute that these players started working out in the weight room and running early morning drills  couple weeks ago that this new staff ‘brought a whole new level of energy” to the table when it comes to interactions with the players.  Yet this is the third practice in a row where I have heard or read about a PITT coach commenting on periods of lack of energy or emotion from the players themselves (see Narduzzi’s interview below.)

After practice #2 – “There was a lack of focus—tempo might have been a little bit faster. 

After practice #3 – “It’s day three. The pads were on today and we started a little slow. The game of football is a game of emotion and you can’t come without that” The Trib’s blog headline: Pitt starts slow on first day with pads, but ends with `emotion’.

Hmmm, let’s hope it doesn’t continue into what the team was experiencing back in the latter part of the 2011 season under HC Beelzebub Graham when the players were  mailing in their effort during the between-game practices.  Of course, that is an exaggeration and these players are on the cusp of practicing under and learning from whole new set of coaches and trying to understand the new coaching philosophies being instituted, but I wanted to get another jab in at Graham… it makes me feel good when I’m down.  Next week it will be different I’m sure, being in pads now will help.  Now the coaches can tie raw meat to the walk-on’s belts and tell the scholarship guys to “Go get ‘em boys!!!”.

Here are the Post-Practice Video Interviews with three coaches and a player.

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Pitt Spring Practice #2 is in the books and here are some links and quotes to get the fan blood running.

One common theme we are hearing from the players is that these practice sessions are more “energetic” than the ones under Paul Chryst…  “As a whole, it’s extremely energetic. The way they approach practice, lifting, is different. Not to say that our last staff didn’t bring energy, this is just a whole different level”.  I think that is great although I am a bit wary of too much ‘pumping up’ of players (or workers or students, etc…) in preparation for something because the more you try to infuse that higher level of energy and attention the more susceptible you are of seeming phony and losing your target’s trust.

Let’s hope that things go as planned and the team plays with some extra spring in their step.  At points last year it looked as if they might have been going thru the motions as we were losing the game.  A fresh start all around in the name of the game this year and with it comes new approaches.

DiPaola of the Trib comes in with a nice article on Chad Voytik and then follows it up with a short piece on his blog with “a couple notes”:

After two practices of a scheduled 15-session spring, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has a lot of work to do and decisions to make. Some won’t be finalized until August, and maybe not even then.

But Dontez Ford and Zach Challingsworth are stepping up as the wide receivers lining up opposite Tyler Boyd with the first team. Don’t read too much into it, but it’s worth noting. “Those are the two guys I have to rely on to free me up out of double coverage,” Boyd said.  At least in the spring.

On defense, coordinator Josh Conklin likes what he has seen from safety Reggie Mitchell and cornerbacks Avonte Maddox, Malik Henderson and Phillipie Motley.
Mitchell, a junior, can play both positions. Henderson is an early-enrollee freshman and Motley was redshirted last year during his freshman season.

Conklin said he was impressed with how three-year starting cornerback Lafayette Pitts, a senior, stayed after practice Tuesday to work with some wide receivers on his footwork at the line of scrimmage.

“Those are the things you want to see from that kid,” Conklin said. “He has a lot of experience. We are challenging him every day to come out and be consistent. The corners can’t hide. What we ask them to do, every rep they have to be on.”
What’s interesting to note is that Jordan Whitehead arrives from Central Valley this summer, and will add to the competition at cornerback. Maybe there actually will be some depth in the secondary.

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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.

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PITT’s Spring Practices are right around the corner and starting on Sunday the 15^th at the university’s Southside facility.  The NCAA permits 15 practices of which three have to be ‘no pads’.  Here is the actual guidance on exactly what a coaching staff can ask of their players:

For days in which institutions schedule a two-a-day practice, live contact practices are only allowed in one practice.  A maximum four (4) live contact practices may occur in a given week, and a maximum of 12 total may occur in preseason.  Only three practices (scrimmages) would allow for live contact in greater than 50 percent of the practice schedule.

In PITT’s case this season the practices will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the two scrimmages being on the Saturdays and the Spring Game played on Saturday, April 18^th at 1:00pm on the field at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh’s Station Square area.  Highmark holds 3,500 seats so any photos taken at the game will at least look somewhat crowded.

One real problem, and this is a huge difference and a big negative I think, is that Pat Narduzzi is limiting media access to a designated 30 minute time period.  After that the rest of the practice will be closed to all but staff and admin personnel.  This is an 180 degree change from Paul Chryst’s policies where the practices were fully open.

I’ll be honest here, there is no way I’ll drive 450 miles round trip for a 30 minute look-in at the practices.  Perhaps Chas or Justin will choose to do so but I’ll break my tradition of attending in person every year if the practices remain closed like this.  I have to assume at this point that the scrimmages will be under the same restraints so I’ll get no eyeballs on the kids in the spring or the Fall Camp if policies don’t change by then and, in turn, The Blather won’t get 1st hand reports.

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(This is part one of a two part series looking at PITT’s chances of having both a Heisman Trophy and a Biletnikoff Award winner in the 2015 season. Part II will be posted tomorrow)

There was a topic on the Rival.com pay board the other day talking about the idea that PITT might have both a Heisman Trophy and a Bliletnikoff Award winner on the 2015 team in RB James Conner and WR Tyler Boyd.  I chipped in my two cents then realized that this would be a good topic for some off-season football discussion on this blog.  So here it is. An interesting thing is that when I responded to the message board topic I had done minimal fact checking but while writing this I delved into both awards and see that I was rather mistaken when it came to my thoughts regarding Boyd and the Biletnikoff Award.  At first I thought he had no shot at all but maybe he does… (later article).

We PITT fans love these two valuable and star players but sometimes do tend to look at them through our Blue & Old Gold colored glasses, especially when mentally comparing them to other candidates for prestigious awards.  Here is a breakdown of how realistic our chances are to have those two major awards sitting in the PITT clubhouse at the end of the 2015 season.  Both players are in consideration for the awards; Conner is on the Heisman list (at 33-1 odds) and Tyler Boyd is among 75 players on the preliminary Biletnikoff ‘watch list’.  Let’s take a closer look at Conner and the Heisman first.

THE HEISMAN MEMORIAL TROPHY

Just for background, the Heisman Trophy as stated  “annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. “  The Heisman selection committee is comprised of sports journalists who have been selected from six broad geographical areas covering the US. There was 929 voters last year including one ‘at-large’ vote cast by the American public football fans.

It is usually awarded to offensive players (all but one, DB Charles Woodson) who play on winning teams although every player in college football is actually an eligible candidate…. sure!  There is hope for Chris Blewitt then.  Here are the winners in ‘modern times’. I started at 1975 because that was right before The Hawk won it for the home team. Yea Us!!  It is a a long list but the names are linked so it it nice to be able to see what each winner actually did.  Plus in the linked info you can see the runner-ups and their voting point totals.

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I’m not going to put much up this evening but want to direct your attention to some excellent pieces that Chris Dokish is posting up his on Blog Panther’s Prey.

He’s now looking at and writing about the Panther’s offensive positions going into the fall camp, not spring practices, because he includes some recruits in the 2015 class.  At the end of each piece he rates the TALENT and the DEPTH of the position.  His rating system is “Excellent”, “Very Good”, “Good”, “Average”, and “Poor”.  Which is kind of strange as “Average” falls below the mid-point, but it works with his reasoning.

He starts off three days ago with “A Look Ahead” at the current QB situation.  I agree with almost everything he has written about Voytik especially. Considering the other two QBs on the roster at this moment are unproven in a PITT uniform the spotlight is directed toward Voytik and that is as it should be with a returning starter.  He will most probably be given token competition in fall camp but let’s bet that he’s the starter and transfer SR Nathan Peterman from Tennessee will be his backup. Those fans hoping we’ll see a change at QB with either Peterman or Bertke should realize that if it happens at all it will be because of injury or if Voytik turns into an interception machine.

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