I almost feel like I should apologize for the lack of any substantial information on what is happening during PITT’s spring practices – no real details are coming out at all and everything that is written here is gleaned from controlled articles and videos from the Athletic Department.
Still, there are things that interest and are worthy of discussion so here goes…
The offense won the day to even the scoring at 2-2. Graham feels that the O is still committing too many TOs, but on the other hand that must make the defensive coaches happy. Graham has his usual post-practice video, found here, and accompanying him were Coach Todd Dodge (QB Coach) and Coach Tony Gibson (Cornerbacks).
It has to be mentioned that Graham’s demeanor and accent is eerily similar to President Bush (the younger)… and along with that he throws out some Bush-quality quotes which raise the eyebrows (that is if you have eyebrows. The Coast Guard made me shave mine off because they said they were ‘unruly’ and scared the Junior Officers)…
“Our free safety will go to the field and our bandit safety will be to the boundary. Our free safety is what people call a strong safety and our bandit safety is what people call a free or weak safety. The bandit safety will be more of the run forcer and the free safety will be more of a quarterback. We do not use the usual terminology because then it signifies you are slow. I want every one of my players on the field to be fast.”
Kolby Gray slid back over to safety. We have had a couple of guys have some minor nagging injuries so Gray will do whatever it takes for the team. He will still represent the role of quarterback but we can only have three in that position right now. He had a great first day and practice went very well.”
I can just see it now. Gray walks into a Friday afternoon QB meeting and tells Coach Dodge: “The other guys felt they deserved some time off so they went to Peter’s Pub for happy hour and ask me to represent them at this meeting… so what’s up?”
Dodge talked about the QBs progress so far and wants PITT’s QBs to be All-BE every year… sure, why not? Of course, I’ve never heard a coach say that they didn’t want that either.
Dodge specifically mentioned Sunseri’s being more comfortable in this 4th team practice and said it showed by his command of the offense in “crunch time”. Sunseri completed a key 4th + long pass for a 20 yard gain at the end of practice and apparently has been accurate with his passing overall.
Mark Myers still impresses with his arm drawing raves from Dodge about how Myers “can spin it with the best of them” and stated that he was very impressed with Myers’ quick mobility given how big Myers is at 6’5” and 235 Lbs (the kid is still growing apparently). Myers completed two deep passes that were singled out by Dodge with one going to Devin Street and one to Ed Tinker down the sideline. Note: Tinker also played some RB during drills today taking one into the endzone from about 20 yards out during the ‘W’ drill (where they start from the 20 with key blockers and defenders in 1-1 matchups).
Dodge also mentioned that Gonzalez has improved over the 4 practice period, blah, blah, blah. Really, nothing has been said much about Gonzalez this spring. This seems to becoming more of a two horse QB race as the practices go on. I wouldn’t be surprised if we break spring camp with Sunseri and Myers remaining as the two-deep guys, in that order.
Coach Gibson talked about how fast our DBs are, and again, K. William, B. Jackson and J. Davis (walk-on) were singled out for praise… but really he didn’t go into any details at all. As a matter of fact Gibson looks pretty weird when doing this video – like he was programmed to say nothing but platitudes and trite coachspeak phrases.
That’s about it as far as actual practice news.
Odds and Ends:
The Post-Gazette’s Bill Brink wrote an article on Tino Sunseri and the other PITT QBs.
Pat Bostick has another well written and insightful article that showed up on the PITT Spring Insider website, if you remember he’ll be doing weekly dispatches from camp. This one details how the new offensive system can be QB-friendly. Give it a read, it’s well done. Here is a good quote from it which addresses some items we fans have been discussing:
“ there are various other ways for these offenses to generate yards and points without having a quarterback who fits the mold of a Pat White or Cam Newton. For an example, simply look at the success of the 2009 Cincinnati Bearcats and their quarterback, Tony Pike. Pike was tall, lanky and, while he did possess solid speed, he was more of a passer and did not resemble the running quarterback most people expect to direct a spread-style attack.”
The Tribune Review has a nice article on Andrew Taglianetti and what he has accomplished off the playing field. I didn’t realize that he held the PITT record for blocked punts with five. A salient quote by tags in reference to the Head Coaching change:
“Taglianetti, who holds the Pitt career record for blocked punts (five), said he likes how coach Todd Graham has emphasized players’ actions off the field as much as what they do on it. “I really loved coach (Dave) Wannstedt, and it was tough to see him go, but I really, really enjoy Coach Graham. I like what he teaches.”
ESPN’s Brian Bennett states the obvious with a short piece on PITT’s ‘strongest and weakest’ units. Bennett must be pulling his hair out with the “Great Wall of Graham” in place. Bennett has been a great source of info on preseason PITT football in the past and it must be hard to do that this season.
Next practice: Thursday, March 24th.
He is not THE man! I know it has only been 4 practices – but if we don’t have a QB on the roster who can displace him – we’re in for a long season! Graham had better recognize this if he wants to keep his job very long.
Actually I’d say that it was about 50/50 and I follow this stuff pretty closely.
Just like in 2009 when the coaches stuck with Stull, I’ll put my faith now that the coaches will play the QB that gives the best chance to succeed.
Steve, you posted about a month ago that the players were firmly behind Myers last season and now you do it again … funny but I have been following this blog regularly as well as much other Pitt coverage, and those are the only two times that I’ve ever heard of it.
As I recall, I didn’t approve it. I understood it. Not a fan of booing college players. Coaches on the other hand…
Whatever the source it would be third hand anyway. Of course, a full years past and things may be completely different now.
To me the whole issue of who starts should be based on on the field talents anyway – determined by a real competition which it appears to be with this staff.
In fact, it may be the same situation as the year before. Tino, practicng the 1st two weeks at camp against the backups, looks like the best QB in camp while Stull struggles aginst the likes of Romeus, Sheard and Williams. Yet, people seemed to ignore the reports that Tino struggled against the first team in camp when he got to face them.
That Phil Bennett was a cold and distant coach?
That Schiano uses a helicopter to recruit?
etc., etc.
Um, why would I make this stuff up?
Since Wanny went with the legacy and son of his good friend Sal, we are now faced with the horrible possibility of now going into a new Pitt football era, with a new coach, with an entirely new offensive scheme……..with the same old weak armed, heavy legged junior QB who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn if it was longer than a 20 yard pass.
And that possibility added together with last week’s 2nd round flameout in hoops is almost to much to bear.
