The PITT Media Dept. has jumped the gun a bit and changed the scheduling of when they would start posting the individual shows of their Five-Part Spring Practice Series on Root Sports.

The first show is now available on the PittsburghPanthers.com website.  Skip the huge Scott Barnes advertisement and then click on the video of Tyler Boyd pointing at the camera – that’s the show.  It is an almost full 20 minutes of good things to see and hear and is very well done.

Then if that isn’t enough to whet your appetite and you just can’t get enough PITT football, even if it is past history, you will like this PITT Live Wire section on YouTube.   Not only do they have the requisite interviews with the players and coaches through the last spring practices but every once in a while they toss in some interesting productions like these:

PITT Defensive Back History and PITT Linebacker History  with six more videos to cover every position on the field.  It never hurts to know the history of the team you follow in case anyone bets you a bottle of Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit if you can name the best DEs ever.

Then, to make sure UPITTBaseball doesn’t feel left out and starts to go on a rampage at his work they also have put up this video.

According to Chris Peak, Pat Narduzzi tapped into his Michigan State pipeline to add former Spartan Mark Scarpinato to the team. Scarpinato, a 6’3 286 pound DT, is an interesting case. He left MSU after the 2013-14 season to go to med school at Wisconsin. At that point Scarpinato was a redshirt sophomore yet had already graduated, an impressive achievement.

Scarpinato appeared in all 14 games of his sophomore season as part of a four man defensive tackle rotation on the number one defense in the nation. I’ll look into how his eligibility will function in terms of whether or not his year off counts against him. I would assume so and that would mean the former Spartan will only be able to play this upcoming season. At worst, Scarpinato is proven depth at DT and can use his experience to aid his fellow DL in adapting to a new scheme. At best, he could be a starter on a DL that under-performed last season.

Also in recruiting news, a JUCO WR eligible to play this fall could be coming to town. Rafael Araujo-Lopes picked up an offer from Pitt, and it’s a safe bet that with Rob Harley in California today to visit him, the deal could be closed soon.