Blogs

If anyone cares what I think: Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg was right to extend athletic director Steve Pederson’s contract this week. Yeah, the football program has fallen on hard, hard times in recent years, and Pederson must shoulder much of that blame. There is a lot of catching up to do, and the roster makeover will [...]

Former Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri has signed a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. Sunseri, who attended a Baltimore Ravens tryout camp after the NFL Draft, is currently listed fourth on the Roughriders’ depth chart, according to Murray McCormick, the Regina Leader-Post’s Roughriders beat writer. The team is 10 days into training [...]

Pitt coach Paul Chryst said player safety is the paramount concern in the new NCAA rule that calls for players to be ejected when they make contact with another player above the shoulder. “That’s not a number,” he said. “It’s a person. It’s a name.” But he also wonders if the rule should be reviewed [...]

One of the benefits of Pitt losing five players through transfers this spring is that — when a spot opens up – walk-ons who have remained loyal to the program are awarded with scholarships. That’s what happened to backup running back Desmond Brown, who joined the team as a walk-on in the spring of 2011. He will play [...]

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Pitt’s ACC opener against Florida State is causing a stir in Florida. Florida State athletic director Randy Spetman said Seminoles fans are excited about opening the 2013 college football season Sept. 2 at Heinz Field. “Every day I get people emailing me or talking to me about tickets,” he said, while [...]

No one likes drawing attention to himself less than Pitt coach Paul Chryst, but I have a feeling his speech at the Spirit of St. Anthony breakfast at 8 a.m. June 6 at the Omni William Penn Hotel will be worth the price of admission. Chryst, as sincere a man as I’ve ever met whether [...]

While eagerly awaiting the NFL draft Thursday through Saturday, former Pitt running back Ray Graham said his knee is stronger than during the season when he ran for 1,042 yards in 12 games. “I feel good,” he said. “I feel better than before.” Graham, who is home in Elizabeth, N.J., has visited the New York [...]

With Blackhawk quarterback Chandler Kincade decommiting from Pitt on Thursday (reluctantly, I suspect) and Keller Chryst (Pitt’s top choice and Paul Chryst’s nephew) living all the way on the West Coast with a dad who is on the San Francisco 49ers’ coaching staff, Pitt could lose both players. That would be bad, but Keller Chryst [...]

On the eve of Pitt’s spring game (actually, scrimmage) Friday night at Bethel Park High School, word circulated about another player thinking about transferring. This time, it’s redshirt freshman linebacker Deaysean Rippy, a four-star recruit from Sto-Rox. More than one person told me it’s a possibility. When I heard several weeks ago that Rippy might [...]

Pitt spring drills are nearly at an end. The Panthers went through their 13th of 15 practices Tuesday, and all that remains are a lighter workout Thursday at the South Side complex and the spring game 7 p.m. Friday at Bethel Park High School. The annual intra-squad scrimmage will be shown live on your computer [...]