Surfing the message boards I saw the following on Rivals.com.  It is an interesting article put out by SB Nation’s Football Study Hall regarding HC Pat Narduzzi’s defensive schemes at Pitt.

This is the lead into the article and I think he hits the nail right on the head regarding our pass defense:

“The most difficult positions to fill in the Narduzzi secondary are probably the boundary corner, free safety, field corner, strong safety, and star LB (space-backer) in that order.

The latter two positions of strong safety and star are the tip of the spear for this defense, these guys are set to up make plays and put pressure on the offense, which is what defines this scheme. Their aggression and freedom isn’t possible without the play of the former three defenders who have to establish the “no-fly zone” so that the strong safety and star can spend their time hunting down running backs.

As it happens, the Panthers are returning their boundary corner Avonte Maddox, free safety Terrish Webb, and strong safety Jordan Whitehead but are looking for players to step up at field corner and space-backer.”

Well, most likely that field cornerback will be true FR Damar Hamlin after the dust settles during fall camp.  At least that is what the pundits (and myself I suppose) think.  He’s highly rated at 4*s and had offers from across the country.  If we are looking for another, or different, newcomer to take that spot then 4* FR George Hill could fit the bill also.  We discuss him a lot on here, our mysterious commenter Pitt of Dreams can’t envision him anywhere but at running back. However, needs must and if the staff wants him there they will put him there.

In one of my recruiting articles I was discussing the ratings systems by Rivals and mentioned that 3* FR Therran Coleman of Pittsburgh’s Brashear HS was one slim ‘point’ away from being listed as a 4* recruit also.

We need more help in the defensive backfield because it seemed like every time we turned around the opponent was completing deep passes against us.  Narduzzi had stated before the ’15 season started that the defense would be built on DL and LB pressure on the QB.  We did end up with a lot of sacks, 37 on the season, but as far as steady pressure on the QB to disrupt their passing game we weren’t so effective.

This is what our opponents did in their passing game against our defense:

“Pretty horrid that is Obi Wan Kenobi“.

All in all our defense was OK at 363.2 yards per game (37^th) on the strength of a good run defense by giving up a somewhat stingy 149 yards per game and that put us at 40^th nationally. Along with that our scoring defense was smack in the middle of the rankings at 57^th place and 26.1 PPG.  Cut down on those defensive backfield mistakes for long gainers and that should drop this year.

However, the really big disappointment last season was how we fell flat on our face in turnovers.  New DC Josh Conklin’s claim to fame at FIU was the ability of his teams to produce many, many turnovers to the tune of 19 (!) fumble recoveries and 14 interceptions.

Those 33 total turnovers were 5^th nationally for FIU and is an awesome number.  We came nowhere close to that last season with a paltry 6 fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions which left us as cellar dwelling 96^th spot nationally.

We just never came up with the BIG defensive play to get that field changing turnover it seemed.

Anyway – back to the article.  The author sums up Pitt’s greatest area of defensive concern with this:

Penn State, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Syracuse stand out in particular as teams that can and will look to get after the DBs that Pitt leaves in space in these schemes. If Narduzzi’s Panthers can re-establish air supremacy against this schedule then Pitt will really be going places in the ACC.

“No-Fly” zone, eh?  I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Here is another SB Nation article that ranks Pitt #29th going into the 2016 season:

2016 WPIAL Hall of Fame induction

Here is a nice piece for you Pittsburghers – Pitt’s own (RB/LB/TE/H-Back/??) Dorin Dickerson was inducted last night.

2009 Scouting Report: One of the finest overall athletes on Pitt’s team…entering his second season at the tight end position, Dickerson appears poised to make the biggest contributions of his career…capable of stretching the field like a wide receiver in the pass game.

2008: In his first season at tight end, played in 13 games, starting two…had 13 catches for 174 yards (13.4 avg.) and two TDs…had two rushes for 25 yards (12.5 avg.)…caught the first TD of his career on a two-yard pass vs. Syracuse…had a 41-yard TD catch at Cincinnati…had two catches for 37 yards vs. Oregon State in the Sun Bowl.

2007: Played in all 12 games as a reserve Sam linebacker and had 15 total tackles…had career-high six stops with a TFL assist at Michigan State…also compiled 56 yards on four kick returns on the year with a long of 23 vs. Rutgers.

2006: Played in eight games to letter, primarily seeing time at wide receiver and on the kick return unit…scored a 14-yard TD off a reverse vs. Toledo…lined up once in the backfield at Syracuse and took a direct snap for a 10-yard rush…had a five-yard catch and one-yard rush at UCF.

Here are more Pitt specific highlights of DD.