Shady did a lot for the Pitt Program in his two seasons here. I am excited to see him play on Sundays; and, to watch Burns and Harris play on Saturdays!!! Hail to Pitt!

Great move on his part. Most of the media said he would go and Dokish came out a few days ago and wrote an entire article as if McCoy was going. He said they all say they are staying until they get a bunch of people telling him he’ll be a millionaire and that’s exactly what happened.

Plus, there is no guarantee next year if he stayed at Pitt, either from injury or success. Pitt may struggle next year and if they do, so could he. I say get while the goings good.

Now, Pitt went from the best team in a poor league next year to one of many decent teams in a poor league next year. And please nobody embarrass themselves and say Chris Burns will be just as good next year. The kid could be good, but he’s not going to be McCoy. Especially behind this line.

no hard feelings here. The kid is awesome and represented Pitt very well. He helped bring our program back from the dead.

Good Luck Shady….You will be missed, but with Cav running the show at OC, I don’t blame you for leaving…Good Luck in the NFL!

well, all my expectations for next year are gone

I feel like someone punched me in the gut. I’m not upset with him leaving but I am still keeping my fingers crossed that he changes his mind or this is all just a bad dream. Anyway, if he does go, a terrific two years and best of luck to him and he was the primary reason this team had the success it did this past season.

Good Luck to Shady but I’m praying he doesn’t go the way of Chris Taft in hoops (sustained an early injury and faded from the league essentially making nothing). Based on every report the entire year it sounds like McCoy wanted to come back and his mom saw dollar signs. Shame on you Mrs. McCoy! I love the kid and what he did for the University. Shady always said the right things and did the right things. I only wish the same was true for his mom. I realize the injury argument is big but truthfully there is more potential that a kid gets hurt (and goes one and done) when Ray Lewis hits him as opposed to Scott Lutrus from UCONN. Playing one year and getting injured doesn’t do a whole lot for you money wise. McCoy still could build some size to take the NFL physicality. All the tools are there though. The way he finished the year I’m not sure he’s a first rounder with all the talented backs coming out. I personally think hes the best, but the size thing will be an issue in the draft. If he stuck around, bulks up, guaranteed high first-rounder/ guaranteed millions up front. Shame on you Mrs. McCoy for grabbing at the sirloin tips on the buffet when if you waited 15 minutes you would get the filet they bring out.

My comment on the last post:
While I can’t blame Shady for wanting to go early, he picked a terrible year to do it. Shonn Greene, Beanie Wells, Donald Brown, and Knowshon Moreno are other running backs leaving early. Javon Ringer is another top running back in this draft. After those guys, you’ve got several big name QBs (Stafford, Sanchez, Bradford) and studs at every other position. There are more than 32 players with first round talent, and not all of them can go in the first round.

With last year being an outlier (with 5), 2-3 running backs are taken in the first round every year. 5 of the top 10 rushers this year were from the first round. Check out link to nfl.com . Lots of big name rushers fell to lower rounds. I don’t know if they were undervalued or if RBs aren’t a top drafting priority.

Guys, as long as Stull stays healthy, we’ll be fine! ………

………. hahahahahahahaha yeah right.

To lighten the mood a bit, I just remembered an old joke.

Greg Lee.

To the earlier poster who criticized Shady’s mom- I highly doubt this is only his mom’s doing. This is what’s best for LeSean, too. And I never believed when he was saying earlier that he was coming back. Similar to Donald Brown at UConn I think he didn’t want to distract anyone until after the season was over. Like a few others said, running backs have a limited life, and for him to come back next year and carry the ball 300 times wouldn’t have done much to help him. Best of luck Shady. I think you’ll do terrific in the NFL and make us Panthers fans proud

Great recruiting tool to get a premium back.

ugh. i can’t blame him for leaving, not w/ our coaches and o line. boy will he will be sorely missed. we’re screwed next year. i saw every game pitt played this year. do y’all realize how many wins were a direct result of shady’s ability? ND comes to mind first. how many 3rd and 6’s did he convert all on his own, taking a dump pass from bostick, making 3 guys miss and converting?? i’m afraid 9-4 was a bit of smoke and mirrors. i’m sure wanny has a plan though…haha!

I love the kid, but him coming back or leaving isn’t going to have as big an effect on our situation as some think. We’re an 8-10 win team no matter what, its not like billy stool would ever carry us to the promise land. There’s only so much Shady could do here, and stuck with Stool and PB i wouldn’t come back either. Burns and Harris will run well enough, hell, burns has been said to be very good too…i guess we’ll find out soon enough. But there is no RB in the world that can make up for an awful QB…its just not possible.

Good luck Shady.

Good luck #25. It was a pleasure to watch you play.

Now on to the #1 ranked basketball team.

I can only wish Shady the best. Being a first rounder [just my opinion] will be a long shot at best.

Wonder if Wanny protected the program from the chanch that Shady might leave by recruiting so many 5′ 9″ running backs.

Yea, we are not “screwed” by any means. Obviously losing the best player on the team (of in the league) hurts anyone…but RB is one position where we still have loads of talent.

I can’t blame him. I just always feel like the fans get strung along when this stuff happens.

But, if he’s really going to get drafted that early, it’s tough to turn down all of that money.

Good luck Shady! We’re going to suck without you!!

Shady is a good kid and a great player. I can’t help think how Wanndstedt wastes talent. Shady is so great but we have 5-7 and 9-4 with zero points in our bowl game to show for it. This show is beginning to make the Harris years look golden.

Well it kind of looks like that guy that posted a few weeks ago as saying he had it from VERY RELIABLE SOURCES

Alright, I’m gonna try to be even minded about this. Yes, losing LeSean McCoy hurts quite a bit, it’s tough anytime you lose a player of his caliber especially in an up year for the program where (possibly) next year could have been even better.

THAT BEING SAID: We have a running back named Chris Burns, who was #8 in his entire class, as well as veterans Kevin Collier and Shariff Harris in the backfield, not to mention Dion Lewis and a few of these other young kids coming in. Running back is a lot more about the offensive line than you think- if we get Houser, Pinkston, Thomas, Nix, and Jacobson opening holes for these kids, they are not going to be failures. One of them WILL have a 1000 yard season next year.

The main question still remains at quarterback, but I do not feel that the loss of LeSean McCoy will cost this team 6 wins, like some people are saying. If Pat Bostick can take the starting job (like I feel he will in the offseason), this team will end up better. There are too many Pitt fans who are willing to panic after every little thing. This is normal in the course of college football, but running back is one area where we could handle a loss like Shady. I wish him the best and I hope he represents Pitt well in the NFL, but I think next year still has plenty of reason for optimism, especially come the spring game where we can watch some of these young RBs take the field.

inside the program was right on. I think it sucks. Could you imagine the fear a backfield with Cross as QB and McCoy at RB could have put in the heart of defensive coordinators?

And, come to think of it, what good is it if DW gets great recruits by promising to get them to the “next level” and then he actually gets them there? Kids are going to come, take care of their own stats, and bolt. As for QB, I really hope Sunseri doesn’t get ruined the way Stull did. And things have turned out pretty well for Mr. Flacco, haven’t they?

face it, even with Shady leaving, we should be very good at offensive skill positions next year except for one very key position. But like with any team, it all depends on the O-line. It is very possible that there may be some depth there next year with Jacobsen and Nix expected to start … plus another year of schooling from OL coach Wise shouldn’t hurt.

7-5

Bobby,

I do not understand your post. Are you suggesting that it’s negative to recruit blue chip talent and eventually send that talent into the league even if it’s a year or two early? Seems like a pretty good recruiting tool to me.

I really don’t think this is a good decision, he dances too much and i don’t believe he is ready for the nfl, i wish him the best, but i think he will drop to the third round with all the other great backs in the draft as well as the great backs up for free agency this season, one more year and he would have been a top 10 pick, i dont think he wants this either, it’s his mom’s choice. Anyway good luck and thanks for the memories.

Big Mistake sounds like mama saw the dollar $$$$$$$$….What a dissapointment hopefully wanny will talk him into staying,and what the hell is Larry Fitzgerald doing he is smarter than that shady would be a top 5 pick next year.

Let’s wish him well…He played his heart out for us and will always be a PITT man!

Shady–thank you for beign you, and whether it’s the NFL or PITT next year, Thank YOU!

Hail to PITT!
-al-

Shady made the right decision. End of story. Its CRAZY that people are criticizing his mother and Larry Fitzgerald. Running backs do, indeed, have a very limited shelf life. If you can go and get first round money, you go. Lots of guys come back and don’t improve at all, and people move them DOWN because the tag of “potential” is tarnished by stagnation. The McCoy family is not destitute — remember, LeRon collected NFL paychecks — this is simply a case of a mother looking after the best interests of the kid, and the best interests are for him to leave. This does, also, help Pitt. Shady going to the league will be more representation of the school. Good for him. As for Larry, he’s ALSO looking out for Shady. What the hell do you guys think, Larry is somehow trying to hurt Pitt? He’s giving fair, honest advice. Same as when Jamie Dixon told Chris Taft not to leave, and then told NBA coaches that the kid was a terrible practice player with a bad attitude. You build credibility by being honest. That’s why Wanny kept telling people to wait on declaring that Shady would stay, because he wanted to do right by the kid and make sure he got an honest assessment. If Larry/Wanny/whomever held this kid back, the next 50 kids are going to see that and say “Pitt cares about what you do for Pitt, they don’t back their players; Pitt doesn’t help its players get to the next level.” This is a GREAT day for Shady McCoy, since he gets to pursue a lifelong dream. Its bittersweet for the fans who would’ve loved to see #25 in a Panthers uniform for one more year, but c’est la vie. Shady was a class act when he was here. Its a damn shame people can’t be happy for him.

link to post-gazette.com
Read the link from jan 6th wanny thought that he was coming back?I am happy for him and yes he did a lot, but it just seem like he is getting pushed into this by people looking out for his “$best intrest$” i would not be surpised if he does’nt drop into the 3rd round like steve slaton did last year.I was trying to make a point that Larry Fitzgerald seems like an smart guy he was a heisman finalist and all that shady would get more money by not coming out this year alot of good backs are coming out……so i guess its a damn shame that i want him to come back see ya later then thanks and good luck!(And who cares about him being happy i want pitt to win everytime at whatever cost.)Go hug a tree!

Sorry, was just upset “Hail to Pitt” No Hard Feelings..(I started to sound like a Penn Stater)I promise i will never get angry at anyone who loves PITT ever again..

I think he will, in fact, be a first-rounder — he’s damned tough, perhaps the quickest and most talented of the lot entering the draft. He can only get bigger-stronger, a point cited by many above already. Additionally, the kid’s taken a good deal of punishment (physically) in his two years here, and that fact won’t be lost come draft time — not by any NFL front-office. (I just don’t see him a bust like Reggie B. in New Orleans.)

The advice I’d extend: leave now, collect your bonuses, and finish your degree — accident-injury, or plain desire — at some other point. See Emmitt Smith’s return to Florida to finish at career’s end.)

Take the money and run (literally & figuratively) — this is not just a mother’s choice (provided it happens to unfold this way. This is equally LeSean’s choice as well.

Chiefly, the only problem I’d take issue with would be any news wherein Wannstedt attempted to dissuade him. And I’m not ready to believe that just yet — I’ll maintain he cares more about his players than personal success. At this point anyway..

In ref to comment left by Maz:

“Wanny…wanted to do right by the kid and make sure he got an honest assessment. If Larry/Wanny/whomever held this kid back, the next 50 kids are going to see that and say “Pitt cares about what you do for Pitt…”

Wholeheartedly agree. My point exactly

Tony from Houston is spot on: why isn’t anybody telling it like it is? This is on Wannstedt and his fuzzy program/game management. Why would he come back after the debachle in the Sun Bowl where they don’t even have enough sense to use him? Does anybody in their right mind think if Shady had been given the ball in El Paso and Pitt would have won the game, gone 10-3 and been ranked in the preseason to 10 next year thus positioning Shady for a run at the Heisman wouldn’t have made a difference? Of couse it would have. But, based on what happened, Wannstedt set the record for the worst offensive performance in college bowl history. If I was him, I would leave too. In fact, if I was Sunseri, and anybody else with any talent I would transfer to a Delaware of somewhere where I can play for a coach with a clue.

OK – let’s review this Steve. Wannstedt pulls off an amazing recruiting coup by getting McCoy to sign at PITT when no one gave him a chance to do so.

McCoy plays for two years under DW, putting up great stats in a run oriented offense (who got the ball on every play in the red zone over the last two years?), and subsequently develops into a projected first round pick.

Millions of dollars get dangled in front of McCoy and he makes a decision to grab the opportunity to play at the highest level possible, for money that will set him, and his family, up for life. That same decision is made by many underclassman in exactly the same circumstances as McCoy every single year. BTW – take a look at those other young RBs & QBs that have declared, almost every single one of them had way better shots at winning the Heisman Trophy in 2009 than McCoy did even if PITT had a great year next season.

But somehow his decision to go into the draft is all on DW’s shoulders based on the Sun Bowl.

OK, obsess much do you?

You don’t think other HS players are going to look at this situation and see DW putting yet another PITT player into the first round of the NFL draft? How many years in a row has he done that now? That’s right, this will be three straight years. PSU hasn’t done that, nor WVU. If you can’t credit DW for that, and see that it is a positive thing for PITT, then well, your mind is set anyway.

How hard is it for you to read the news and see how many kids across the country make this exact same decision, every single year – it’s become the norm for exceptional players to declare the first year they can. This isn’t unique to PITT.

“But according to one family member, McCoy began to have a change of heart in El Paso, especially given the lackluster performance of the offense.”

Exactly….

…anyways, it won’t have as big of effect as the chicken little people think…the biggest factor in wins/losses for us next year is the QB play…and considering i am 1000% sure stull will be the QB next year (and PB when he gets hurt) it will still be mediocre on the best days and god awful on the worst. We will win 8 to 10 games, depeneding on how many Stull/Cav give away.

We will be fine at the RB position, we have a half dozen waiting, and a couple of them are real good…i think people are going to be suprised…

Reed:
All the player development stuff and Wanny being so good at setting up NFL talent is great. But if he can’t utilize the talent he has to maximum benefit he is really not moving Pitt back to National prominence. Remember when Harris didn’t use Fitzgerald in the Car Care Bowl and we lost? Harris was out the next year.

Check out the AP poll. Pitt is no where to be found. Four years of Wannstedt and we are still unranked at the time it counts the most-the end of the season. Last ranking 2004-HARRIS. People can make all the excuses for Wannstedt they want. Bottom line – we are not where we should be. I’m sorry I spent money traveling to football games this year. I won’t do it next year. I’ll save it for basketball. I can’t wait to get to Rosemont Arena and see Dixon’s boys beat-up on DePaul. Let’s Go Pitt!

uugghhh stull without McCoy to bail him out…2009 will be ugly.

Shady….thanks for an incredible two years! The four greatest skill players I’ve watched since I was old enough to be a Pitt fan…33, 13, 1 & 25.

Walt for OC!

Good god, all of this hopeless talk is ridiculous. This team won 9 games! There are a lot of good players on both sides of the ball who we haven’t even seen yet. Don’t be surprised with 9 or 10 wins next year.

As for Shady, nobody blames him if he does in fact go to the NFL. I don’t necessarily agree that it is the right decision. He could improve a few things…blocking, physique and ball security to name a few. Who knows where he could be drafted if he stayed and had a phenomenal year. Obviously the flip side of that is an injury and I would also feel awful if his career in the NFL was ruined because of something like that. Its a tough spot to be in.

Sc Steve, there are reasons to be optimistic and there are also some big reasons to be very worried. We lose Shady, DW is a stubborn head coach thats doesnt quite get it just yet, Cav is inconsistent at best, Stull is a nightmare. Those are some pretty good reasons to be worried.

Good Luck Shady! You made the right choice. Can’t wait to see you on Sundays!!! He is an adult and it was his decision, so let’s not try and blame Mom and L. Fitz! Besides, risking injury and another year behind Cav’s ridiculous play calling would have been silly. Yes, we will miss him, he is irreplaceable! Go #25…represent the Panthers. HAIL TO PITT!

This is why you bring Dave and his recruiting in, as well as a great sign that things are starting to point in the right direction. Look at all the other top flight programs that lose kids early to the draft. Like it or not college is the minors/ developemental league for the NFL.

You cant blame his mother for encouraging him to leave – this may be his only chance at first or second round bonuses! Would anyone here HONESTLY stay with the risks, current economic climate, and the opportunity to make millions?

Think with your heads – this is great for him, his family, the program, and the university!

makes our prgm look bad when nat’l media reports he is staying, then a week later he’s going. this has a completely different feel than when revis declared early.

Some of you people are delusional. WITH McCoy, we finished SIXTH in the Big East in rushing last season. SIXTH!! You can try to tell yourself that things will be alright all you want with Burns, but the running game is NOT going to be good next year. The only thing Pitt has going for them is that they will still probably have a winning record because the Big East is going to be embarrassingly bad next season.

We will win with Defense and Special Teams!

No worries Wanny did fine with the Fish when Ricky Williams left to go on his pot smoking tour of Europe.

This “9 wins” thing is a canard. Yes, it’s the W and Ls that matter, mostly. But in a conference as weak as the BE and given the one good thing DW has done, recruit talent, after 4 years, 9 wins should be the bare minimum to be expected, not hailed as some pinnacle of achievement.

Those 9 wins were a result of a very good defense and Shady, and they came despite coaching decisions game in and out that made it more difficult to get those 9 wins. In most other major conferences, Pitt would have been lucky to be .500.

The fact is this: Wanny is who Wanny is, and that appears to be a pretty good recruiter, for the time being at least, and a god-awful field coach who prefers to lay all of the responsibility for losses at the players feet and never his own. You cannot keep waiting for next year, because things will not change with the head coach, meaning every year will be a struggle to get 8 or 9 wins.

And, eventually, perhaps sooner than we think, the recruiting could very well fall off, because they won’t be seeing Otah and McCoy in the pros, but players like Dickerson and Fields and the numerous others who come in and get jockeyed around from position to position, never achieving their true potential, because of a nice-guy moron head coach who just happens to be a great “Pitt guy.”

Good luck, Shady. You deserve nothing but the best.

Wanny went 7-16 after Williams left.

It all starts up front and with the immense talent this team has on the D-Line they should be in every game. That front is the scariest in the entire league and will do a lot to keeping the D strong. With a strong D you can never be a bad team.

Let’s use Carmen’s (not far off) analogy to start a comparison:

Wanny – pretty good recruiter, god-awful field coach, lays blame at feet of players, and I would say a decent schemer

Walt – awful recruiter when it came to anything but WR, god-awful schemer, marginal schemer, laid all the blame at the feet of the players.

Who’s better? I go with a least the recruiter.

Walt is a god-awful field coach, I meant to say. Plus he let Rhoads run the show on defense.

Last time I checked we don’t play in the Big 12 or SEC…best we can do is win the games in our conference. If we take care of our business we should have a shot at the BCS next year. I know the QB situation is a concern, but RB is the one place we are loaded with talent. Shady was a special player and in many ways irreplaceable, but the drop-off in talent shouldn’t have a huge impact. Our o-line should be improved and the defense will be stellar again. Couple that with a friendly schedule and we should have the chance to win plenty of games…so contrary to what some believe, the sky is not falling with the departure of mccoy.

The sky is falling with Stull and Bostick at the helm.

BTW:

We’re #1! We’re #1!!!

Personally, I find it disheartening to think that the best we can hope for is to win a shitty league and get embarrassed in a BCS bowl. I want more than that. And that’s the best case scenario next year.

When your head coach said he didn’t properly prepare the team for a bowl ame, that spells trouble. You loose by 3 pts in a bowl game and fall completely out of the ranking – both Iowa and WVU finished higher in the polls. Everyone remembers the last game, and they looked dreadul. The Texas QB is visiting this weekend along with 13 other recruits.

Lets get used to early leavings. Blair is next.

Blair leaving early is a huge mistake for him. Relative to the competition Blair isn’t on McCoy’s level and could propel himself significantly higher in the draft by staying a year and developing his game more. I know the money is a bit different with the NBA but Blair can really improve his draft standing with another year in college.

I have said it over and over again. What this staff has done to Dorin Dickerson, the best athlete and receiver on this team is stunning and tragic. How he is not a 1,000 yard receiver, kick returner, and savior of this team is ridiculous. (Look what the man does when given a chance: SU TD, Cincy TD, Sun Bowl) I am obsessed with Pitt football and it is my number one passion and hobby, but when you see baffling stuff like this, 3-0, and Cav’s game calling which lost us the Rutgers game, I would not let my son play for Wanny. (I do not have a son) I am a rational person and I couldn’t stand to my son maybe fall a victim to Wanny/Cav’s irrational decision making. Coach Cav’s lunacy definately played a role in Shady’s decision.

If you can’t throw, everyone knows you are running. When they know you are running and you have a crappy OL, the running back is in trouble which means possible falling draft stock.

I fear this is a bad decision. I hope I’m wrong.

We can all only guess at his reasons and motivations for declaring, if indeed, he does.

But any of you that are saying it’s a good decision are also guessing, because Shady won’t know that until the draft results are in. My guess is that he’ll drop behind a number of those other backs and the numbers in the pro contract won’t be what he’s salivating after right now. I’m thinking late 2nd RD and a lot less money than the bonus babies in the first RD get.

Obviously I’m guessing, too, but I’m taking into consideration how many “no-name” backs who weren’t drafted high are putting up big numbers in the NFL. Teams have better places to spend money than on RBs. They’re interchangeable and you nearly have to have 3 good ones these days.

Good luck to Shady, and by April we’ll know if he made the right decision……….at least financially.

Dickerson is not the best athlete on the team and they finally found a spot to use him where he looks natural. He didn’t look right at WR, RB, or LB at this level. I agree though that he could have been used more as a threat this year at TE. Yes he is good but was overhyped in high school. And I do remember Dickerson returning a kick last year against WVU. I was watching the game and others at the bar were laughing at how slow he looked returning the ball and at the fact that Pitt didn’t have a better athlete back there.

Mr. Lett, what do you mean he didn’t look right at various offensive positions? He looked great in the few times he was thrown to this year and he scored a 52 yard touchdown against Toledo as an RB the first time he touched the ball at Pitt. Dickerson should have been used as a scatback/wide receiver and instead he has sat on the bench for 80 to 90% of the offense’s plays this year and his frosh year.

Dickerson is head and shoulders better than Kinder and Turner but in typical Wanny fashion, we got the same old stuff for the past couple of years. Also, Stephens-Howling got all this playing time and had a couple of standout games, but it was never enough to warrent keeping people like Dickerson on the bench for so long.

You are still missing my point. I am not bashing Shady for going – more power to him. What I am saying is that had Wannstedt properly deployed Shady in the Sun Bowl and IF Pitt then would have prevailed, the allure would have been much more enticing for him to stay because Pitt would have been ranked and the sports information office would have been able to put together a dynamic marketing program for Shady for Heisman. But, there was nothing positive which came out of that game and that is on the head coach period. He laid a big egg, and that is a shame. Not surprising, but disappointing. And I contend that is why we are losing Shady.

Dickerson should have had more touches, but to call him “head and shoulders” better than Kinder is a stretch. Kinder was an excellent WR in all phases of the game (route running, blocking, catching, and leadership). He will be missed.

what time is the press conferance today for Shady?