In a timely article, considering where the comments from the last FB article left off, here is DiPaola of the Trib-Review talking about Boyd’s departure and who we have waiting in the wings to take center stage. HCPN looks like he doesn’t really want to talk does he?
Narduzzi is high on SO WR Charles Fitzgerald Tipton though. I’m not sure where “Tre” came from but his given middle name is a good omen for sure:
Besides Ford, who was the second-leading pass catcher last season with 26 receptions for 505 yards and two touchdowns, Tipton also has attracted attention. Narduzzi, in fact, wasn’t afraid to describe the Apollo-Ridge graduate this way: “He’s going to be a great player for us,” he said last week. “I think when you watch the spring game (April 16), you are going to go, ‘Whoa. Who is that No. 2?’ ”
Tipton impressed last summer and was inserted in four games before injuring a knee and missing the rest of the season. “I tell him it’s about being tough,” Narduzzi said. “You can’t get better with the yellow jersey on. If he gets through 15 (spring practices), that means he’s mentally and physically toughened up.
“He’s explosive. He has great hands. He runs great routes. He can get off press (coverage). He’s a football player, but he has to show it on the field.”
… and yes, there actually is life 1AB (Year One Anno Boyd).
Here is an interesting bit from Tipton and something discussed by Blatherites last season – what impact the changeover of starting QBs in mid-stream has on the receiving corps… different cadences, different types of ball thrown, different approaches to leadership and different attitudes of the guys who played with both QBs…
He said he and the others are developing a comfort level with quarterback Nathan Peterman that wasn’t there last year. “Now that everybody is feeling more comfortable, it seems everybody is doing what they are supposed to do, what we should have done last year,” he said.
Craig Myer – a fellow beat writer of the P-G with Sam Werner – has this about our empty center position now that two year starting Center Artie Rowell has left the house. He would have started three straight years but if we remember he had that season ending injury after three game in 2014.
Alex Bookser, a Mt. Lebanon graduate who played much of last season at right guard, has been working as the first-team center at the first several practices this spring. The move is one borne out of necessity, but so far, the sophomore has made the most of the opportunity.
“He’s really playing good at center,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “Is that going to be his spot? I don’t know. But the move was made because we’re trying to get our best five on the field, and, at this point right now, he’s definitely one of those top five.”
A Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 selection as a senior, Bookser has temporarily stepped in to the all-too-crucial position on the offensive line as junior Alex Officer works his way back from an ankle injury he sustained in Pitt’s Military Bowl loss to Navy. Peterson doesn’t expect to get much, if anything, from Officer this spring, but he expects him to be fully ready to play by the time fall camp begins in August.
Something to note about the transition from Rowell to Bookser – Rowell was 6’2″ and 310# and Bookser is 6’6 and 310#… I wonder is the height at center is an advantage or disadvantage given the fact that the center has to stay low and plow forward with leverage on so many plays. On thing is for certain; had Voytik played behind Bookser at center last season the back of Bookser’s helmet would have had a thousand pigskin scuff marks on it.
From the Pitt SID peeps:
Pitt Spring Practice #3
March 19, 2016
Coach Pat Narduzzi Quote Sheet
Opening remarks:
“Today was our first day in pads, not a bad day. As I told the kids afterwards, the enthusiasm was good, intensity was really good, but attention to detail not so good. But it was a normal first day in pads. I think there are going to be missed tackles. I think the offense had some big plays that you don’t want to give up on defense, but you’re fired up as a head coach to see those. There were some turnovers and there was some sloppiness, so it was a sloppy first day in pads, but we like to hit and we like a lot of contact, so I think they had a lot of fun today.”
On practicing at Heinz Field:
“I talked to our kids. This is our house and we’ve got to play well at Heinz Field. There’s got to be a different attitude when you walk into this place as opposed to the indoor. And you hope to have that attitude wherever you practice. However, when you come into here, you better be ready to go. And that’s something we’ve got to kick up. Last year we didn’t get to get in here at all. Last fall I think we got in here twice. And when we got in here twice we weren’t allowed to tackle just so we didn’t tear up the grass. So it’s really important to get in here.”
On any perceived difference in attitude practicing at Heinz Field:
“It’s hard to tell the attitude difference because they’re really always just fired up. The first live period after a 10-minute warm-up period just to get it going, there was a ton of enthusiasm there. So I couldn’t tell if it was Heinz or if they were just happy to get out of the shorts and play football.
“It’s hard to tell the difference because I think there was a lot of energy. Was it Heinz or was it contact? I don’t know. We’ll find out the next time for sure. Because then they’ll have hit people already and they’re not so anxious to make contact.
“Twelve [practices are permitted in pads by the NCAA]. You have to have three in shorts but then 12 where you’re allowed to have pads.”
On standout offensive plays in today’s practice:
“Quadree Henderson had a nice big run, kind of like some of the stuff you saw last year from Tyler Boyd, running some sweep plays. Tre Tipton I remember had a big play. You see a big play and you’re getting after somebody or coaching somebody up. I’m sure there were some that I didn’t mention, but those were the two that stood out to me.”
On the quarterbacks:
“I thought, just with the pass ‘skelly,’ I think there’s some pretty good timing with our offense and receivers, and obviously Nathan [Peterman] is our starter. We’re trying to find that next guy and right now I don’t know who that is.
“Nathan looked good, and, like I said, we’re still looking for that next guy.”
On the growing relationship between the offensive players and new coordinator Matt Canada:
“I think they’re having fun. I think they’re having a good time and they’ve bought into the offense, so I think that’s important.”
On what he’s seen from offensive lineman Alex Bookser this spring:
“He’s really playing well at center. Is that going to be his spot? I don’t know. But the move was made because we were trying to get our best five on the field. And at this point, right now, he’s definitely one of those top five. When [Alex] Officer gets back, there’s going to be a battle. I don’t know where things are going to fall but at this point, it’s getting our best five on the field, and he was anxious in trying that spot. So I think it’s good for him that he’s played tackle and he’s played guard and now he’s playing center. So he can play everywhere and he’s done a good job.”
Central Catholic’s DT Kurt Hinish is announcing his college choice this evening. Sorry – can’t get excited about any recruit who makes a decision this early… although I do hope he picks the Panthers.
Now where is going to fit in at Pitt?
Tough Question.
After all, Tino didn’t leave the team when he was needed.
There are PLENTY of things to be disappointed about when it comes to Chad Voytik.
Leaving the Team wasn’t one of them.
The writing was on the wall.
Courtesy Mick Jones and Joe Strummer.
Dixon should take TCU’s offer since “the money is right.:
Basketball recruiting rankings for 2017:
Note: No Pitt but there is Penn State.
TEAM
1 Kentucky
2 Duke
3 Michigan State
4 Mississippi State
5 UCLA
6 Connecticut
7 Virginia
8 Florida State
9 North Carolina
10 Miami
11 Syracuse
12 Oregon
13 Auburn
14 Alabama
15 Gonzaga
16 UNLV
17 Indiana
18 Penn State
19 NC State
20 Maryland
21 Washington
22 Butler
23 Oklahoma
24 Minnes
Hey, Voytik can go anywhere he wants to – that’s certainly his prerogative…
But he most probably isn’t going to be a starting QB on a Power Five team… the NFL isn’t even a distant possibility in his future… so that begs the question of why did he quit? If indeed he ends up a 2nd string guy at a comparable program to Pitt- then why didn’t he stay to help Pitt out as a 2nd string guy here when he is desperately needed?
Is he an eligible graduate transfer to take advantage of a better academic grad school that Pitt has? No.
It looks like he’s headed toward Memphis or Eastern Kentucky and good for him I suppose. I just don’t feel the same way as some Pitt fans do about players who quit the program and transfer just because they lost a starting job as I do about players who leave early to declare for the draft.
I could understand it a bit more if Jim Chaney was still here and Voytik would be firmly behind the 8-ball going into to this season’s fall camp but that isn’t the case with a new OC and, especially, given how poorly Peterman played over the last two games of the season. Instead he took off at the first blush of real pressure of competition…. and the reality was that as soon as Peterman arrived on campus Voytik couldn’t handle being the only viable QB.
So, yeah – you guys can take as many pot shots as you want at Sunseri who played a full three years, is at the top or close to the top in all of Pitt’s passing statistics and who had a 8 win season under his belt… and BTW played through more crap thrown directly at him from the fans in every game of his last season than Voytik had in his whole career at Pitt… yet never once complained about it or quit when the pressure was on. Not once.
I honestly don’t get the hero worship for Voytik when he was really nothing but one of 11 adequate starters on a mediocre team. Why is criticizing this guy out of bounds when Pitt fans still heap insults on Sunseri? Honest to God – Voytik gets a small taste of adversity… then he leaves and somehow he still gets more respect than others who stuck out tough times at Pitt.
You’ve jumped the shark on this one.
But, please, can we have no more talk of Sunseri? Or James Robinson? Their time at Pitt was notable for its consistency (fill in your definition), its mediocrity, and its annoyance.
If Bookser is the future at center, that is one thing. I just wouldn’t stunt his growth playing and practicing against some end pass rushers that are skilled versus some of our DT’s. Just my opinion.
After seeing his kickoff return in the bowl game, and the couple of nifty moves he made and his lateral quickness, it does look like Q. Henderson could be a good weapon on the jet-sweep type plays… Been a while since we’ve had one of those smaller, quicker guys work out for us – hopefully QH makes it happen.
Go Pitt.
Per SI, current Pitt coach Jamie Dixon will likely be the next TCU head coach. That’s a home run hire for the Horned Frogs.
Regardless,
H2P
Such the life of a Pitt fan. Few ups and lots of downs and/or uncertainties…
Time will tell – of the three LB recruits coming this Fall, IMO one of those three may already be penciled into the MLB spot (for the future). We have three serviceable guys in senior Matt Galambos, junior Wirginis and senior Caprara.
HTP!
If Dixon goes to TCU, yes, there may be a tough year or two as we go through a transition, but it does feel like it’s time for a fresh start for the coach and the program. Maybe it will plummet the team even further into mediocrity for the next decade, but I’d say it was already headed there, so it’s worth the risk.
The guys on the fan just said that Smoke Williamson just tweeted “Wow… And that’s that.” So I guess it’s a done deal?
It had everything to do with handling adversity. That competition was not rigged, remember it was Peterman who made the overture to Pitt and Chaney and not the other way around. Voytik himself made the choice glaringly obvious when he played so poorly in fall camp and into the beginning of the season. Most OCs would have just sat the incumbent QB down if they really wanted “their” guy to start, but Voytik was given three games to do something and he didn’t.
As I said earlier – Voytik can do what he wants… If he can get a starting job somewhere and play some full-time ball then good for him. But I like Pitt and Pitt football and do not like the idea of leaving this 2016 season in the hands of Bertke or DiNucci if Peterman goes down and believe me, not one of you Pitt fans will have liked it either. Neither of those two are D1 material.
As to the thoughts that I dislike Voytik which I have read on here earlier.. then why am I so upset he left the team? Believe me, I want him on the roster way more than most Pitt fans… and I want him to compete for the starting job at Pitt.
Some fans talk like it’s a given that he wouldn’t play here this season but that is very far from certain – an injury could easily happen (remember Bill Stull in ’07 anyone? Our season tanked because of that injury; James Conner’s season ending knee last year?) or he may well have won his starting job back with a new OC.
I just find it weird and kind of sickening that one PITT QB plays his ass off for us, warts and mistakes and all, and gets pilloried and another takes off as soon as he gets a hint of competition and he’s put on some sort of pedestal… apparently just for making a few phone calls back in 2011.
Anyway – that’s my pet peeve, we all have them and that’s mine. I’ll try not to bring it up again.
Voytik folded in a different way and decided to move on. Good luck to him and enjoy your shiny new Pitt degree. Don’t let the door hit you as you leave.
“..our next year goal is to be, you can’t guard any of us. If you want to double team me, or if you want to double team ‘Tez (Donte Ford), or if you want to double team J. Weah, then it’s going to be tough for you. We have other people who are working inside the system, so we don’t want it to be, who is going to be the next Tyler Boyd or who is going to be the next Larry Fitzgerald.. we want it to be, who is going to be the best receiving corps? We feel like we are..”
As stated earlier I think that with Ford, Henderson and Tipton our passing game is going to be way more productive… throw a ball or two a game to the TEs and we’re in good shape.
Unless Pitt is playing FIU in a bowl game against Matt House’s D, I don’t see J. Weah being double teamed in the near future.
k not staying issue. (Here comes my Tino Rant). Tino was handed the job for 4 years with a guarantee by Wanny there would be no competion and his team mates depised his arrogance on and off the field – the apple didnt fall far from the tree. With all due respect I dont believe he was as good as you (and wbb) think. If Peterman is so much better than Voytik as you argue, why would you even want, in your opinion, such as poor QB as backup? You have jumped the shark my man. Of course I did hate Sunseri for all his lousy QB play – sacks, stumble roll outs, never throw to a secondary receiver, running out of bounds for a loss when tossing the ball away was what any moron such I myself knew to do. I admit the hatred but the QB job was handed to him for four years, there is no comparison. Voytick showed his loyalty to Pitt when he stuck and kept others here when Fraud left. There are what, 5, backups without him? He will graduate from Pitt with a degree after 4 years. He fulfilled his committment to the University – 4 years not 5. I respectfully disagree with you on this though I understand you position. Keep up the football posts!!! Nice to have E-mel back. Later
I do think and have said all along the Peterman was better and I believe he showed that.
The question isn’t about Peterman v Voytik… but all about Voytik vs Bertke and DiNucci.
Sorry, but I think it is crazy to wave goodbye to someone who showed he could play at least average ball in D1 and just assume that two lesser talented kids can fill that gap.
I said before and I’ll say again – if Peterman goes down for any length of time over a game we are in deep trouble.
As to ‘jumping the shark’ – you all, again, missed my point – it wasn’t about the talent level of the two players or whether the ;fix was in for Sunseri (which cracks me up BTW because when I was saying that back in 2009 when Pat Bostick was competing everyone on here said Sunseri ‘won’ that job, [and I was the one who said the fix was in for Sunseri,] because he was a better player – now commenters are revising history and agreeing with me in retrospect)but was directed at the fans love/hate relationship with Voytik and Sunseri.
Sunseri stuck out the hard times and gets pilloried and Voytik decamps at the first hint of hardship and the fans love him. I don’t get that a bit.
Take personalities aside and if we are talking as fans of Pitt football and what is best for the team itself and the program then there is absolutely no comparison between what the two players did at all… both on and off the field.
Look – I have spent more time face to face with Chad Voytik and had more conversations with him, both in the Southside and away from football fields than anyone who reads and comments on this blog. Personally I like the young man and wish him well.
However, I do not like the fact that he didn’t stick it out and stay on the team because I want Pitt to be the best football team it can be in 2016 and he would help greatly with that – maybe even a season saver if Peterman went down.
In real life it is possible to like a man but not the man’s decisions. I didn’t think Sunseri was a very good QB as a whole but I respect the hell out of the way he carried himself over his four years at Pitt… That is my opinion of him. Others fans wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire… yet they also think Voytik walks on water because he made a few phone calls as a recruit and played one season of blah football for us that resulted in a losing season.
Bottom line: fans are wierd, myself included.
