Amidst all the hoopla of signing day, the Paul Chryst press conference praising the newest Panthers and promising that a DC will be named soon. There was information about the Spring practices and the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage.

The spring practices start on March 5. Seems a bit early when you are limited to only 15 practices, but okay.

They culminate with the Blue-Gold scrimmage that will be held this year at Bethel Park High School. Okay, we knew that the plan was to rotate to different high schools in Western PA. Just so happens to be the same HS as a big 2014 recruiting target for the O-line in Mike Grimm. Nice.

The game will be played on April 12 at 7pm. That’s a Friday. What the hell?

(more…)

Okay, the Tyler Boyd drama was about the only issue of the day. But in the end it was a lot of empty drama.

At the time of his verbal to Pitt, Boyd said that he planned to take official visits to both Michigan State and Tennessee. However, Boyd cancelled both visits and appeared to be set on Pitt.

But Boyd surprised many by making official visits to West Virginia and Tennessee on back-to-back weekends at the end of January. Boyd did not make his final decision until Tuesday afternoon and chose to be a part of Paul Chryst’s second recruiting class at Pitt.

He created a fair amount of angst with Pitt fans. Especially with tweets that cast more confusion in what he was thinking.

Boyd had every right to reconsider. It’s his decision. It’s his future. It’s his life. Just glad he made the correct call.

(more…)

Welcome to the 7th annual Signing Day Open Thread. I’ve followed signing day every year since starting the blog, but the signing day approach was a work in progress. From just a couple recaps as the disappointments of the day started to doing individual posts for groups during the day. Until finally settling on the format of one post with ongoing updates. Ah, memories.

The day is the culmination of a year-long obsession with athletic high schoolers. It will always be more than a little creepy, especially as we are already thinking about kids for next year. Did I actually rework my schedule this week to be at home all-day (aside from taking the kids to school)? Yes. I’m just as culpable in this sickness.

Attention must be paid to the twitter accounts from PantherLair (Rivals.com) and PantherDigest (Scout.com). Along with the Pitt football twitter account that will post updates when the NLI of the kids arrive.

(more…)

There’s a tendency after a very visibly off-game. Where the team — as a whole — couldn’t hit water falling out of a boat. Well, you chalk it up to an off-game and burn the tape. That would be a mistake. If I’m Coach Dixon I use that tape and edit it to show every missed bunny. Every blown lay-up. Every ball thrown up, ostensibly with the belief that it was intended to be called a shot. I have the players watch it Clockwork Orange style.

This would hopefully accomplish two things. The first to give them a feel for what the fans were going through watching the game. The other to be a pointed reminder of why you can’t relax or let down for any game in conference play.

If you are hoping for trenchant analysis of this game. There really isn’t any. Pitt shot about as horribly as possible, yet still came away with the win. They wore down an undermanned team that had one player trying to will them to a win. But for Fuquan Edwin turning his ankle landing on his own teammate’s foot, Pitt doesn’t end up with a 10-point win. A win that come a March review looks like a relatively normal win over a lower-tier team.

(more…)

Let’s keep it simple. Here’s what we take away from this game:

It doesn’t show up on Pitt’s March resume as a “bad loss.”

That’s it. It was bad. It was ugly. It was sloppy. It still goes in the books as a win.

The dissecting will come later. For now,  just glad not to be seething over an inexplicable loss.

I don’t know why I have more animosity towards Seton Hall than any of the other schools that will form the corp of the Big Priest. It might be a Jersey thing coupled with being a private school that creates a particularly noxious breed of self-entitled fanbase and program that enjoys more relevance than, say, Farleigh-Dickenson simply for its Big East affiliation. At least Providence had a whole New England basketball culture to claim from the 70s with BC, Holy Cross, etc.

I guess it’s worth mentioning that the Pirates are coached (technically) by a former Pitt player in Kevin Willard. They aren’t particularly good. They sit at a righteous 13th in the Big East. Ahead of the only teams they have beaten this year — USF and DePaul. They have shown themselves capable of being blown out (74-52 to Georgetown) and playing a great game to only fall short (65-59 against Cinci).

The Pirates have had injuries — losing Patrik Auda to injury — and not getting their own transfer waiver to go — Ashton Gibb’s little brother, Sterling from Texas. They have tried to rebuild quickly from the Gonzo years with transfers. They have Brian Oliver from Georgia Tech and Gene Teague from SIU providing an impact.

(more…)

Just a couple more days until National Signing Day. Then the drama will end for a little while. No more worries about Tyler Boyd taking one more trip somewhere. Uh, what?

Although [Clairton assistant coach, Eric] Fusco said he still believes Pitt is No. 1 with Boyd, Fusco also said there is a possibility Boyd might not sign a letter of inent with any college Wednesday, the first day high school seniors can sign with a college. Oh no. What do we have here, another Terrelle Pryor situation? Pryor waited weeks after letter-of-intent day to sign with Ohio State.

“There is no definite either way,” Fusco said. “It’s all going to boil down to the next four days. If he really feels comfortable over the next four days, then he’ll sign. … But he’s not going to make a hasty decision.”

So, yeah, this is fun.

(more…)

It is not that the Pete is a place that holds magical qualities that renders Syracuse unable to win. It just seems that way. The Orange have won only one game at the Pete (Damn you, 2004!).

Pitt couldn’t hit threes. They turned the ball over a ridiculous amount. Only one player even made it to double digit scoring. Steve Adams turned his ankle and took a shot to his face or eye. And Pitt won the game by ten.

They didn’t play anywhere close to a perfect game and took out a top-ten team.

“I think they’ll be difficult to beat the rest of the way,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said of the Panthers. “I’ll be surprised if they lose many games. I like their team. I think it’s a very, very good team. They’re the best team we’ve played, without any question. It’s not even close.”

Pitt had plenty that they did do right.

(more…)

Another game another work-related DVR-delay. Been a sparse week for posting and work has been the primary reason. A mix of stuff due. Re-re-jiggering my schedule now that we got another car. And just planning ahead to clear things for me to just sit in front of the laptop all day on Signing Day.

This isn’t a must-win, but it is a game Pitt could really use. The only “resume” win for Pitt came at Georgetown. It’s a very good win, but it is also the only win against a team that I am sure will make the NCAA Tournament.

Much is made of the Orange’s lack of depth for this game. That’s a minor issue. They are still, very good with those seven players. Plus with Syracuse being a zone defense team, fouls are rarely a big issue. I just don’t see them getting that worn down to be a major factor.

It’s a nooner on ESPN.

Oh, and Coach Paul Chryst is hosting 35 high school juniors at the game. Big recruiting weekend for the 2014 class. So, a wild atmosphere and a win would probably be a plus.