Blogs

Let me start out by saying that I have great respect for Pitt coach Paul Chryst and the way he runs his program. Smart guy. Friendly. Would love to buy him a beer and a brat someday, and just talk about football, his kids, my kids and life in general. Works hard. Stand by his [...]

Pitt will hold an outdoor Midnight Madness at 9:45 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, as part of the Homecoming activities and in honor of the institution’s 225-year anniversary celebration. A court will be constructed on Bigelow Boulevard, between the Cathedral of Learning and the Union. The setup will include lights, portable bleachers and a video [...]

The best example of the growth and maturity of Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri has been how he refused to shoot back at former coach Todd Graham, although reporters (myself included) gave him ample opportunity. I remember sitting down with Sunseri in the spring when he told me that working under Graham’s offensive system last season [...]

A couple of notes as Pitt training camp winds down for another year:  Pitt’s linebackers still need a lot of work – and getting the same three players in there for more than a day would help – but the return of outside linebacker Eric Williams from injury is a big step. Williams, Clairton [...]

The next time Pitt coach Paul Chryst calls me for an opinion will be the first. But if he did, I’d tell him this: Freshman quarterback Chad Voytik looked like a different player Monday night, compared to the first days of training camp. Now before Pitt fans start jumping to conclusions and looking for Voytik [...]

Pitt redshirt junior Tyrone Ezell has established himself as the most versatile defensive lineman on the team. He can play inside (his natural position) and outside (where his 6-4 frame creates vision problems for quarterbacks), and coaches still don’t know where he will ultimately land. “I came in today and I had my mind set [...]

Something strange happened at Pitt football practice Thursday: No one asked coach Paul Chryst about Ray Graham. Oh, there were plenty of questions about other injured guys — I guess, because there are plenty of injured guys — but Chryst got away without having to explain why Graham missed practice. I’m sure Chryst didn’t mind. [...]

No one likes a big hit better than Pitt coach Paul Chryst. But when the hits happen after the whistle, that’s when he loses patience with the perpetrators. When senior wide receiver Cam Saddler and freshman cornerback Jahmahl Pardner tangled briefly Wednesday morning in the first fight of camp, Chryst sentenced both players to run [...]

For one reason or another, 17 Pitt players missed all or part of practice Monday night as the team concluded its first of three two-a-days this week. Many of the injuries appear minor and many of the players were kept out of practice merely as a precaution. I’m guessing more than half of them would [...]

Pitt coach Paul Chryst gets serious this week, with two-a-day practices Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All of a sudden, the opener is less than three weeks away. In fact, three weeks from Friday morning (Aug. 17), Pitt will have two games in the books (1/6th of the season) after playing Youngstown State on Sept. 1 [...]