It’s not like college and pro football are the only ones getting ready for the new season. There’s high school football. Importantly to college football fans — recruits.
Pitt commit Lucas Nix got some love as the Trib has been writing about Western PA seniors for the past week.

“He’s so athletic,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “He’s big. He can run. He’s nasty. He wants to not hurt you, well, yeah, he wants to hurt you, but I mean he’s not trying to do that, but he has all the tools, all the gifts. He’s not a complete player right now, but he’s got to keep working. The sky is the absolute limit for him. His potential is out the window.”

The five-star offensive lineman’s upside should be evident this year during his final season at Thomas Jefferson and then at Pitt, where he committed to play college ball. For now, Nix is focused on getting Thomas Jefferson back to the PIAA championship, where he helped the Jaguars to a state title in 2004 as a starting freshman.

“Since I’ve committed to college, I feel like I can just come here, try to lead this team and do the best I can to get us back to the state championship,” Nix said. “I was there once. It’s just, I guess, the thing you wait for all year. You work, try to go 16 weeks through the whole season, plus all summer, just to get to that one game and win that one game.”

Apparently he can do a split. That just hurts to think about it.

The best player in the City League this year is WR Ed Tinker.

And the offers came. Tinker has received interest from some prominent Division I schools, including Pitt, West Virginia, Louisville and Iowa. Still, in light of the acclaim, he refuses to be complacent.

“This whole summer I’ve been training and lifting, working on my routes and trying to get better,” he said.

Working alongside Pitt and West Virginia players at the Warrington Recreation Center on the South Side, Tinker has tried to lift his stock. He said he anticipates more scholarship offers throughout the season.

Rivals.com and Scout.com have him as a 3-star recruit. He doesn’t seem like a high priority for Pitt. He’s got a lot of tools and at 6′ 3″, 195 a good frame for a WR. He’s the second best WR in Pennsylvania (#22 overall according to Rivals.com), but I was under the impression Pitt was more interested in Vaughn Carraway (the #1 WR prospect in PA — also 3-stars from Rivals.com but 4-stars at Scout.com).

Finally, a raw project, maybe at linebacker in Chet Welc.

Welc has been a three-year starter on both the baseball and basketball teams, earning all-conference honors in baseball his sophomore and junior seasons and becoming both an offensive and defensive force on the hardwood. Now, Welc is about to begin his third season as a starter on the Vikings’ football team, and it’s this venue that he believes will give him the greatest opportunity to play sports at the collegiate level.

“I like all three sports,” he said. “Football is just what I’m going to do in my future.”

Welc said he has been scouted by several schools, including two of his favorites, Pitt and West Virginia.

“I grew up watching Pitt,” he said. “And West Virginia is an awesome team. I’ve been down there a couple times, and it’s just a great place to be.”

Welc at this point is an unranked, 1-star recruit. No actual offers yet. His athleticism may tempt Coach Wannstedt to offer late if a scholarship is still open. A big if.

The reports immediately after yesterday’s scrimmage were closer to negative on the offense outside of LeSean McCoy. In the papers today, the stories seemed to have mellowed on the offense. Focusing on Bill Stull being the starter in all but official title.

Coach Dave Wannstedt didn’t anoint him as the starting quarterback for the Pitt football team, but junior Bill Stull is a step closer to earning the job after another solid performance in the Panthers’ second intrasquad scrimmage Saturday morning at the UPMC Sports Complex.

“I think it’s Billy’s job today, but I’m not going to name a starter yet,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got another scrimmage coming up (Wednesday) and a couple more two-a-days, but I’m pleased with the progress that Billy’s making. (So), it’s Billy’s job, and we’ll see what happens.”

Kevan Smith’s performance was totally skipped to instead focus on Pat Bostick as the other QB practicing with the 3d team.

Bostick was sharper at 10-for-13 for 79 yards and two touchdowns, with a long toss of 17 yards and no picks. He played almost exclusively with the third-team players Saturday morning.

“It was good for Pat,” Wannstedt said. “He got about 25 plays, and I think he did great. When you talk about just showing up four days ago and coming in and getting with his teammates and the media and all that’s involved with that, from the start I thought he responded well and got his feet wet.”

When asked if he thought Bostick — who left camp before it started and returned Tuesday — still had a shot at the starting job, Wannstedt said no. But he quickly added: “I think we just keep competing.”

Media requests to speak with Bostick after practice were — and I know this will be a shocker — denied.

The one constant was that LeSean McCoy has everybody totally impressed with his talent.

But, judging by his performance yesterday in the second scrimmage of the preseason, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes the starter.

McCoy, Pitt’s most-hyped freshman, put on a scintillating display of running skills. He rushed for 78 yards and scored a touchdown on 10 carries and was by far the star for an inconsistent first-team offense.

McCoy gave a good deal of credit to the O-line.  Most aren’t buying it since Stephens-Howling and Collier were generally stuffed on most of their carries.

Considering the other talent at RB in the Big East — Ray Rice, Steve Slaton (and Devine), Donald Brown and possibly Mike Ford (at USF) — McCoy running wild forces a cynical thought that the Pitt run defense is still the same run defense. It’s just that Pitt may have a RB with similar talent.

Moving through things quickly (and cynically) as I actually dared to live in the offline world today.

Conredge Collins is a fullback, but still hopes to be a tailback. Nothing new there. Just that he’s more willing to block at this point. Again, nothing new, since he said that last year as well. Does he mean it this time? Was he lying last year?

Scott McKillop is likely the starting MLB this season. He seems to feel a little put upon by the coded language of sports that doesn’t take his athleticism as seriously because he is white. Or something like that. Just a weird piece.

Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop knows the words generally used to describe him as a football player paint him as gritty and smart, a hard worker, too. He also knows that such complimentary terms are based, at least in part, on stereotypes related to race and his position.

And while he understands that, he believes people sell his athletic ability short and, because he is one of the best all-around athletes on the Panthers’ football team, that bothers him.

“But I never hear people say I’m fast,” said McKillop, rolling his eyes. “And that’s the kind of stuff I use as inspiration to play faster and better, to show everyone that a stereotype is not always right and to show I can play just as fast as anyone.”

Okay. Fine. Moving on.

Two reports on the scrimmage today. Pittsburgh Sports Report had an account (hat tip to Sara D) and so did Kevin Gorman. The one thing both agreed is that LeSean McCoy looked really good.

Gorman’s post noted that McCoy is a complete master of the cliche.

As electrifying as McCoy was on the field, he remains humble off the field. Kid sounds like he was coached by Crash Davis for interviews.

I noted that habit of McCoy last week.

The PSR report was very hard on the offense, while Gorman seemed a little less harsh. Defense continued to look vastly superior seems to be the ongoing story. Pat Bostick did look good with the 3d team and already it seems that Kevan Smith could be passed by Bostick on the QB depth chart.

Johnny Majors was at the scrimmage and he was impressed by Punter Dave Brytus who finally had a good day at camp.

Punter Dave Brytus atoned for a miserable performance in the first scrimmage with three booming punts and a solid fourth one. Johnny Majors had these reactions to Brytus’s first two punts:

1 – “Good God Almighty, look at that punt!! Who is that kid??”

2 – “Look at this kick! God Almighty. This is the best punter we’ve had for quite some time.”

His first kick went just shy of 50 yards and had tremendous hang time. The second had even better hang time and traveled 45 yards. He hit another 42 yards and a fourth 39.

Naturally, Connor Lee completely struggled on field goal kicking to provide the balance.

Yes, I saw the Sports Illustrated bit about the Big East preview and Pitt picked for 6th with a 5-7 (2-5 in conference) record. What’s to say. I think 7-5 is just as possible but 5-7 doesn’t seem particularly absurd either. No Pitt players in the Big East top-10 players from SI, though that may be due to Kinder’s ACL injury.

Seems like there have been a few stories (at least) about Dorin Dickerson playing linebacker. Updates each week as he appears to keep improving and getting better. The latest on Dickerson getting closer.

Dickerson’s big-play ability has overshadowed his mistakes. To the naked eye, it’s easy to notice his closing speed in pass coverage and diving interceptions. What film study shows, however, is a linebacker who tends to over-pursue and has trouble shedding linemen’s blocks.

That’s where Gunn has an edge at the moment, although Wannstedt warned that Dickerson is “real close.”

“If you were just worried about a percentage grade, about who was right and wrong every snap, then Adam is going to grade out very high,” Rhoads said. “Conversely, when you are looking at a production grade, Dorin’s probably grading out a little higher because he’s making more plays. There’s a happy medium you’re trying to find there.”

The minute Dickerson shows any consistency, the job will be his. That’s one of Wannstedt’s favorite issues. Consistency.

Safety Eric Thatcher features prominently in this AP story about the defense hoping it is better than last year.

One of the defense’s biggest weaknesses last season was at safety as both Thatcher, the free safety, and strong safety Phillips were injured. Phillips played in all 12 games but started only five because of lingering effects of a severe ankle injury that occurred in 2005.

Pitt also looks to be deep along the defensive line, led by Gus Mustakas and Rashaad Duncan.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here that I like our depth on the defensive line,” Wannstedt said. “I like our secondary play.”

…

Despite that, Thatcher can already sense a difference between this season and last, and he likes the change.

“It’s going to be different, the camaraderie is a little different,” he said. “People had a tougher offseason, and they got used to it, seeing how high-intensity we have to be to be a really good football team. So we’ll see what’s up.”

Of course, if the post topic is defense, how can there not be the gratuitous shot at Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads. From Kevin Gorman’s blog post on the first scrimmage the other day.

The dominance of the defense in Pitt’s first scrimmage was rewarding for defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, perhaps the most embattled member of Dave Wannstedt’s staff.

The Panthers are trying to shore up a defense that allowed an average of 274.8 rushing yards and 467.6 total yards in the final five games last season and are doing so without the benefit of a bona fide superstar.

Now that Rhoads has taken over the duties of coaching the linebackers, there is an added emphasis on the play of the front four and how it affects the linebacker corps. That the defense kept the first-team offense out of the end zone until red-zone drills lifted their spirits.

A. There’s no “perhaps” about it. Name another member of the coaching staff that is even close to where Rhoads is in fan dissatisfaction. Who should be in it deeper than Rhoads?

B. Gee, if he’s responsible for the linebackers, as well as the overall defense, now he is concerned on how much they have to do? If it actually makes a difference this season, give Coach Wannstedt credit for recognizing that Rhoads likes to make whatever unit he has direct oversight look good and using it to help the defense.

When he had the focus on the secondary, he wouldn’t put them in a position to get burned at the expense of the rest of the defense. Now that he’s got the linebackers, he doesn’t want them looking bad.

Pat Bostick has been back for a couple of days but his practice has been limited since he can’t go to full pads yet, per NCAA regs.

Bostick will take third-team repetitions behind junior Bill Stull and redshirt freshman Kevan Smith, but he already took some second-team snaps away from Smith yesterday.

“They know it’s a competition, and I don’t think they’re going to get hung up on Pat getting some reps mixed in,” Cavanaugh said. “He would’ve been getting them anyway. … So, they all know they’re competing, and they all trust us as a staff that we’ll do the right thing. And we’ll play the guy that we believe is the best one. So, they’ll let it play out.”

Bostick has been offlimits to the media from the outset. He couldn’t talk at media day because NCAA regulations prohibit incoming recruits to do interviews until they’ve had a practice. Bostick left before practice began, and now Pitt is shielding him for a few days. Wannstedt believed Bostick will be ready to talk after Saturday’s scrimmage.

His teammates have been supportive.

To hear a few of his teammates tell it, Bostick received a warm welcome upon his return.

“He didn’t just leave because he wanted to,” senior offensive tackle Jeff Otah said. “The guy was going through some things. He kind of had to get himself away so he could get himself together. I told him, ‘It’s OK. We’re here for you; we’re family.’ Whatever he wants to talk about, I’m going to be here.”

Senior cornerback Lowell Robinson said he spoke with Bostick on the sideline during Tuesday’s scrimmage.

“He told me he felt good and he just needed that time,” Robinson said. “He said he went home, got his thoughts together, and he’s ready to come back and work hard. Once I heard that, I just left him alone. He didn’t go into detail.”

Both Otah and Robinson were JUCO transfers. New to the program and the situation when they came in, yet expected to be upperclassmen and contribute quickly. Given Bostick’s situation — despite being a true freshman — they probably can relate a lot easier to what he might be going through.

Bill Stull, though, is still the starter and it seems his performance has improved the last couple days.

Perhaps the late arrival of Pat Bostick has lit a fire in the competitive spirit of Stull, as the junior quarterback was at his sharpest yet throwing the ball.

“Billy is continuing to get better every day,” Wannstedt said. “I don’t know what his completion percentage was, but we really weren’t a whole lot different going into today’s practice as we were a year ago at this time, as far as completion percentage with all our quarterbacks. We’ve got a lot of work to do but we do see progress being made.”

Stull’s willingness to play through the pain and come back out on the field quickly after an injury to his thumb gets him more credibility and leading by example on the team.

“Everyone looks up to the quarterback position as the leader,” Stull said. “And you never know, they see you with a little cut on your thumb and they see you sitting out for a week, they might start to second-guess your toughness and start to doubt you. But sitting out was never an option, I wanted to see if I could tape it up and get back out there and be with my team.

“The one practice I had to sit out — to sit there and not do anything, for me personally didn’t work. I just want to be out there practicing 24/7 with the team.”

He’s going to have to be tough. Especially if the O-line doesn’t start coming together.

Last week Craig Bokor was trying to make the depth chart at DT. More importantly, he just wanted to stay at one position on one side of the ball after being yo-yo’d in his redshirt year, last season and even in spring. So much for that idea.

Redshirt sophomore Craig Bokor moved from defensive tackle to offensive left guard, and split second-team reps with true freshman Chris Jacobson.

“I think he can go over there and be a second-team player relatively quick,” Wannstedt said. “And then who knows from there.”

It’s one thing to move a kid to a different spot on one line. But to keep shifting him from offense to defense has to be killing his development. I’m sure the kid is saying all the right things and just keeps his head down and works hard. After a while, though, it starts to get unfair. The constant shifting may make him a useful utility player, but it also means he can’t stay settled and really learn and compete for a starting job. He’s always going to be a bit further behind.

To a lesser extent, freshman Aaron Smith seems to be dealing with the same thing.

Freshman Aaron Smith moved from cornerback to receiver, a position he initially played last August before a shoulder injury forced him to grayshirt. Smith was a third-team corner, but can help the receiver position, which was down to seven after losing senior Derek Kinder and redshirt freshman walk-on Francis Johns to torn ACLs.

“We recruited him as a receiver/athlete,” Wannstedt said of Smith. “We moved him just because of the depth situation. We’ll see what transpires.”

I realize the depth chart is important and I know most of the kids just want to play. The shifting doesn’t help their chances that greatly when they have to keep moving from one side to the other. Coach Wannstedt and the staff seem to really emphasize knowing the position before playing. It puts them behind and keeps them there. It only makes the depth chart look more balanced.

Things have been continually hectic. Part of that is because FanHouse is doing conference previews and starting yesterday we are rolling out Big East previews. Matt Glaude (‘Cuse), John Radcliff (WVU) and I are handling the previews and Big East posting all season long. More Posts coming today through Saturday. You should be able to key in on just the Big East previews by going here.

Absolutely no connection, but worth looking at: Beer Pong Tables of the Big East.

Dennis covered the depth chart, and beat writers in Pittsburgh can rejoice that they don’t have to deal with Nick Saban berating them for even speculating on such a thing.

Zeise put down the Harris-Wannstedt player divide rumor started on FoxSports/CollegeFootballNews.com/Scout.com. What makes it really ridiculous is that the numbers don’t work for a real divide. There are only 24 Seniors, fifth year seniros and redshirt juniors according to the ’07 Pitt Media Guide, p. 107. Just a quick eyeball takes out at least 3 who are transfers or JUCOs. That brings the total number of players who had even 1 year of being coached by or had regular contact with Walt Harris to maybe 21. Only a quarter of the locker room. Even if you pretended that all of them had some resentment to Wannstedt percolating under the surface, it just doesn’t work.
Yes, several juniors and redshirt sophomores were recruited by Harris, but they still signed LOIs with Wannstedt already hired and have only been coached by him. That story may have been believable in 2005 or even last year to some extent, but  not at the start of year 3.

Coach Wannstedt is also not phased by the things that have happened over the summer and training camp.

Wannstedt said most of those problems have been resolved and the ones that haven’t, such as the loss of Fields and Kinder, are the same kinds of things every program is dealing with. He said the players have rallied around each other and have not missed a beat.

“I’ve been doing this for 33 years and I’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way, some easy some I had to learn the hard way,” Wannstedt said. “When you have adversity, you have to understand the adversity you are dealing with at the present time doesn’t impact your life, or in our case your team, nearly as much as how you respond to it. That’s a real key principle for us.

“Good football teams overcome adversity, not by dwelling on it but by figuring out how to use it as a positive. If you have a solid foundation, and we have a great foundation with the backbone being our coaches and support system provided by the university and athletic department, then you won’t waver or falter when adversity hits.”

The angst and freaking out should be left to the fans. We have much more practice at freaking out over these things.

You probably know that Tuesday afternoon was Pitt’s first scrimmage — and the defense got the job done. In Wednesday’s Post-Gazette, Paul Zeise took the info (most of which we already knew) and started to sort out the depth chart.

Over the next week, it’ll become even clearer.

“This is a big week for us,” Wannstedt said. “We have another big scrimmage Saturday then, after that scrimmage, we’ll be able to zero in a little bit more. But we have three or four good days of work and then the scrimmage and by then I think the guys will start separating themselves.”

The QB situation is going to take more than the rest of this week to be figured out.

Junior Bill Stull has a firm grip on the starting job and has separated himself from redshirt freshman Kevan Smith and the rest of the pack. He will be the starter Sept. 1, but the wild card is freshman Pat Bostick, who Wannstedt said still has a chance to play his way back into the mix.

So even once the season starts (with Stull likely starting), could we still possibly see Bostick take over the starting job a few weeks into the season? And not many questions at the running backs spot, except wondering how many touches LeSean McCoy will get.

Zeise perfectly describes the fullback situation as, “Not much drama here — Conredge Collins is the starter…” One change at fullback I would like to see? How about getting Collins more carries. It seemed like it would have worked last year but maybe with the emergence of McCoy it won’t be necessary.

The theme with the wide recievers is how they’re being shifted after Derek Kinder’s injury. Turner, Porter, Pestano, and McGee are all being moved up and will see the bulk of the playing time there. Kinder’s absense could lead to more balls thrown towards the tight ends — which have already been covered at length.

All of the info on the offensive skill players isn’t anything new or surprising. Everything gets a bit more unclear when things move to the line, also noted in Chas’ post yesterday. Mike McGlynn can be mentioned at center, guard, and tackle and he’s the wildcard. Where he plays is determined by what he shows and how the other linemen perform. Nothing can really be set until we figure out what’s going to happen with him, but where ever he plays he’ll be counted on to be a leader and do a good job.

But the offensive line has to look better than it is. Who knows if the defense will be better against the run this year (I know, statistically and ranking-wise it will hard to be worse). It will be fine at this rate if other teams have an O-line like Pitt’s.

The starting defense held a decisive edge in Pitt’s first scrimmage of training camp Tuesday, keeping the first-team offense out of the end zone in the first four series.

“Offensively, we’ve got a ways to go,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “I would expect that. I was disappointed with the first three or four series offensively. We really didn’t get much going. On the other side, when you’re scrimmaging against yourself, you’re happy for the defense.”

The first drive ended in three plays, the second by an interception by middle linebacker Scott McKillop, the third with defensive tackle Gus Mustakas whipping fullback Conredge Collins down after a screen and the fourth with safety Eric Thatcher stopping Collins on third-and-goal at the 5.

…

LaRod Stephens-Howling led all rushers with 32 yards on seven carries, as the offense rushed for 81 yards on 38 carries, an average of 2.1 yards per carry.

“We stopped the run,” McKillop said. “That’s one of the big things of emphasis this year.”

Scrimmage stats are admittedly useless, but observations aren’t.

The defensive line dominated the offensive line most of the day and, not coincidentally, the defense dominated the offense as well. The offense had only one sustained touchdown drive, although the touchdown came when a defensive back fell down.

Kevin Gorman was more diplomatic in his blog, by interspersing Coach Wannstedt quotes that downplayed things or praised individuals or anything.

Although the offensive line struggled mightily, Wannstedt isn’t completely discouraged.

“I like the individual ability levels of the guys, but that’s usually the last group, unit-wise, to come together,” Wannstedt said. “It’s going to take some time. We’re not there yet. We’re going to need all of training camp before we get that group in sync and playing at the level they need to play at.”

The excuse that Mike McGlynn not being there on the line doesn’t make me feel better. That just scares me that the rest of the line is not close. If that’s the drop-off from McGlynn is that steep then it won’t matter how good LeSean McCoy is or how determined LaRod Stephens-Howling is. There won’t be anywhere for them to run.

The passing game will face a similar fate. No matter who the QB is, he will be new and any vaguely competent DC knows you blitz a new QB to get him to make a mistake. Especially when the receivers and tight ends are good enough to deal with coverage. It does no good if there is no time to get them the ball.

Really, is there a college coach who wouldn’t want to redshirt his freshmen if he could? They’d also like to be able to lock the players for all 4 years with 1 or 2 extra years of eligibility. Last year 16 freshmen played and 11 redshirted for Pitt (2007 Media guide, page 107). With 23 freshmen (including gray shirt Justin Hargrove but subtracting Kyle Hubbard), Coach Wannstedt can talk about it for the future, but it is likely to be a similar comparison this season.

In fact, the actual number of freshmen who see the field likely will be less than a handful, and Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said that is a sign his program is slowly getting to the point where it has enough depth to not have to rely on many freshmen.

He said that will be a welcome change from the way things have been in his first two seasons, when a number of freshmen were thrown into action out of necessity before they were ready. And while he believes there will always be a need for some freshmen to play, he hopes to get to the point where he has the luxury of redshirting most of his freshmen.

“It would be nice to be able to redshirt as many as we can,” Wannstedt said. “I’d hope to be able to do so. You’d like to get to a point where you have enough depth where you’re playing only four or five of the guys, particularly the skilled guys. We’ll redshirt as many as we can but we’re not there yet. We probably need two more recruiting classes. We’ve had two full classes since I’ve been here and need probably two more to really have the depth to start being a little more choosier about who we play and who we redshirt.”

Here are the players not likely to redshirt from the 23 because of depth and/or talent reasons:

• Justin Hargrove — DL
• Dom DeCicco — S
• John Fieger — OL
• Greg Gaskins — OL
• Jordan Gibbs — OL
• Chris Jacobson — OL
• Tony Tucker — DL
• LeSean McCoy — RB
• Maurice Williams — WR
• Aundre Wright — WR
• Aaron Smith — CB
• Buddy Jackson — CB
• Sherod Murdock — CB
• Henry Hynoski — FB
• Shariff Harris — RB
• Myles Caragein — DL

That’s 16 possible. Again, not all of them will, but based on the first week reports from camp, projected talent and (lack of) depth at positions these are the most likely to be on the depth chart and seeing playing time this season.

The battle for the remaining back-up Defensive End was the subject of this story. Chris McKillop and Joe Clermond are the starters and Greg Romeus seems to have one back-up spot nailed down. That leaves the other with redshirt freshman Tyler Tkach, and freshmen Hargrove, Tucker and Sheard.

“They’re different kinds of players with different strengths,” defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “The hard part is getting them comfortable, because in our system they’ve got to know both sides. The faster they can learn, the faster they can play.”

Sheard appears to have the inside edge. He worked with the second unit opposite Tkach in team drills Monday, while Romeus ran with the first team in place of McKillop, who was resting a sore hamstring.

Sheard was also the focus of the story. The hook is that Sheard was a swimmer and a lifeguard. He’s raw but athletic and talented according to Gattuso.

In Zeise’s brief Q&A yesterday evening he thinks a lot more of the balls that would have gone Derek Kinder’s way will be spread among the three tight ends.

Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com blogs briefly (Insider subs.) that he doesn’t buy the Ron Cook premise that Pitt will be better in the long run with Kinder out for 2007.

I disagree. To me, that’s like saying I was better off in the long run when I told my parents the truth behind what happened to their sofa while they were out of town when I was in high school. Sure, it opened the lines of communication, but did that year of awkwardness really make things better between us? No, of course not. Now Pitt is more likely to struggle in 2007. This will only further undercut Dave Wannstedt’s talk of being a top 25 program to recruits and make it that much harder to battle the West Virginias and Louisvilles of the world.

Good point, since we’ve been focused on wins and losses and the possibility of 2008 as the season actually gets close. Recruiting and perception-wise another sub-par season only hurts Wannstedt on the recruiting trail and whispers that he can’t do anything with the talent he recruits.

According to the press release statement from his dad, Pat Bostick will be at training camp today.

“We’re driving out [in the morning], speaking for Pat, he’s really excited to get back with his teammates and the coaching staff. He’s looking forward to it. I know he’s going to be there [for the afternoon practice], I don’t know if he’ll be in pads or not, but he’ll be there. I don’t think he’ll be thrown out there tomorrow, but I think he’ll be competing relatively quickly. The situation will depend on how things play out.”

Barring injuries or just a complete grasp of the playbook and physical dominance, the odds of Bostick not redshirting this year are looking very slim.  In the longterm, that is probably a good thing.

Just keeping watch on players who might sign a LOI with Pitt.

Johnathan Baldwin had a Q&A with the P-G yesterday and today it’s an interview with the Trib. Baldwin won’t be announcing anything until signing day. From a family connections standpoint there’s the fact that his dad, Jeff, played DE at Pitt. There’s also the fact that he looks at Darrelle Revis as an inspiration.

“I was the water boy for two weeks when (Revis was in) camp (at Aliquippa),” Baldwin said. “He was telling me I had potential and I could be a big-time player at Aliquippa in the years to come. He just told me to stay humble and be focused, just do what you have to do. Leave it all on the field.”

Perhaps the man who has the biggest influence on Baldwin is his father, Jeff, who played defensive end at Aliquippa and Pitt. Jeff Baldwin takes a notepad with him to every one of his son’s games, noting his flaws so they can work on them at home. More importantly, Jeff Baldwin makes sure his son lives up to his incredible athletic potential.

The thing that makes me worry, though, is how much he wants to play football and how much it is just because it is perceived as the easier path.

“It was this year after the (NFL) Draft and I decided I was going to go for football,” Baldwin said. “If I had a good college career in football I think I probably had a better chance than if I played basketball.

“I always thought about the NBA, all the time. I never really thought about football, NFL football. I’d probably pick basketball (if I could go to pros in both), but I’m going for football so I got to love it,” he said.

That doesn’t mean, though, that Baldwin is settling for football. It’s now his focus since he gave up AAU basketball this summer and lifted instead. Now, he runs stadium stairs or extra laps after practice and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to start his day by doing 1,000 push-ups in an hour.

“I just stay focused,” Baldwin said. “I was already a good student. I was working hard at my game. My mom and dad tell me to run extra laps after practice, run full sprints, make sure you finish first every time, don’t let anybody beat you … so I do what they say.”

It’s a candid admission, and logical. Given his reputed talent, it may not be a big thing in high school, but it still seems like his heart is still on the hardwood. Just that little bit of desire not being there for the chosen sport can be huge at higher levels.

Up in the Rochester area, Averin Collier is preparing for his senior season. He has his choices narrowed down to Georgia Tech, Pitt and Clemson. Clemson has a slight lead he has indicated, even if Pitt has been the only campus he actually visited. Some of it may come down to the position he wants to play. Pitt seems to have him as a defensive back, but he seems to be focusing on the offense and as the running back this season. He has increased his conditioning.

It’s helped that Collier also has bought into Dick’s offseason program. He can deep-squat close to 450 pounds and bench-press 300 pounds.

“I’m by no means saying he is as good as an NFL running back, but with those lifts, he’s definitely as strong as an NFL running back,” says Dick, who won a silver medal at the U.S. Olympic weight-lifting trials 19 years ago. We had a lot of kids go from boys to men in the offseason because they put the time in and realized championships are won in the offseason.”

The article also indicates that Tackle Steve Dunn (he plays offensive and defensive) is drawing interest from Pitt.

Finally another player drawing Pitt’s attention is Linebacker Michael Matt of Jeannette. Matt tore the ACL in his right knee last October and is itching to get back out there to show he’s recovered. Pitt and several other schools are also watching.

Matt is hoping to have a big year and earn a Division I scholarship. He’s received interest from Buffalo, Tennessee, Pitt and Penn State. He expects more during the season.

“Teams want to see how my knee holds up,” Matt said. “But I’m ready.”

It probably doesn’t hurt that he’s close friends with teammate Terrelle Pryor.

So that’s how he got the nickname Shady?

“My mom gave me that nickname. She said I was a shady baby,” said McCoy, who took more snaps with the first team yesterday than he had previously. “I’d cry and then be happy and smiling and she said I had a shady attitude. It has stuck with me since I was little so I just got used to it.”

I just refer to my boy as “Bi-polar Lad” when he acts that way. Though, this is my favorite sighting (and Season 2 just came out).

There was a Q&A with Johnathan Baldwin, a top player out of Aliquippa. Nothing on his leanings yet.

Did you learn anything at all this spring when [Aliquippa basketball star] Herb Pope was shot at a party? Yeah, but I already knew you have to keep yourself away from certain things and certain people. Some people are jealous of you and you never know what can happen.

Redshirt Sophomore Craig Bokor is hoping not to move back and forth on the offensive and defensive lines. He just wants to stay at Defensive Tackle and play.

“It takes a long time to learn to play defensive line, but Craig has picked things up pretty quick this fall,” defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “It helped that he started in the spring, and he played both ways in high school.

“He’s a well-conditioned athlete who works hard on and off the field, and he’s been very coachable. So, I’ve asked to keep him at D-tackle because I think he can help us, and I know Coach Wannstedt feels that way, too.”

As the article notes, Bokor was moved to the spot because they needed to shore it up after some injuries. Now, the position is much, much deeper and he is just trying to stay in the rotation.

As expected, the majority of the stories concerned the receivers and who will step in for Derek Kinder.

Kinder’s absence intensified the competition for the starting receiver spots. There are seven candidates, all underclassmen: redshirt juniors Marcel Pestano and Austin Ransom, redshirt sophomores Cedric McGee and Oderick Turner, true sophomore T.J. Porter and true freshmen Maurice Williams and Aundre Wright.

“Most of those guys were jockeying for his spot,” Hill said. “Everyone wants to be the No. 1 guy.”

Every receiver also is capable of playing both receiver positions, which gives the Panthers a chance to look at different combinations during training camp.

The 6-foot-3 Turner, who led the Panthers with eight touchdown receptions last season, is the biggest target and a frontrunner at split end. McGee, the strongest and best blocker, was Kinder’s backup at flanker and has worked with the first team. Pestano is regarded as the smoothest and best route-runner of the group. Porter is the most explosive and maybe the best in the open field.

While explosive and playmaking ability is big for a WR, when the offense is a Wannstedt-Cavanaugh production you know they will be looking first for consistency.

“It is obviously a setback for us,” receivers coach Aubrey Hill said. “Now we need to regroup as receivers. We need to find the guys who are going to do things consistently right, which is what Derek did every day. But, knowing this group, they will respond and they’ve responded already.”

Bill Stull — who I think it is safe to say is the starting QB this season barring injury or a total meltdown — won’t be able to lean on Kinder in the huddle. Kinder was one of the team leaders and that puts more pressure on Stull. That’s a lot. There will be Mike McGlynn and Darrell Strong, but after that there won’t be any other seniors on the offense.
Ron Cook writes how this could be a good thing for Pitt in the long term. Well, at least for 2008.

Wannstedt has been pointing to ’08 all along. He won’t say that publicly even now that he has lost Kinder for this season. The last thing he’s going to do is feel sorry for himself and write off ’07. That wouldn’t be fair to his other players, who are working hard at training camp and are naive enough to think that, even without Kinder, they can win all seven home games or maybe six and somehow steal a win on the road to finish 7-5 and sneak into some second-rate bowl.

But that doesn’t change the fact Wannstedt long has targeted ’08 as Pitt’s breakthrough season. Almost all of the players will be his recruits, more than a handful, such as Bostick, highly regarded. Many will be experienced in Wannstedt’s system. He’ll lose some key people after this season, among them offensive linemen Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn, defensive end Joe Clermond, cornerback Kennard Cox and safety Mike Phillips. But those losses should hardly be devastating.

I am already sick of hearing about 2008. I realize that with the road games this season, the schedule isn’t set up for big success. Then you can add in a home slate that does it’s damnedest to keep enthusiasm curbed for this year.

Everyone officially associated with Pitt football is quietly whispering that come 2008, big things will happen. It assumes too much. It assumes that everyone will develop. It assumes the lines will finally be better. It assumes no key injuries. It assumes everything. It also assumes this season will suck.

I swear, I’m getting as sick as everyone else with running out of time and just having to do quick summaries.

LaRod Stephens-Howling is still the starting tailback for Pitt. Everyone else is just trying to be the 1st back-up.

That’s why Stephens-Howling isn’t threatened by McCoy. In fact, he is hoping McCoy is as good as advertised.

“I think it is great that Pitt keeps recruiting great players — that’s how we get better as a team,” Stephens-Howling said. “Why wouldn’t I want a great running back to come here — we’re trying to get better as a unit, we’re trying to become a much better team running the football, so everyone can help. I’ve enjoyed having LeSean around and Kevin Collier — the more good players we have the better.

“I’ve never thought this would be a one-man show, nor should it be. We are all one, we are all in this together and when I’m not in the game I’ll be rooting for the other guys to do a great job and I know they will and I know they’ll be rooting for me as well. We’re trying to win, that’s all we want to do.”

Walker said that the rotation of tailbacks will be determined by how they fare in camp, but there are basically five players vying for three spots. He said Stephens-Howling will be the starter while Collier, McCoy and freshmen Shariff Harris and Greg Williams will battle for the two other spots.

More love for the Johnstown Jet from his hometown paper.

Every coach loves the “tough” players. Freshman Maurice Williams got some love from Coach Wannstedt.

Williams worked with the quarterbacks Friday and has caught the coaching staff’s attention because of his athleticism and ability to bounce back from injury.

“He can do a lot of things,” Wannstedt said. “He gets hit early, his hand swells up. They go in and take an X-ray to see if it’s broken. It’s not broken. He comes back out, puts ice on it for 20 minutes and makes three plays at the end. That is very unusual for any player. What’s very encouraging about that is he’s a freshman. More than catching and athletic ability, I just like his toughness.”

Bill Stull was back at practice today, and his toughness also got praised.

Billy showed some toughness today. He has five stitches in his thumb and he was out there this morning and then in the afternoon. He has the stitches so he has a glove on and he’s a tough guy. Players that are surrounding him notice that. It was good to get him back out here and I thought we got a little better today.

Stull, it should be remembered, was also one of the first recruits Dave Wannstedt went after when he took the Pitt job at the end of 2004. Wannstedt got him to back off his verbal to Kentucky. To some degree there is a bit of loyalty to Stull for being one of the first guys — and that isn’t a bad thing.

Of course the ongoing struggles with snapping the ball to the QB is a bit of a strain.

The quarterback-center exchange has developed into such that the Panthers spent time after meetings Saturday with the offensive linemen and quarterbacks taking snaps. Those groups also were the first players on the field Sunday, trying to resolve the cause for the botches.

“We’re still not as clean as what we need to be with the quarterback-center exchanges,” Wannstedt said. “We’re going to spend the time and make the emphasis to get those little things cleaned up because they will eventually make a difference.”

Redshirt sophomore John Bachman is practicing at right tackle, but Wannstedt said Bachman can play any of the three positions on the offensive line. Bachman is one of Pitt’s top linemen, but his inability to adjust to snapping the ball made his transition to center torturous.

Meanwhile redshirt freshman Shane Corson has admitted that his academics might be more of a factor to keep him off of the O-line than a depth chart.

Now, he’s battling just to be academically eligible so that he has a chance to get on the field.

“I’m sitting on an academic thing right now,” Corson said during the team’s media day on Monday. “Depending on last semester … I’m having trouble, me and this professor (with) a lost midterm. I’m still in the dark. I don’t even know yet. When the summer grades are out, I’ll find out.”

Yeep.

Completing a troika of Johnstown articles, Wayne Jones expected to grayshirt, but is now on scholarship and trying to catch up on his conditioning to eventually contribute on the O-line.

“He’s pushing through it right now, and the most encouraging thing is that he’s not missing any runs,” Pitt defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “He’s working hard, and he’s dropping weight. It’s exactly what we want out of him.

“I personally believe we have the best conditioning coaches in the country, and if Wayne listens to them and keeps working hard he’s going to be a heck of football player as a 300-pounder in a year or two.

“He’s talented, and he can move pretty well,” Gattuso added. “But he was just too heavy. We don’t want big, heavy tackles in our program. We want them to be strong and quick, and you can’t move if you’re too heavy.”

I believe the term for Jones is “project.”