Guys at the Cat Basket had been saying from the start, that Tino Sunseri was going to be handed the starting QB job by Coach Wannstedt in the spring. The early indications bore that out as the supposed to be a QB competition alternating the 1st and 2nd team between Pat Bostick and Sunseri went out the window as soon as practice began.
Now Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti is saying there is competition — but the description is in name only.
“Right now, there’s competition at every position. Tino’s number one and Pat’s number two, just like Dion Lewis is number one and Ray Graham is number two but there’s great competition. There’s competition at every position,” Cignetti said Thursday.
Cignetti’s analogy is telling: there’s no uncertainty about Lewis’s role in Pitt’s offense, and now there appears to be little uncertainty at the quarterback position as well.
Yeah, not the best comparison to suggest “competition” in the way expected. The thing that seems so odd is that Sunseri has hardly appeared to be running away with things by most accounts.
So far in spring camp, Sunseri has completed roughly 66% of his passes and has been intercepted six times, most coming in a rough outing on Tuesday when he threw four picks. Bostick has completed approximately 73.9% of his passes and has been picked off just twice.
“Some of the interceptions are bad decisions, and those are correctable,” Cignetti said. “Tino and Pat are doing a tremendous job of competing. The first thing we ask those young men to do is come out here and compete. They’re both out here to win a job, and they’re both here to win every snap and every drill. They’ve both done a very nice job running the offense. There are run-game adjustments, there are protection adjustments, and there are obviously decisions to make in the passing game, and I think that Tino and Pat have both made good decisive decisions.”
Yes, there is a big difference between passing against the 1st team defense and the 2nd team defense (especially with such low depth in the secondary). So that has to be taken into account. The fact that the coaching staff hasn’t even tried to switch things up early to pay lip service to competition with Sunseri and Bostick is still surprising. Even if the end result is predictable.
Also predictable. The story of a young player responding well to a new position coach and getting better. Hello, MLB Dan Mason and new Linebacker Coach Bernard Clark.
Mason has a new mentor who should help ease his transition. Bernard Clark took over as linebackers coach this spring after Joe Tumpkin left to become the defensive coordinator at Central Michigan.
Clark won two national championships when he was the starting linebacker for the Miami Hurricanes in 1987 and ’89. He wants to help Mason with his mental approach to the game.
“The best thing about Dan is he has such natural instincts,” Clark said. “The thing about Dan is you have to slow him down. He’s so excited about playing. He’s really hyper when he’s out there on the field. It’s basically pulling the reigns back and letting him know things develop in front of him — let it develop and react that way. He’s so quick to react right now. That’s the biggest thing we’re working with him on right now. His instincts and speed are outstanding.”
How’s it going in learning to handle pass coverage?
Clark said it’s not unusual for a linebacker coming from the high school ranks to be behind in pass coverage skills. Most high school teams do not face sophisticated passing schemes, so when they line up in college and face intricate passing games it is the first time they are exposed to it.
“It’s a situation where he hasn’t played the pass as much, so it’s getting used to it more than anything,” Clark said.
Insert cynical, snarky, outdated comment about going against Pitt’s offense to learn pass coverage.
Now for the silly. Pitt has depth at running back. We all know that. There’s some quality at the spot. So there’s the story of the competition pushing Dion Lewis and the absurd headline to the article. “Pitt rushing game won’t be one-man show.”
“We all know Dion had a lot of success last season. We know he did a great job,” said Pitt running backs coach David Walker. “But Ray Graham’s trying to win a job. Jason Douglas is trying to win the starting tailback job. Chris Burns is trying to win the starting tailback job. So, those guys are working hard, and they’re not going to concede anything to Dion.”
Now to be fair, there is nothing in the story to suggest that Pitt is even pretending that there will be a rotation at running back. Also keep in mind that the story writer is not the guy that writes the headlines for articles.
Take those factors out and it becomes a standard spring practice story on a position that is set. We know that Dion Lewis is the starter. That he is going to be the workhouse back — having already shown he can handle it — and that Coach Wannstedt is a one-back guy.
47?
Not a one man show?
I want to see the best QB out there not a father’s influence with the coaching staff make the decision.
Also, it would not surprise me at all if Graham were to get more playing time this year. Remember, Lewis had the benefit of enrolling last January and the spring practice experience,while Graham was new to the program in August.
Things work themselves out. This program is moving in the right direction. When things weren’t going well, we were all on Wanny and the staff; now, things have a totally different feel and we must give them credit.
It seems like nobodys ever happy. If DW chooses Bostick he gets critisized for playing experience over youth. If he chooses Tino he gets critisized for giving the job to the son of a Pitt guy….please.
Its Tino Time and I agree that comparing Palko/Getsy to Sunseri/Bostick is ridiculous. If you think Palko was the starting qb because he was from western PA and because of his Dad then maybe you have forgotten what he accomplished and did it without a good O-line:
“Palko ended his college career tied for second in school history in career touchdown passes with former Panther Alex Van Pelt with a total of 66 and was second in university history in career passing yardage, trailing Dan Marino by 254 yards. Palko’s career totals of 8,343 passing yards with 66 touchdown passes rank him as one of the top-three passers in Panther football history.”
Last week when I was in Syracuse, Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti told my good friend Chris Peak of the Pantherlair that Tino Sunseri was the Panthers “No. 1 quarterback.” That isn’t a surprise to anyone who has covered this team but it is a bit of a surprise that Cignetti would say that given that the coaching staff has been very sensitive about trying to keep the “competition” alive. But Tino has taken all the first-team snaps in the spring because coaches are really committed to trying to get him as much work as possible to get him ready for the season.
The only thing I’d caution is this – Tino is the No. 1 quarterback because he is physically more gifted than Pat Bostick and has far more upside. But that isn’t any different than the way things were last year during training camp – he threw the best ball, could make all the passes, had the strongest arm and quickest release of any quarterback in camp. But when push came to shove, he couldn’t seperate himself from the other two so the coaches opted for the experience and grit of Stull and well, that worked out obviously. So while he is clearly on track to be the starter, when they put him in position to win or lose the job against a live pass rush, blitzes and changing defenses in the fall — will he be able to win it this year or will the coaches be in the position to opt for experience again? I’m thinking he’ll get it done but until it happens, you just never know.
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Zeise also addresses Ray Graham, the starting CBs, the OL and Wanny’s contract extension among other things.
Tino is more like Flacco than Bostick is. Tino is the one who is more naturally gifted and lacks the experience. Give him a chance and he may thrive and develop (a la Flacco). Bostick has the weaker arm (like Palko), but probably knows the stuff better and may make better reads at the time (like Palko), and is somewhat like a coach on the field (again like Palko). So for all of you comparing that situation and claiming this is the same situation, you are right, sort of. Except the coaches are going with the guy with the tools (which is what you want right?). Bostick transfering would not pan out like Flacco, he doesn’t have the arm, mobility, etc. to ever be a pro prospect. You have to give Bostick credit, he is exactly what you want in a Pitt kid. Comes out, competes, doesn’t complain, and when called upon succeeds. But the coaches are giving a kid who has more natural talent the shot. And can you blame them? After all so many people on here are still so caught up in losing Flacco.
And who is going to have a better handle on the QBs? Frankie Cigs who works with both Bostick and Sunseri daily or random dude on here who last saw Sunersi play in mop up situations and last saw Bostick in a game in 2008. I’m trusting Frankie Cigs judgment on this one and I’m not going to worry about meaningless spring stats.
A years work with Cigs, turned Stull into something nobody thought possible. I’ll take his judgment on our starting QB… no questions.
I sometimes marvel at the development of QBs by this regime. I just don’t get it. It smells funny to me.
How is it that a coaching regime that has built it’s entire decision making process (for getting kids on the field) has been made on favoring experience and tenure over talent and youthful exuberance….all of a sudden, ignore a guy that has way more experience (over 10 college starts, engineered two of the greatest wins in recent Pitt history, and is a Junior) over a kid that has 7 passes and no starts as a Sophmore. I just don’t get it. If he is the real deal, he should have been out their last year taking lumps and preparing for 2010. He certainly could have handed off to Dion 40+ times and rode a 9 win season like Stully boy.
If Wanny & Co are having a change in philosophy, it just makes me perturbed about last year. I’m more pissed off that Tino wasn’t playing last year because Stull was at his highest level of development and we would be set this year with a tenured QB running the show.
But, of course, we have Tino walking into a sh*t storm in Utah for his first starting game… brilliant. Wake me up versus New Hampshire when everyone is crying for Bostick after a 45-10 shillacking…
I too am wondering about the women’s BB team. If you follow it at all, they have no post player remaining on the roster. Pepper Wilson was dominate 2 years ago as a freshman, injured much of last season. the other big, Popovec(sp) was a capable back up so this is interesting.
