Blogs

Pitt is a long way from where it needs to be, but the eighth practice of the spring Thursday brought the highest praise so far from coach Paul Chryst.
“It looks like it should look,” he said. “Guys are starting to put themselves in the moment a little bit.”
Chryst needs a bit of good news after a spotty spring in which he already has lost his temper and lost his marquee running back (at least for the moment). That comes after the graduation losses of 2012 playmakers Ray Graham, Mike Shanahan and Tino Sunseri and the team’s two best offensive linemen, Ryan Turnley and Chris Jacobson.
But Thursday the handoffs were crisper, backs Isaac Bennett and Malcolm Crockett hit the hole quicker and Eric Williams, who may be Pitt’s third-best safety, stretched his interception streak to three practices in a row. This time, he ripped a pass from second-team Big East wide receiver Devin Street while tip-toeing the sideline.
One other thing — Chad Voytik had his best day of the spring as he continues to battle fifth-year senior Tom Savage for the starting job at quarterback. Voytik ran the two-minute drill with efficiency at the end of practice.
“Guys understand what they are doing and where they are going,” Chryst said. “We had a chance to get better and I think we did a little bit.”
– Former Pitt players Kris Wilson and Lousaka Polite will serve as hosts April 12-13 for “Dessert Tasting For A Cause,” a benefit event to support their foundations.
The weekend kicks off at 8:30 p.m. April 12 at the Smart House on Mt. Washington, following the Pitt spring game at Bethel Park High School.
A VIP reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. April 13 at Larrimor’s, Downtown, with the main event 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Clemente Museum, Lawrenceville.
The Kris Wilson Foundation and The Polite Way Foundation serve youth in Western Pennsylvania and nationwide, helping to boost their motivation to learn and reinforce literacy.
Among the bakeries and restaurants providing desserts are Gullifty’s, Dream Cream Ice Cream, The DoubleTree Hotel, Moio’s Italian Pastry Shop, Sweet Sophistication, Cake Eaters Sweet Shoppe and  Godiva Chocolatier.
To purchase tickets visit DessertTastingForACause.com.

– The game-day broadcasting crew of Bill Hillgrove, Pat Bostick and Gregg Giannotti will provide play-by-play, analysis and sideline reports of the spring game on ESPN3 and Comcast Channels 188 and 210.

– Chryst continued to build goodwill among area high school coaches when 30 of them brought a total of about 75 players to practice Thursday. Among them was Woodland Hills’ George Novak, who was quick to point out — with lots of justifiable pride in his voice – that five of his former players are on the Pitt roster (Lafayette and Jevonte Pitts, Mike Caprara, Ejuan Price and K.K. Mosley-Smith).

A couple of notes and quotes as Pitt’s spring practice approaches the halfway point:
Maybe the most glaring aspect of practice Tuesday was the absence of running back Rushel Shell, who was given an excused absence.
Coach Paul Chryst gave no definitive reason, but he did not place all of the blame on Shell’s upper leg injury from Friday. “Couple things,” Chryst said.
Meanwhile, Chryst likes the energy shown by backup running backs Isaac Bennett and Malcolm Crockett, who have been getting a wealth of repetitions since midway through Friday’s practice.
He did note that they have been fumbling a bit too frequently, but he said that can be a learning tool.
“If you can learn from all these mistakes, that’s good,” Chryst said. “If a guy is into it and it stings like it would in the fall, then you got a chance to learn. If you just kind of `Oh, don’t worry, it’s just practice,’ then I don’t think you ever allow yourself to get better. In that regard, guys are into it, taking the plays and practice to heart.”
– Defensive coordinator Matt House said he counted 17 missed tackles in Friday’s scrimmage. He blamed much of it on poor fundamentals.
“Our (shoulder) pad level was high in the scrimmage quite a bit,” he said. He also mentioned players taking bad angles to the football and tackling as problems that need to be corrected.
“Pad level, leverage and tackling,” he said. “Those are fundamental cores to defense. If we don’t get those done, we won’t be a very good defense.”
– House also was asked about defensive end Shakir Soto, who is one of four freshmen who graduated from high school early to enroll at Pitt in January.
“We joke in our defensive staff room that Shakir should be getting ready for the senior prom and he’s out there competing against 22-year-olds,” he said. “Every day is  a new experience for Shakir, but he is willing and certainly has a ton of potential.”
– Redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Wuestner, on quarterback Tom Savage’s arm strength: “Dude’s got a cannon. He can really throw the ball around.”
On quarterback Chad Voytik: “He’s athletic and agile and can get the ball in there, too.”
– Injuries continue to sideline wide receiver Brandon Ifill (knee), defensive back Brendon Felder (foot), linebacker Shane Gordon (neck), safety Jason Hendricks (toe) and cornerback Cullen Christian (calf). Defensive end Devin Cook returned to practice.
– Senior linebacker Dan Mason is out for undisclosed off-the-field reasons, and Chryst said he is unsure when he will return.
– As a result of all the missing bodies, the team’s depth appears thin. Perhaps the incoming freshmen will help in that regard. If not, Pitt may end up looking like a team that has trouble handling several injuries at the same time.

Pitt coach Paul Chryst is too grounded, humble and team-oriented  to publicly admit it, but he has forcefully and purposefully put his stamp on the team.
When he raises his voice to make a point to players who aren’t working hard enough … when he suspends players for academic or other off-the-field issues that chip away at the team concept … when he refuses to praise individual players because they look pretty good in spring practice, he is putting an indelible mark — not only on the program — but on his players.
I noticed it in something as elementary as his spring practice schedule.
He scheduled two drills prior to the spring break so players would come back with a sense of what’s expected of them and wouldn’t be wandering aimlessly like people tend to do on the first day back from vacation. He also brought them back from break last Sunday — not waiting until the middle of the week — to resume as soon as possible the difficult task of rebuilding this program.
And he chewed out his players three times Thursday to let them know he means business and won’t accept lazy efforts, even if they are only wearing shoulder pads and helmets in the middle of March. His message was clear: You’re adults now and you will be accountable.
After consecutive 6-7 seasons with players feeling sorry for themselves amidst the upheaval in the program, Chryst has thrown a stake in the ground and brought change. He committed to the university and his players and all but said, “I’m in charge here. You have a problem with that?”
He hasn’t used those words, of course, but his actions produce the same effect.
If a program ever needed a good kick in the butt and fewer pats on the back, it’s Pitt football. Chryst brings those things. Every day.

Maybe I just don’t remember as well as I used to, but this spring there has been more after-the-whistle shoving between offensive and defensive players than at any time in the past two years.
The sensible side of Chryst hates it, because it can lead to personal foul penalties and loss of yardage in games.
The coach in him — the inner tough guy — loves it, because it sharpens his players’ attitudes and shows him that practice is important to them.
The one minor incident that especially stuck out to me was freshman tight end Scott Orndoff tangling with senior cornerback K’Waun Williams after a red-zone play. Orndoff started to walk away after some especially enthusiastic blocking, but he didn’t like something that was said and turned around to confront Williams. Nothing  came of it, but Orndoff, who left Seton-La Salle early and enrolled at Pitt in January, sent a message to anyone paying attention: “I’m a freshman, but don’t mess with me.”
Sophomore tight end J.P. Holtz also got into a brief scrum with fourth-year junior linebacker Todd Thomas on Tuesday. Again, it was a minor matter that means nothing except that it shows coaches and players that there players on the team who will stick up for themselves.
Holtz also showed the kind of edge he brings to the game when he pointed out to reporters that the most memorable moment of his freshman season was lowering his shoulder and knocking out Syracuse cornerback Shamarko Thomas — not his touchdown catch at Notre Dame. There’s a guy with his priorities in order.

Practice observations (five down, 10 to go):
– Junior running back Isaac Bennett looks quicker to the hole and tougher between the tackles than in his first two seasons.
– Tight end Manasseh Garner has the size (6-2, 220) and athleticism to contribute this season. A Brashear graduate, Garner wanted to come home, but Wisconsin might regret letting him go.
– Somone may need to use a crow bar to pry middle linebacker Mike Caprara off the No. 1 defense. He’s undersized, but tough and unafraid to  mix it up with blockers who outweigh him by 100 pounds or more. Starting middle linebacker Shane Gordon has yet to practice with his neck injury and could miss most — if not all — of spring drills. I get the sense that’s OK with Caprara.
– Former linebacker Eric Williams seems to have a nose for the ball at free safety, giving Pitt nice depth at the position as soon as Jason Hendricks, a second-team All-Big East choice last year, returns from a toe injury. Like Gordon, Hendricks could be out for a while.

Gold medalists and former Pitt and Penn State stars Roger Kingdom and Suzie McConnell-Serio, who competed in Olympics on three continents, agree bringing the Games to Pittsburgh would be a massive challenge. But they said they would be willing to help with the heavy lifting.

“I don’t think there is anything like being involved in the Olympics,” said McConnell, who won a gold medal in women’s basketball in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988, and a bronze in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992. “Absolutely, I would like to be a part of it.”

Pittsburgh’s Luke Ravenstahl is one of 35 mayors who received a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee, gauging the city’s interest in making a bid for the 2024 Olympics.

Kingdom, a two-time winner in the hurdles in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul, said the idea intrigues him.

“Quite frankly, we have a lot of amenities to offer,” he said. “As far as the beauty of our city, out of all the cities I’ve been around, we can match anybody,” he said. “Coming through the tunnel, man, to see that …”

They agree, however, that Pittsburgh’s size would be a major obstacle.

“From a sheer standpoint of not being able to host a lot of activities, Pittsburgh is not large enough,” said Kingdom, a former Pitt track athlete and football player who is now the director of track and field and cross country at California (Pa.) University.

“My big question is: Is Pittsburgh big enough to host something like that?” said McConnell-Serio, the women’s coach at Duquesne University. “It would be a great challenge, being that they have to create an Olympic village for the athletes. I think it would be a great challenge with everything that it entails, but also an incredible opportunity to be able to showcase Pittsburgh to the world.”

Kingdom, who is a former member of Pittsburgh Marathon board of directors and part of the site committee for the 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials, said the proposed $3 billion budget is daunting, but not impossible to overcome.

“When I look at the budget, I know we have our issues here in the city, but think about it: How much revenue are we going to bring in? You mean to tell me if we seriously started to put together a bid, those (area) corporations wouldn’t take part? I think they would.”

McConnell-Serio, who went to Seton-La Salle High School, said the Olympics requires thousands of volunteers, something that shouldn’t be an impediment in Pittsburgh.

“Pittsburgh people are amazing,” he said. “I think they would be willing to help if it was something we committed to. That’s the type of mentality people in this city have. They would welcome the challenge.”

 

 

I heard so much about Pitt’s “dynamic” football schedule during the Monday news conference at Heinz Field that I decided to check it out for myself.

Turns out that it’s not just meaningless hype. This is a schedule area football fans could enjoy.

Only two of Pitt’s 2013 opponents earned spots in the final 2012 Associated Press rankings, but they are No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 10 Florida State. Both games are at home this season, giving athletic director Steve Pederson a chance for that coveted Heinz Field sellout (all 65,050 seats paid in full).

Allthough 10 of Pitt’s opponents were unranked, only three had losing records: New Mexico (4-9), Duke (6-7) and Virginia (4-8). The collective winning percentage for all 12 schools is .606 (94-61) — .584 (83-59), if you throw out FCS Old Dominion’s 11-2.

Compare that to the 2012 opponents:

Again, only two were ranked in 2011, but Virginia Tech was No. 21 and Cincinnati No. 25. Winning percentage: .550 (82-67). It was .566 (72-55) if you exclude Youngstown State and Gardner-Webb of the FCS

The intriguing aspect of Pitt’s 2013 schedule is that it is attractive, but not impossible. Pitt plays potential ACC title contenders Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, but the Coastal — Pitt’s  home — is the weakest of the two ACC divisions. North Carolina, Miami and Georgia Tech tied for first place last season with records of 5-3.

“I don’t know if we could put together a better scenario,” Pederson said.

Pederson is trying to sell tickets, and the ACC is giving him the chance to do  it.

– Pederson said more than 4,000 new season-ticket packages have been sold. That doesn’t count renewals, so Pitt has a chance to beat the 42,000 sold last year.

– Wide receiver Devin Street joined defensive tackle Aaron Donald at the news conference. Street was asked if chose to return this season — he had considered making himself available for the NFL Draft — for the chance to play in the ACC. He gave an interesting answer that speaks to his maturity. “Most of my decision was if I’m ready or not,” he said. “I felt like I wasn’t ready to leave.” Many players in a similar position convince themselves they are ready for the NFL when, actually, the opposite is true. Give Street credit for keeping his priorities in order. Street’s a smart guy, whose leadership and skill level will be important this season.

– I chatted with Donald about the NFL Combine, and asked him how many reps of 225 pounds he could do in the weightlifting drills. He answered 30, which would put him among the top defensive line prospects eligible for the draft. Only four did more than that this week.

– Another year working with Pitt’s coaching staff will do Donald and Street a lot of good, but 12 months from now, they’ll be ready to play for a living.

I remember the night North Carolina State announced it had hired Dave Huxtable to be its defensive coordinator. It was Dec. 14, less than two weeks after Pitt’s final regular-season game and more than three weeks before the BBVA Compass Bowl.
(The announcement interrupted a nice dinner I was having with my wife and some friends, but that’s another story.)
Pitt coach Paul Chryst was not sorry to see Huxtable go, even though an inexperienced Pitt defense overachieved at times, frustrating an undefeated Notre Dame team for three quarters and allowing a total of only nine points against Rutgers and South Florida.
But there were defensive disappointments that were more significant than those high points:
– Giving up 31 points and 204 rushing yards to Youngstown State
– Allowing 34 points and too many big plays to Cincinnati.
– Losing a 21-17 halftime lead to Louisville, which scored three touchdowns in 10 minutes of the third quarter (with the help of a botched punt snap by Pitt).
– Falling behind Connecticut, 24-0, at halftime six days after almost upsetting the Irish. (Special teams share part of that blame, too, surrendering an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown.)
Huxtable was/is a gruff presence, and he was not shy about voicing loud displeasure toward individual Pitt players. But he was/is a hard worker who refused to take shortcuts. He slept in his office during training camp and stubbornly demanded spotless technique on the practice field.
Because Chryst was not caught looking the other way when Huxtable left (in fact, he encouraged it), it was reasonable to think he had a replacement in mind and would hire one quickly. But Chryst remained focused on the team prior to the bowl game and on recruiting through the month of January. He should be lauded for having his priorities in order.
But now it’s been two months, and spring (actually, winter) practice begins March 5. Asked about the hiring process a week ago on signing day, Chryst said with a smile, “We are going to name one.”
Gotta love his sense of humor.
Chryst said he has spoken to candidates and would be able to spend more time finding a coordinator with the 2013 recruiting class secured.
“We have to get going on this defensive coordinator thing so we have one for spring ball,” he said.
There have been a few names connected to the job by fans and Websites:
– Former Pitt defensive back Teryl Austin (who served as Urban Meyer’s DC at Florida in 2010 and is now the secondary coach of the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens).
– Former North Carolina State defensive coordinator Mike Archer, a career coach who was head coach at LSU and Steelers linebackers coach under Bill Cowher.
– Central Catholic graduate Todd Orlando, who was the DC at Florida International before head coach Mario Cristobal was fired at the end of the season. Orlando played at Wisconsin where he was a roommate to Pitt offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph.
– Also, Atlanta Falcons secondary coach Tim Lewis, a former Pitt cornerback and Green Bay Packers first-round draft choice, probably wouldn’t mind reviving his career as a coordinator (he served the Steelers and New York Giants in that capacity.) Lewis, whose nephew Ryan will be a redshirt freshman cornerback next season at Pitt, was an assistant under Johnny Majors  in 1993 and 1994.
– It’s also possible Chryst could promote secondary coach Matt House or linebackers coach Chris Haering.
Of course, Pitt fans are worried that the delay in hiring a coordinator is an indicator of a bigger problem. Is Pitt offering enough money? Is Pitt not an attractive job for good, ambitious coaches? Is Chryst lacking in contacts?
I don’t buy most of their concerns, although no one really knows what salary is being offered. If Chryst hires the right man and the defense continues to develop, no one will remember or care that Pitt had no defensive coordinator for these past two months. For now, he deserves the benefit of doubt. He knows a lot more about hiring a coach than any fan criticizing him.
But if the defense struggles, fans will blame the coordinator and the length of time Chryst took to hire him.

Let’s set the record straight on Pitt recruit Jeremiah Taleni, the big defensive tackle who lives and goes to high school in Hawaii.
“I’m Samoan,” he told me late Wednesday night. “I’m just from Hawaii.”
One more thing: Taleni said he could have gone to the University of Hawaii and play Division I football, but he decided to reach a little higher.
“My plan was to play on the east coast,” he said. “To bring Islanders to the east coast. I was trying to set a trend.”
Washington State and Massachusetts also offered Taleni a scholarship, but Pitt was closer to the east coast, his intended destination. More importantly, Taleni developed a good relationship with defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield and coach Paul Chryst.
Taleni said Pitt coaches told him that he is the first player from Hawaii to be offered a scholarship by the university.
I can’t say that Taleni will be a star at Pitt, but I’ll say this: The kid is a bullet off the snap. It’s not that Hawaiian offensive linemen couldn’t block him. On a lot of the video I watched, Taleni was past the blockers before they had a chance to get in his way.
At 315 pounds, he has quickness that is rare for a player of that size.
Taleni, of course, has a lot to learn and the linemen he eventually will face in the ACC won’t be as easy to defeat. Some of them will be just as quick off the ball. If he’s not redshirted this season, most people will be surprised.
But he’s an athlete worth watching.
Taleni is the 25th prospect to verbally commit to the Panthers. Already, it’s the largest class at Pitt since 2006. Expect a few more commitments in the next three weeks.

Pitt has 25 prospects on its 2013 football pledge list, including only three four-stars (Tyler Boyd, Dorian Johnson and Tre’von Chapman).
Yet, the little-known prospects — especially four big offensive lineman — could turn this year’s recruiting class into one of the best in the ACC. Rivals.com ranked Pitt’s class sixth in the conference last week.
Pitt has pledges from 13 three-stars and nine two-stars, including defensive tackle Jeremiah Taleni, the first Hawaiian offered a football scholarship by Pitt (or, at least, in anyone’s memory). Taleni may not help until 2014, but his quickness at 315 pounds has the Pitt coaches intrigued.
A couple of other lightly recruited players from Wisconsin could end up at Pitt, too, after visiting this weekend.
They are:
– Wide receiver Jester Weah of Madison (Wisc.) Memorial High School, who is just starting to scratch the surface of his potential, according to coach Mike Galindo.
Weah has been mainly a basketball player at Madison, starting as a sophomore for a state championship team in Wisconsin’s biggest classification, averaging 20 points per game this season and recording six dunks in one game.
Galindo said Weah, whose uncle George was a celebrated Liberian soccer player who once ran unsuccessfully for president in that nation, is one of the top athletes ever at the school that is known for its outstanding sports teams.
“He figured (football) out real fast,” Galindo said. “He is a natural learner.”
– Linebacker Zach Poker of Oconomowoc (Wisc.) High School, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound athlete, who is being recruited by Pitt as a linebacker. But he played wide receiver, fullback, tight end, kicker, punter and returned kicks in high school.
He also plays basketball and has thrown the shot put 60 feet.
Poker is looking at Air Force and Army, along with Pitt and Western Michigan, but his coach Ryan McMillen said Poker turned down scholarship offers from some MAC schools because he didn’t like their engineering program. That’s the type of character player coach Paul Chryst wants to add to his program. If they can play, of course.
Weah and Poker don’t even have offers from Pitt yet. And if they get them and accept, they likely will be redshirted next season. But they could develop into good players and, eventually, help the Panthers build desperately needed depth.
Pitt recruited a similar athlete last season when it offered a scholarship to offensive lineman Gabe Roberts, who could have walked on at Wisconsin. Roberts was redshirted last season by the Panthers, but he could compete for a starting job in 2013.
“The first thing (Pitt) kids say when you mention that kid’s name is `He’s a beast,’ ” said Bob Lichtenfels, a nationally known recruiting analyst with 247.com.
“Sometimes, that kid with fewer offers has more to play for and he comes in a little hungrier. Just because they are under the rader to us doesn’t mean they are under the radar to (coaches). You have certain guys who fit what you are trying to do.”

While talking to Oconomowoc coach Ryan McMillen, I asked him how the high school coaches in the state feel about Chryst and other members of his Pitt staff, who previously coached at Wisconsin.
“Their presence is felt. They have built a lot of relationships,” McMillen said. “They have built a lot of trust.”