There’s closer to 3 than 2 weeks of spring practices left, but Sunday was the 7th practice and there are only 15 practice days permitted for the spring. There’s going to be some more spacing between practices as scrimmages will take place and more recovery — and time for coaches to review the film — occurs. Time to catch-up after sparing some family time in between the NCAA Tournament watching over the weekend.

The beat writers are taking extra note of the amount of high school coaches in the area that are attending Pitt practices — not to mention ex-PSU DC Tom Bradley — along with a fair amount of recruits and kids who will be here in the fall.

One thing that is clear about Paul Chryst – he is being embraced by the high school coaches in Western Pennsyvlania and the reason is – he is open to them and he wants them to know he values them and values what they mean to Pitt. I’ve seen more high school coaches at these few spring practices than I did all of last year and all of them have said the same thing – they really like and respect Chryst because as one guy put it “he’s a football coach, not a publicity hound” That should help Pitt recruiting locally, though, ultimately Chryst has to win for Pitt to have a chance to win some of these local battles.

That will help, especially given Chryst is not exactly a recruiting dynamo that overwhelms recruits, and everyone else with his personality and sales job. Obviously the hiring of Haering from the local HS ranks helps, but Chryst’s willingness to talk and meet with them is the bigger part. Talking shop with them and treating them as equals goes a long way.

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So, um, anyone know any good bars near this place?

In an effort to embrace and celebrate the traditions of Western Pennsylvania football, Pitt head coach Paul Chrystannounced today he will be taking the annual Pitt Spring Football Festival and Blue-Gold Scrimmage on the road to North Hills High School on April 14.

“I may be new to Pittsburgh, but I’ve respected and known about the traditions of Western Pennsylvania high school football for a long time,” Chryst said. “As a first-year coaching staff, we feel it is important to get out and engage the people and communities who have built that tradition. The spring game is a perfect opportunity to do this and we’re really looking forward to visiting North Hills in April.”

The gates at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium will open at 11 a.m. The Panthers will host a youth clinic at 11:30 a.m., followed by the playing of the Blue-Gold Scrimmage at 1 p.m.

The stadium is not at the school. Not sure what the capacity actually is. Pre-2000 renovations, the seating was around 5300. I’m guessing it isn’t too different now.

Update: Not seeing any bars nearby, but there is a beer distributor rather close by. Hopefully tailgating will be allowed.

Spring practices are reaching the pads stage. No more of the helmets and shorts look.

We could try and break down what the O-line will look like. Whether the linebackers will be better. Who will be stepping up to the D-line.  We could. Or we can obsess over the status of the QB position. Give the people what they want.

Here’s the extent to which Coach Paul Chryst has spoken about QBs over the past two practices.

On whether he loses patience over fumbled center-quarterback exchanges:

“No, but they were ugly though, weren’t they? You’ve got no chance. You’ve got to prevent beating yourself first. It’s hard enough to beat the opponent. If that was a game we would say you beat yourself and those are things that need cleaned up and we can’t tolerate it.

“As coaches, negative things happen. We’re going on the assumption that no one wants to have a bad quarterback-center exchange, the receiver doesn’t want to drop the ball, the defender doesn’t want to lose contain. If they’re in there and they want to do that then that’s on us. You can’t tolerate it but making a big stink doesn’t necessarily fix it either.”

And before that:

On whether the quarterbacks and receivers improved today:

“Yeah, I think there were some moments where they did. They better, right? They better keep improving. Tomorrow we’ll be going full pads. You’ll always have some good and you can build on that. And then there are a lot of things you still have got to clean up.”

Gotta lot to go on, huh?

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Between the new coaches, position swithces and the eligible transfers, there’s a lot to re-learn.

Spring practice is already finished for the morning.  Bobby Engram in Pitt gear has happened.

Yesterday, Coach Paul Chryst did the pre-Spring Practice press conference. He sort of said every position was open — and not really.

 On if any jobs are wide open:

“Eleven on offense and 11 of defense. The great thing about sports and in football is that in every game you have to prove yourself and every year you have to prove yourself. We can all make a pretty good bet on some spots and who should start. The great thing is they still have to go out and do it. There is nothing more important than this team and Pitt football and I talked to the group about that. If you’re true to that then your best 11 players shouldn’t sit out. Your best linemen will play, your best skill guys will play and your best defensive backs will play so I think they really are all open.”

Read into or don’t read anything into that.
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I have a dream. It’s been the same dream since this blog began. A dream of a solid O-line that does not feel as if plugged in spots with just a warm body. An O-line that inspires confidence, not concern. Oh, so briefly it appeared Pitt was getting there in 2008, but injuries showed the lack of depth. 2009, was the peak, but that quickly faded in 2010.

Now we stand at the beginning of the 2011 season, and at least the starters (for now) have been named.

Redshirt sophomore Juantez Hollins of Aliquippa has played his way onto the line at left tackle, moving Jordan Gibbs to right tackle and Lucas Nix of Thomas Jefferson to his more natural position of right guard.

Hopewell’s Ryan Turnley has won the center job, allowing Keystone Oaks’ Chris Jacobson to play left guard.

The signs had been there for the over a week that Coach Graham was going to keep Turnley at Center and have Jacobson go back to left guard.

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There is some eye opening news being reported by Zeise about some position battles in his RedShirt Diary this morning.  Perhaps the more unusual news is that Gonzalez has seemed to find a home in that hybrid “3-Back” position.  “…both Dodge and Graham said he is the third quarterback but he has taken almost every rep at the three back or receiver spots over the past few days and he is going to play somewhat of a “slash” role according to Graham. “  DiPaola over at the Trib touches on this move also.

Trey Anderson has apparently moved ahead of both Gonzalez and Myers into the QB2 position.  The fact that Myers has dropped down the chart should surprise no one who has been reading this blog since the Spring Camp.  We’ve stated all along that Graham has a specific idea of what he wants at QB and Myers, being recruited by Wannstedt as a pro-set quarterback, doesn’t fit that image.  Myers is talented as hell but nowhere near as mobile as what is needed for the QB in this offense.   “The one thing I will say is that he was going to be in a fight with Gonzalez – who this new coaching staff really likes – so it wasn’t a given (like it would have been had the old staff been in place) that Myers was going to be the guy.”

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If you want to review, parse and examine the words, mannerisms and comments of Coach Todd Graham yourself, feel free to watch the press conference here (Maybe. I can’t get the damn things to play. Except for the blooper reel — which has a black bar going across it to obscure the picture and prevent me from grabbing a direct link on the splash page. Rieur1114 had a good point.).

I think I found my way to find it and sadly it seems the main issue is simply mistakes in the links. While there are lots of problems with the Pitt site, credit should go to getting a load of video interviews up from the first day.

The start with Paul Randolph trying to read off his full title really does sum up the ridiculous number of titles so many of the coaches have.

Here’s a transcript of the remarks of Coach Graham from the opening presser (PDF). This link should work for the video.

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In anticipation of the Panther’s summer training camp Paul Zeise of the Post Gazette has written a long article about the team and its expectations for the season.  No real earthshaking news here but he touches on the cost of the new program direction which for a school like PITT is a big step forward:

University administrators hope Graham can deliver the kind of exciting football he is selling because they have made a huge financial investment in him. Graham is making about $2 million per year and was given a pool of $2 million for his staff. The school has made him the focal point of its marketing campaign, going so far as to create a glitzy website called highoctanefootball.com.

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It starts tomorrow so here’s some info on the projected lineups going into camp.

First off, here is the 2011 Media Guide.  On page 20 it list the lineups going into camp.  It doesn’t seem to hold many surprises, except for the fact there are kids on it I’ve never heard of.  Does the name Brett Zuck ring a bell with anyone?

On offense Myers is listed as QB2 and that will be an interesting aspect of camp to watch.   Hard to tell with a two game suspension hanging over the other competitor for that spot.

With a perfect name to go with the position, Kris Wildman is listed as the starting fullback – if there is such a thing in this offense.  Jacobson is listed at center but there have been reports the staff will try Ryan Turnley there.   The revolving door at center is still moving.  Desmond Brown is listed as second string RB but I think that is because Zach Brown hasn’t suited up yet.  Guess who the starter is?

On defense one eyebrow lifter is that Todd Thomas is listed as the third string Spur… again he was injured and the staff hasn’t seen what he can do.  I’d expect that he’ll move up rather quickly.  Lindsey is listed at defensive end rather than at the Panther position; Greg Williams is there.  I expect some of this to change after camp gets going.  I really can’t see Brian Muphy as a second stringer this season.

On special teams we see Devin Street as the 2^nd string kickoff returner.  I don’t like it personally. I’ve always thought it is kind of ridiculous to have a star player back there and exposed to injury.  Others disagree. I think Street is going to blow up this season and would prefer another speedy WR in his place.  Cameron Saddler is also listed as punt returner but I expect that position will get a good look from the staff.

We also have a third string boundary cornerback named Joseph Lopez…who knew?

All of this is predicated on the fact that the 2011 recruits haven’t been seen in action yet.  I’m not sure any could break into the starting lineup but some may rise up into the two deep.

The schedule of camp will be different this season also.  Media Day will be tomorrow and the last practice that the media can attend is on Friday August 19^th.  After that the practices are closed for the duration.  I’ll try to get to one or two practices to see things first hand.  Let’s hope the media outlets generate some detailed articles about the practices but that would be a change.

First Practice: Tomorrow evening, August 8^th.

One of these years the Blue-Gold game will take place, and it will be a warm, sunny April day. This won’t be that year.

Miserable, wet, windy. Can’t wait.

If you are heading over early, Reed and I will be having a few at the Tilted Kilt near Heinz Field. Never been there before. Guess it’s some Scottish theme? Come on by and say hello.

Chris Peak from PantherLair has a good piece on what he’s looking to see at the scrimmage.

I’ll be tweeting all day — or until the battery on my phone dies — so if you can follow here.

In what is increasingly becoming a one-horse race, Tino Sunseri continues to impress the coaching staff as the de facto starting QB.  Paul Zeise has, in what is a departure of sorts for him, a two page article on this subject.  Somehow Zeise swings and misses by giving the PITT team a 9-4 record in 2010 but other than that it’s a good look at where Sunseri is at this point.

But just to be contrary I’ll also disagree with this statement: “Sunseri improved as the season went on and felt more comfortable in the offense. Now he has been asked to start over again in a new offense, and he believes the transition is almost complete.” Really, Sunseri hit a high point in mid-season then went downhill over the last six games, but why nitpick when writing a puff piece?

Coach Graham weighs in on the progress so far in these spring practices and how it compares to his other coaching gigs… from the Trib-Review:

“We are coming together as a football team,” he said. “We are mentally way ahead of where I thought we would be. We coached them hard, put them in situations where they really weren’t in shape to go at.”

He said spring practice at Pitt went better than it did in initial drills at his previous coaching outposts (Rice and Tulsa).  One similarity: “We didn’t have the speed we wanted, but we developed it,” he said.

In his only season at Rice, the Owls were 7-6 and went to their first bowl game in 45 years. The next year, at Tulsa, he led the team to a 10-4 record.  “The difference (at Pitt) is we are playing a heckuva lot tougher opponents,” he said.

Well Todd, you have heckuva lot better athletes than you did at those schools also so we’ll still expect a very good first season – whether you have the ‘speed’ you want or not.

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Reed has been killing it with the football stuff. This despite the lockdown of information — beyond what the coaches are willing to release. I disagree with the philosophy — and not just because it starves the media and this site a bit. It creates a situation that puts all the pressure on the team to win.

When you win, fans don’t care about the closed practices. The lack of information and/or controls on what is happening. It’s the Bill Parcells/Bill Belicheck/Nick Saban style.

But when the team loses, the fans start clamoring to know what’s going on. The media, already facing constant criticism from one side because they don’t have any real info to share because of the control, start releasing some of the simmering annoyances and frustrations with the controls of information.

Those are all long-term issues. Right now, not so much a problem. So that’s just a bit of a digression.

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[EDITOR NOTE: Reed is going to be helping with spring football. So much happening. Even I have a finite amount of time available. Reed has been a longtime commenter here at this blog and has a great love of Pitt football. Much thanks to Reed for jumping into the breach.]

Hello folks, Chas has asked me to chip in and help out with this Blog’s coverage of the PITT football team’s spring practices.  Chas is busy with PITT basketball team’s NCAA tournament coverage and since we all hope that goes into April, I readily agreed to do so.

Some of you may recognize my name from other message boards.  I’m pretty opinionated but will try to make these entries as entertaining and helpful as possible without too much personal input — however, I am unemployed at the time and have nothing else to do so I can’t guarantee anything.  One other point — I have no access to any actual practices or meetings and I live 250 miles away from PITT, so whatever I pass on is gleaned from other published sources — news media, blogs, videos, etc.  No inside info here and if I state my opinion I’ll say so.  That said, here goes nothing…

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That’s right spring practice begins in mid-March. March 17 to be exact, and culminates with the Blue-Gold Scrimmage on April 16. As usual, I will bitch about how I wish they would be like some of the other schools and not start the practices until the end of March, and have the Spring game late in April. I really will bitch, if the weather is anything approaching the misery of last spring’s scrimmage.

More in a moment, the bigger news is that Coach Todd Graham (I may not get used to typing that until the end of spring, at the earliest) has made his final hire on the staff.

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A little bit of tab clearance and related items.

Gary McGhee has slowly earned a lot of respect. Not just from Pitt fans. To some degree, I think Pitt fans can be almost dismissive of the way he developed because it was chalked up to McGhee being 6-10, 6-11 and Coach Jamie Dixon and Pat Sandle having had so much success developing project big men further than any expected.

The day of the Syracuse game, Seth Davis at SI.com made this comment in his notes story.

I’ll say it again: Pitt center Gary McGhee needs more love. He had a team-high 13 points and 10 boards in the Panthers’ win over Seton Hall on Saturday. It’s easy to dismiss McGhee because he seems to do everything in super-slow-motion, but not many teams are that big, strong and experienced at the center position.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sports points out that few “projects” work out, and it has a lot to do with the player as much as the coaching.

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