So far, so bad:

Today is the first day high school seniors can sign a letter of intent with a college, and North Hills running back Andrew Johnson will sign with the University of Miami.

At least that’s what Johnson told school officials yesterday at North Hills. He also came to the school to pick up a letter of intent from Miami that he has to sign.

This really hurts considering the lack of any strong candidates to run the ball for Pitt.

Penn Hills quarterback Anthony Morelli also committed to Pitt in the summer, but will announce today between Penn State and Pitt. Penn Hills coach Neil Gordon met with Morelli yesterday and said Morelli insisted he still hadn’t decided on a school.

Morelli and Johnson are two in a handful of recruits Pitt might lose. Darrell Strong, a tight end-quarterback at Plantation, Fla., committed to Pitt, but will instead sign with Auburn. Pitt wanted Strong as a tight end, but Strong (6 feet 5, 248 pounds) decided he wanted to play quarterback and Auburn was willing to let him play quarterback. Strong played quarterback at Plantation and also visited Mississippi State.

Johnny Peyton, a talented receiver from Dade City, Fla., won’t announce his decision until this morning, and Pitt and South Florida are the finalists. Peyton also had made a verbal commitment to Pitt.

“West Virginia still might have a slight chance, but I really think it’s Pitt or South Florida,” said Dale Caparaso, Peyton’s coach at Pasco High School. “Both have some negatives and some positives. The negative about Pittsburgh is it’s farther away and mom doesn’t get the chance to see him play as much. The negative thing about South Florida is it doesn’t have as big a name as Pittsburgh and hasn’t sent players to the NFL.”

Pitt also will have to wait until today to find out if it will get star linebacker James Bryant of Reading. Bryant will announce his decision at a 4:30 news conference. Pitt and Miami are the finalists.

USF isn’t even in the Big East yet, and we’re already struggling to keep recruits from going there.

According to the Tribune-Review, it’s a done deal for Morelli to Penn State.

Morelli, who chose the Panthers in August, told Pitt coaches last month that he would listen to overtures from other schools after his father criticized their silence over his omission from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Penn State was the only school Morelli visited. The Nittany Lions pulled out all the stops, as coach Joe Paterno personally handled much of the recruitment.

Morelli’s best friend, Penn Hills receiver-kicker Joe Prokopik, said Tuesday that he has accepted an invitation to go to Penn State as a preferred walk-on.

Pitt had extended the same offer to Prokopik, who converted 4 of 5 field-goal attempts, including a long of 46 yards, and 31 of 33 extra points this past season.

Barring Walt pulling a rabbit out of his ass hat with some JUCOs or a blue chipper that Pitt was a longshot to get, this recruiting class will be seen as a major disappointment. Another mark against the disappointing Pitt season that was.

Some are (probably accurately) already predicting a very defensive Walt Harris later today to discuss the recruiting class.

When Pitt coach Walt Harris steps to the microphone for an afternoon press conference today, he could be in the defensive mode. If two big ones got away, two home-grown big ones, it will be hard to put on a brave face.

Morelli and Johnson aren’t Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett — not yet, anyway — but they are a couple of players with high national profiles Harris thought he’d bagged with early commitments.

As it turns out, the bag had a hole. The question becomes, what or who made the hole?

Harris, who has become increasingly sensitive to criticism of his program from area sources, might blame the media.

“All the negative stuff doesn’t help us recruit, especially in our area,” he’d said in mid-December. “It doesn’t help us have a better football team. We’re a lot less respected in our community than elsewhere.”

The fractured state of the Big East Conference has to be a burden, too, to recruiting efforts.

Pitt’s relatively disappointing season, and the bowl loss, probably don’t help.

A staff that has lost its offensive coordinator, running backs coach and strength coach is perhaps another negative.

Harris better be donning thick skin because the questions are not going to be easily deflected or simply turned and blamed on negativity from the media and/or fans.