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August 8, 2011

Training Camp Starts Today

Filed under: Football,Graham,Practice,Wannstedt — Reed @ 10:03 am

In anticipation of the Panther’s summer training camp Paul Zeise of the Post Gazette has written a long article about the team and its expectations for the season.  No real earthshaking news here but he touches on the cost of the new program direction which for a school like PITT is a big step forward:

University administrators hope Graham can deliver the kind of exciting football he is selling because they have made a huge financial investment in him. Graham is making about $2 million per year and was given a pool of $2 million for his staff. The school has made him the focal point of its marketing campaign, going so far as to create a glitzy website called highoctanefootball.com.

As talked about over the offseason the question comes up whether a team of players built for Wanny Ball can succeed in Graham’s offense:

His answer, consistently, has been “absolutely.”  “We took over a team at Rice and changed them from the wishbone to our system in one season,” Graham said, “and, by the end of the season, we were rolling. And here I think we have a lot of very good pieces to work with.

“Do we have everything we’d like? No, not yet, but I think we have an excellent quarterback, a lot of good receivers and at least one running back [Ray Graham] who really has a chance to do some special things in our system.

Joe Starkey over at the Trib-Review opens his pre-camp article with a bang

Pitt’s motto under Dave Wannstedt should have been: “We’re not as good as you think we are.” Nearly every year, his team would fulfill the prophecy.

Wannstedt’s severe allergy to expectations manifested before his first season, in 2005, when he told anyone within earshot that Pitt’s No. 23 ranking was unmerited. At the Big East meetings last August, after Pitt was deemed a prohibitive favorite, he delivered this beauty: “That makes no sense to me.”

He then goes on to chastise fans that hold the same argument for a first year coach to not do well in his first season.  One thing is for sure; our HC isn’t shy about his expectations for the team.  He put it succinctly Friday, reiterating what he has been telling people for months: “Our expectation is to win the Big East. Anything less and we’ll be disappointed.”  Starkey then goes on to describe just how bad the Big east is and has been.  He doesn’t pull any punches.

The HighOctaneFootball.com site has some good info and they just put up a bloopers video that will make some laugh and others more worried.  Here is a quick piece on Five Reasons to be excited for 2011.  Reason #3 is a tossup at this point I think and I wonder if #5 is an advantage.  You commenters may want to list your own 5 reasons to discuss.

Until there is more real football news to talk about…this might get you in the mood.

First Practice: Tonight, August 8th.





You have to believe that the significant investment in the football program (4M in coaching salaries) is in large part a sign that this is it for Pederson if it isn’t a success. Nordenberg has given him all the tools to make this a successful program without any hesitation. If Graham is a failure then it will not be for lack of resources allocated.

So much for all the “high octane” talk. Now it is time to produce. Expectations are high and the time frame is short.

Success now rest at one man’s feet… Graham. Here’s hoping that he is successful immediately.

HTP

Comment by PittFanInAtlanta 08.08.11 @ 10:29 am

#3….they fail to mention that they lost their best O-lineman at the arguably most important position on the OL in Pinkston.

#4….I think is the biggest reason to really get excited. If Tino can make that “Bill Stull 2nd year jump”, this team could be something special. Let’s just hope that it works out that way.

#5….I guess it’s addition by subtraction. At least you won’t have a stadium completely filled with the opposition fans. I’m not bashing anyone here honestly. I was an undgrad @ Pitt at the tail end of the Walt era. Say what you will about Walt, but Larry Fitz leading a top 15 team against ND and Va Tech filled that stadium. Attendance and energy just never felt the same when we had talented yet dissapointing squads.

Comment by BCPITT 08.08.11 @ 10:51 am

a little straight (low-octane) talk ..

as far as the the 23rd pre-season ranking in 05 .. note that this was following a BCS appearance and the morons who pick pre-season usually base it on the name teams plus who was involved in the bowl games the previous year. I’m sure they had no knowledge that Pitt would start 3 nantural freshman in the opener vs ND (2 of them linemen.) Further, it is doubtful that the pollsters at that time ever heard of the names of Pat White and Steve Slaton, who in the Sugar Bowl that year ran roughshod over the SEC champs.

There is nothing wrong with high expectations and ‘talking the talk’ … provided, of course, that you …..

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 10:55 am

wbb I get what you are saying, but I think the point of the Trib article is that really Wanny dodged expectations anyway that he could. I mean if someone asked about his chances to beat Carnegie Mellon he would likely take a stance that they are a tough squad and he doesn’t understand why Pitt would be such heavy favorites against a team with such a feared mascot.

I get the idea, temper excitement so you don’t look as horrendous when you flop. Personally I like the confidence that Graham carries, but like you said it doesn’t really mean anything if you can’t back it up.

Comment by BCPITT 08.08.11 @ 10:59 am

***The other part of tempering excitement is also an attempt to keep these highly touted players from reading too many of their newspaper clippings. I personally believe that could have been achieved through meetings and messages to the players instead of deflating expectations and confidence via the general media.

Comment by BCPITT 08.08.11 @ 11:03 am

BCPITT, my point is how STUPID pre-season polls are … not to mention how uninformed pre-season pollsters are

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 11:09 am

Tony Greco over at Scouts.com put up an article about Media day and the schedule on the free board there:

link to pittsburgh.scout.com

Echoing wbb he states: “How much more can we hear the words “high-octane” and “fast-tempo” before actually seeing some results?”

And talks about position changes… “Brandon Lindsey had moved to Panther, as have Bryan Murphy and Shayne Hale. There was some talk about Lindsey possibly playing both the Panther and staying at the down position late in the spring. Will Lindsey stay at Panther, play both, or did Murphy make enough of a case in the spring to claim that Panther spot?”

Something is going to happen to get Murphy an the field full time.

Comment by Reed 08.08.11 @ 11:15 am

gotcha wbb…agreed.

Comment by BCPITT 08.08.11 @ 11:19 am

Stull had a so-so first season but he showed physical talent to me, just clearly needed work. Tino had pretty good numbers for his first year but he didn’t exactly impress with his talent…maybe the system or play calling made it look worse, but he didn’t look like a big timer to me. Just hope for an open comp. between him and Myers and may the best guy get the job.

Comment by Matt N. 08.08.11 @ 11:56 am

Not only will Murphy not be on the field full-time…he won’t be on the field at all this year:

link to pittsburghlive.com

Comment by Hank the Tank 08.08.11 @ 12:13 pm

OUCH!! I guess Hank’s link answers all those questions. Even if Murphy didn’t get a starting role he would have likely been a big contributor in a rotation and it sucks to see that quality depth go away.

Comment by BCPITT 08.08.11 @ 12:15 pm

That truly sucks. He tore it up in the Spring and the coaches were crazy about him.

Comment by Reed 08.08.11 @ 12:16 pm

I want to make it clear that I hoping Graham is a success. I’m just not a fan of his style, because everytime I hear him, it’s the same old, same old.

I used to scoff at coaches from other schools with this style, so just because he coaches the school that I follow doesn’t stop me cringing virtually ever time I hear him speak.

On a more serious note, I believe the players will start to tune him out after a while especially if things aren’t going so well … which I hope will never occur.

Agree that it sucks about Murphy … 2nd year in a row that he was injured, and by all acounts, he is a player.

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 12:30 pm

Obviously, I menat to write .. 2nd year in a row that he (Murphy) wasn’t available. He wa sinjured for the 1st half of last season.

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 12:32 pm

Although I agree that losing Murphy sucks, at least he has his redshirt available and won’t lose any eligibility. Hopefully he can come back for 3 strong seasons starting next year!

It’s time for Shayne Hale to step up and fulfill some of that potential that he came in with. Big opportunity for him to show his stuff and share that position with Lindsey.

Comment by Hank the Tank 08.08.11 @ 12:36 pm

Murphy is academically ineligible! This is the second Don Bosco Prep player wew lost this year. Sacco left the team earlier this year.
I’m having trouble understanding the academic problem. Bosco is a top notch prep school in Northern N J. I have never heard of their students having a problem with academics in college.

This is a concern we may have to watch about the new coaching staff.

Comment by Old Pitt Grad 08.08.11 @ 12:41 pm

maybe it’s a ‘Joisey’ issue … too much paying attention to Snook instead of the book (they still use tetxtbooks, don’t they?)

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 12:59 pm

The US economy may be crap but TV sports are thriving (apparently) link to nytimes.com

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 1:16 pm

[…] Pittblather has you covered on why Todd Graham is a better coach than Dave Wannstedt. […]


Slightly off topic but: these websites hurt.

GoPittFootball.com looks like it was produced in 2005/2006 and HighOctaneFootball is a Tumblr ripoff: why not just use Tumblr?!

Ashton’s using Tumblr, for crying out loud!

smh

Sadly, the amount of money used to keep GoPittFootball.com live has got to be high, with the amount of Flash being used. Who would want to spend any time on that site, with the load times between content?

Comment by Rieur1114 08.08.11 @ 1:55 pm

Shocking…

link to espn.go.com

Comment by Cool Hand Nuke 08.08.11 @ 3:23 pm

hey needs to just sit on his couch and not be on the field anymore

Comment by humza 08.08.11 @ 3:30 pm

He*

Comment by humza 08.08.11 @ 3:35 pm

Murphy must be dumb as dirt

Comment by Tony C 08.08.11 @ 5:15 pm

Pitt is in for a big year this year. The only thing that worries me is the tearing apart the system that was in place and replacing it with the no- huddle. Pitt has the fall camp and the first two games to work out the kinks.

Comment by joel 08.08.11 @ 6:55 pm

I agree Joel. When I was looking thru the media guide, I noticed a lot of depth at most positions (some of it inexperienced but much potential.) It jsut a matter of adapting to the program.

Comment by wbb 08.08.11 @ 7:55 pm

wonder if joe pa crapped his pants (again) when he got hit

Comment by dish 08.08.11 @ 8:39 pm

Report from the hospital confirmed that Joe Pa did not crap his pants when he got hit on the sidelines,,,,, reporter quoted, “apparently he had already crapped himself prior to the incident”.

Comment by Dr. Tom 08.09.11 @ 7:34 am

A message for Chas:

link to youtube.com

Comment by steve 08.09.11 @ 7:40 am

no mention of Mason being out for the year and maybe done for his career? WTF Reed?

Comment by Dave G. 08.09.11 @ 10:12 am

Dave G.: Why didn’t you mention that maybe Reed didn’t have the foresight to write about Mason’s status at 10:03 AM when Zeise blog with the info was posted at 9:30 PM?

Zheeesh, we must be all jacked up on High Octane around here lately.

Comment by Bowling Green Panther 08.09.11 @ 10:28 am

[…] Pitt Blather Permalink » Training Camp Starts Today […]


Maybe Reed had some other things going on. Afterall, this is just a college football blog.
Excellent job as always Reed, thanks for taking your own personal time, to help keep this blog the best Pitt blog out there! Always much thanks to Chas, of course.

Comment by Dan 08.09.11 @ 3:26 pm

And, for that matter, one of the best blogs out there period. Thanks for all of your efforts, all year following football and hoops. Much appreciated by 99.9% of us, I’m sure.

Comment by Dan 08.09.11 @ 3:28 pm

Amen.

Comment by Bowling Green Panther 08.09.11 @ 4:41 pm

ummm yeah, not to be a dick or anything… Just thought a recap of Zeise’s coverage should’ve included that nugget. While he was listed as being out for the year later… it was noted back in March that it was in doubt… by another blogger

link to cardiachill.com

Comment by Dave G. 08.10.11 @ 2:34 pm

Give it a rest. Zeise’s coverage with that info was published AFTER Reed’s recap. That’s why I listed times. How can you recap something BEFORE it is written? Not a big deal….

Comment by Bowling Green Panther 08.10.11 @ 3:08 pm

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