Best of luck to LeSean, he sure was fun to watch. I was always impressed with how he always did and said all the right things. Class kid.

Now if we could somehow get him in a Steeler’s uniform (not gonna happen, I know).

Shady was a first-class player and a stand-up dude for every minute of his time in Oakland. I loved watching him, and he elevated the program and its profile. I hate to break it to people, but he’s a great fit in New England. Anyway, I wish him nothing but the best. Hail to Pitt!

@TJ
If the Steelers hadn’t wasted their first pick on Mendenhall last year, they very likely would have looked at McCoy this year. Instead, the Steelers’ draft class was a complete bust (only Sweed and Mendenhall played…neither made significant contributions) and they need to work on the o-line.

The steelers rarely touch Pitt players in the draft for some reason???

This sucks, but good luck Shady.

matt, unfortunately, you are 100% correct. I remember how the Steelers thought they were so fortunate that Mendenhall was still on the board last year … now I’m not so sure especially since they were intending to draft an OL.

Back to Shady … I’m sure we will see a few negative posts on this site due to his decision to turn pro, but please consider …

1) even if he enjoyed college, it still was the wise decision to turn pro if he gets drafted in the 1sr round

2) if Pitt has any talent next year at RB, and aparently the do, they still will be very good and will be one of the favorites to win the BE.

3) I also believe that there were a few times that Pitt depended a little too much on McCoy. For example, talented TEs Dickerson and Byham were underutilized, the only play they ran from the Wildcat all year was Shady picking his hole (except for the 2 times Cross was in), and LaRod’s straight ahead style was at times more effective than Shady’s Barry Sanders impression … remember Pitt’s best offensive play BY FAR at the Sun Bowl was Howlings-Stevens 29 yard run right up the gut. Shady wa s great, but I believe we will be pleasantly surprised next year.

Well…it was fun while it lasted. What a joy it was watching Shady run. I hope he has a long, successful pro carrer.

He’s gone, time to move on to next year. We have at least three very capable backs on the team in Burns, Harris, and Collier. If I had to root for any one of them to seize the job, it would be Collier. Just because many thought he would end up being the man when he arrived, only to have McCoy jump him on the depth chart. He’s waited for so long, I hope he can finally seize the opportunity.

I wish Lesean the best of luck. He carried himself with class while at Pitt, and I’ll be rooting for him on Sundays next year. Hail to Pitt!

All the more reason to improve our quaterback play.

I’ll root for Shady no matter who he plays for. Just my own opinion but he won’t be a 1st. rounder. Hope he gets rich anyway.

Best of luck to him. I’m no Mel Kiper (not enough hair) but I think he will be a star in the NFL.

As a Pitt grad living in Central Pa (aka Penn State h***), I always took special pride that Shady wore 717 on his eyeblack. Thanks to Shady for representing us here in the Harrisburg Area. He is a class act who did nothing but help the Panthers.

I’m shocked, not at LeSean leaving, but that Pitt allows former players to return to Pitt to get their degrees for FREE????

Why are you shocked that Pitt lets former players get their degrees for free? They could have gotten it for free to start with b/c of the athletic scholarship, so why not afford them the opportunity later? Pitt’s goal is to prepare people for a career, so if a player feels they can make a career doing something – Pitt has done its job and there is no reason to discriminate when they come back.

I can’t stand the amount of money that Pitt charges and the gigantic waste at the university but I have no problem with a policy that lets players who brought in a lot of money for the school get a degree free of charge.

Someone said Collier is back next year? I thought this was his fourth glorious year of dropping passes in the flat.

if he is back, is he a possibility at RB?

NYC Panther,
Think you’re confused…maybe thinking of Conredge Collins??? Although he was a pretty darn good fullback..

I got to meet some members of Sam Young’s family when he was a freshman. I came away with the feeling that he was the first in his family to attend college and that his family was going to make sure that he got a degree. Accordingly, I was not surprised that he came back for his senior year.

I never met any members of Shady’s family.

Well good luck to him in the NFL. It seems like our time getting to watch him ended before it really even got started!

Thanks to Shady (LeSean) McCoy for the memories, being a class act all the way, and being a fine Pitt ambassador. I hope he goes high in the draft and has a long and great pro career. They all have to go sometime. Another year or two was just too much to expect. Hopefully Shady helps us reload with some other great talents.

Good luck and God bless to Shady, he gave us two good years of top level football…I agree with w Bill that this may help us to diversify the offense because we will not have Shady to rely on. But I also believe that we may find Collier, Harris, or Burns becoming a star next year. The offense is built to showcase the running back, Shady just happened to be an exceptional running back.

i hate to do the i told you so but i will anyhow…..
over two weeks ago, i said that i had info from a very reliable source that shady was leaving only to have jimbo covert above make me look like a fool, making fun, i didn’t know what i was talking about……
so jimbo, where is shady playing next year???
i got some more good insider stuff for ya, but apparently you can’t handle hearing the truth on this site……

Who is the leading contender to replace him? and what type of rb are they? power or speed?

1) Chris Burns = Fr redshirt from New Wilmington, PA near New Castle — 4 star recruit with lot of speed – very good marks in pre-season practice

2) Kevin Collier – JR (in 09) very productive high school career in NY state

3) Shariff Harris — soph (09) runs with power and will probably also be back-up fb — looked very good in spring game

fullback is Henry Hynoski – 240lb soh bruiser who played a lot inshort yardage this year – very good blocker

Impressed by all contributing to this thread (as I expected to be), until I hit the page bottom.

i hate to do the i told you so but i will anyhow…..
over two weeks ago, i said that i had info from a very reliable source that shady was leaving only to have jimbo covert above make me look like a fool, making fun, i didn’t know what i was talking about……
so jimbo, where is shady playing next year???
i got some more good insider stuff for ya, but apparently you can’t handle hearing the truth on this site……

Comment by shady 01.14.09 @ 7:27 pm

Hey, congratulations to you

Ridiculous comment — embarrassing; not one (1) comment (preceding or following) attempts more than “good luck, McCoy.”

Shall we gather you a prize or something? Let me know, shady 01.14.09 @ 7:27 pm

Good Luck…CLASS GUY!

I didn’t think he should leave TILL I watched the Bowl game…if I were him I would be running out of town! The play calling is TERRIBLE and the QB couldn’t start at IUP!

All the reports on next years backs sound pretty accurate, but we may be forgetting one thing. Coach W. and Matt C. will be the ones evaluating and trying to utilize them. Greg Cross looked outstanding in the spring game, like a player who at least needed to be added to the offensive gameplan. You know how that worked out. I also go back a couple years ago when you had members of the starting defensive team making comments about the Wright kid (receiver) on the scout team. These comments were made at the end of the season but were in respect to how the defense could not catch up with him, too fast. No one could tackle him. How many touches has he had in the past few seasons? Can you imagine how well Shady would of done if he even had some kind of offensive scheme, instead of “midget” football mindset (give ball to best player and go forward). Get to the NFL as quick as possible Shady! I think we’ll see even greater things for him to come. Good Luck.

JK3…Shady was the most productive running back in the BCS over the last two years when you consider number of carries, yards, and touchdowns, and he may very well be a first round draft pick…yep this Offense sucked for him!!! This offense is built to showcase the RB position. I think that we will all see that as next year progresses with the solid talent that we have at RB (Collins, Burns, Harris).

God bless Shady. At first I was upset that he was leaving (of course we don’t want to lose a great player)-I don’t blame him for leaving. Go to the NFL and be a great success!!! I wish him and his family much blessings and abundance in the future!!! I feel blessed that we were able to see him play-he is fun to watch!!!

Dear Shady:
Thanks for 2 great years. It was a lot of fun watching you. Thanks for beinf a first-class guy and helping us take some big steps in our quest to turn this program around. Good luck in the NFL – I’ll be rooting for you on draft day!