Well, it is all underway. Here are the primary sources from PantherLair and PantherDigest.
At this point here are the commits who both sites confirm as signing their Letter of Intent (LOI).
Fernando Diaz — OL
Kolby Gray — QB
Cory King — OL
Dion Lewis — RB
Jack Lippert — DE
Bernardo Nunez — DE
Devin Street — WR
PantherDigest is also listing:
Raymond Graham — RB
I’ll be updating as it comes through.
9:10 UPDATE: PantherLair has also confirmed Graham.
Both sites have added:
Tyrone Ezell — DT
PantherLair is now listing :
Dan Mason — LB
Nearly halfway through the verbals.
9:30 UPDATE: PantherDigest still has not listed Mason.
9:50 UPDATE: Mason is on both lists now.
Also signed according to both:
Ed Tinker — WR
Kevin Adams — RB
Carl Fleming — DB
Panther Lair has also added:
Jason Hendricks — RB
At this rate, it will be over by noon.
9:55 UPDATE: One more from PantherLair:
Todd Thomas — WR
Rivals.com a little faster than Scout.com this year.
10:35 UPDATE: Still nothing updated from Scout.com.
Rivals.com/PantherLair has added two more:
Brock DeCicco — TE
Ryan Schlieper — OL
That leaves just 4 verbals without confirmed LOIs at this point.
11:13: UPDATE:
PantherLair has added two more to the signed list:
Shane Gordon — LB
Jason Douglas — RB
PantherDigest has not updated in some time.
12:10 UPDATE:
PantherLair puts one more in the signed category:
Juantez Hollins — OL
There are reports that Will Clarke will not be signing today.
That wraps it up, except for the outside chance that Malcolm Bush, a 3-star TE from NJ decides to join Pitt.
BTW, he gives PSU an “A” highlighted by their QB recruit.
I’ll take a “C” if it includes one usable QB.
Walt Harris to Seneca Valley? Maybe he can take Bill Stull back and teach him how to throw a football.
I hope Clarke does sign. I look for him to be the big time sleeper in the class. Long, lanky D-end who can run, w/ hoops talent. Sounds like a potential Romeus to me. Put some bulk on the kid and he could be a stud. I also like the gray kid at QB, he may not be a pro-style QB but he can move, which is something nice compared to what we have for mobility now.
it seems like this year we struggled with closing on recruits, something that Wanny has come through with in the past. Losing out on Evans and Holmes were two big misses and guys who could have improved the class big time.
This looks to me like a solid class. The top recruits aren’t going to flock to Pitt until they can prove they are a top-15 team/program/coaching staff. The first couple years its easy to sell the whole “we’re building a winner” line but shitting the bed against BGSU and scoring ZERO points in a decent bowl game against a team that gave up 60+ the game before is going to give some guys pause. I just think they have to produce some great on-field results this upcoming season and then things can really get rolling.
Let’s not forget though- overall there is a relatively deep, relatively talented core on this team now that is going to beat anything they’ve had in years as a whole (not counting #25 of course).
This leads into two good reasons why this is a (supposedly) subar recruiting class:
1) the current Pitt roster is full of underclassmen, with several proven and potential players. There is no longer the promise of immediate playing time for many of the recruits as in the past.
2) All of the experts have recognized that this is not a bumper year for Western PA recruits, as were the last few years … and for a school like Pitt, which doesn’t have the national rep as Oh St, USC, Okla, etc., the local prospects are very important.
Dan, bad won-loss records do not seem to impact ND on their recruiting. Every year Charlie has one of the best recruiting classes then fizzles.
Sorry, can’t link at work, but it’s on their front page under breaking news.
I know this won’t happen but I wouldn’t mind one bit if Walt came back as OC.
I agree w bill. Is there any possibility that Walt could come back. I always thought he was a terrible head coach…but would be a good OC / QB if that was his only job. Now w/ wanny bringing in RB’s, OL, DL. Harris bringing in and working w/ QB’s would be a successful combo. Think of all the QB’s he brought in/or mentored: Pete Gonzalez, David Preistly, Rod Rutherford, Luke Getsy, Tyler Palko, and Joe Flacco. He defiantely had an eye for some talent, and also developed some guys to make them good QB’s…that position was always good under him. He also brought in good WR’s…comboing that w/ everything Wanny does could make a good combo…but I highly doubt Wanny would ever bring him in.
I still don’t see it happening ….. Wanny is schedule to be on local ESPN radio at 4:45 to talk about the recruits and the radio hosts indicated they will ask him about replacements. I will update if he says anything worth mentioning.
Steve Pederson was always a pretty strong backer of Harris, so it’s not like he was the one who fired him. Walt still lives here in Pittsburgh, so there isn’t any relocation required.
The real question is: why would Walt Harris be willing to accept the OC position, when you would think he could certainly get a head coaching gig at a mid-tier DI program. But, the Post-Gazette mentioned a few days ago that Walt Harris was a candidate for the Seneca Valley High School head coaching position…so maybe he is getting desperate? Or maybe he just wants to stay in Pittsburgh for the near future…in which case that could work perfectly for Pitt.
I’m not quite sure how well Wanny/Harris would get along given the history there, but I don’t think there could be a better choice for OC than Walt Harris.
GET IT DONE WANNY/PEDERSON!
BigGuy- as to my recruiting comments above and your ND comparison: My point was teams like ND, Ohio State can survive bad years, embarrasing losses, etc. but Pitt unfortunately can’t. It’s just the sad truth. I was able to make it to South Bend for the Pitt game this past season and as much as I hate ND I have to admit there is nothing like a college football game there, which they manage to turn into a non-stop first-class three day event. I just think people shouldn’t be surprised if we don’t have incredible recruiting classes every year. I actually think this one is solid anyway- here’s to hoping the new OC can make some things happen with what we already have
HAIL TO PITT
Why do you say there’s no chance? We’re talking about a guy who’s apparently interested in taking a high school head coaching job. Surely the OC position at Pitt would be a MUCH better job than HC at Seneca Valley.
So, are you saying there’s no chance Pitt would pursue him…or no chance Harris would be interested if they did?
Dan, I can’t disagree with you. College games at ND, OSU, Michigan, PSU (ouch), and a number of other colleges ARE big events. Pitt has difficulty in filling the stadium. Pitt doesn’t offer the “excitement” that a number of other schools do, so they have to offer a different package. Rutgers is very similar to Pitt. They must offer the same “package” as Pitt since they can’t offer “OSU excitement”
He did say some very revealing things about the QB position that I think is a big relief. He said that after the Cincy game, he became convinced about the value of having a mobile QB that can make plays. It was at that point where they decided to put out inquiries all over the country which resulted in the recruitment of Kolby Gray. While he expects to still run a pro offense, he wants more mobiiity from the QB.
He also said that Todd Thomas was the best athlete, B DeCicco the best TE and Dam Mason the best ILB in PA. He said that J Hollins (OL from Alquippa) and T Ezell (DL from Steel Valley) were beast with much potential. Finally, he was pleased with the inroads made in New Jersey.
BigGuy, Pitt will always have problem playing in a Pro city. I lived in Morgantown and State College and the games are events because that is the only thing going on. Steelers and Pens get far more publicity and ownership here in the Burg.
W bill, I agree. Rutgers is in the same position. Their attendance (and stadium) is smaller than Pitt’s. It is my understanding that they are “selling” players on academics, “family”, character of staff, and quality of schedule. Their success in recruiting has increased. These are aspects that “sold” me and, perhaps as importantly, my parents on Pitt. It turned out to be a good choice.
