Not sure how Chris McKillop’s tryout with the Jets went over the weekend. The former Pitt DE was trying out at Linebacker. It’s as much about making an impression to be invited back in the summer and to maybe create some additional interest from other teams.

That seems to be the result for Mike Phillips after his Browns’ tryout. He didn’t get invited back.

“It was a great opportunity to be in front of a lot of scouts,” Phillips said. “I think it opened some doors for a lot of things to happen. I have to keep working and go from there.”

Phillips has no intention of ending his dream. He’ll confer with his representation at the DeBartolo Co. and see if he can get a chance with another team.

“I’ll have to talk to my agent and look at the rosters of other teams and what they really need,” he said.

…

One possible destination for Phillips is Chicago. He and his agent weighed offers from the Browns and Bears before deciding on the Browns.

’’When I talked to my agent, we felt like the Browns were the better situation,” he said. “Things didn’t work out the way we thought.”

Which of course, does go back to taking advantage of the educational opportunities at Pitt. Just ask Ben Pryor.

Pryor, a highly sought Western Pennsylvania high school football player in 1976 who played in four college bowl games, is enjoying his career in education. He received his degree in elementary education in 1998 and his Masters in 2000.

“It’s going well in this change of careers, and I enjoy what I am doing,” said Pryor, who previously worked in the steel industry.

A focus of Pryor’s daily responsibilities is working with ninth graders entering Roosevelt High, a school of approximately 2,800 students in Prince Georges County, a Washington suburb.

On May 17, Pryor will be one of eight inductees during the A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame’s 39th banquet at the Clarion Hotel in New Kensington.

Pryor had tremendous success in both high school football and basketball. He was named first-team all-state, a Parade Magazine All-American and an adidas All-American in 1976, and played in the 1977 Big 33 all-star football game.

There are always other things after football.

Yes, spring practice ended over two weeks ago, but there are still old stories to rehash and things I never got to. In part, because now that we are in the dead period it’s good to hold some things in reserve.

Thinks like player (puff) pieces.

You’ve probably read most of them. Sophomore safety Dom DeCicco had a piece and he discussed a little of the change on the defense under new DC Phil Bennett.

DeCicco said Bennett left much of the defense the same and just added some new wrinkles. Still, he said that Benett’s personality is different and that Bennett is stressing a more aggressive, playmaking approach and philosophy to the defense. The Panthers were second-to-last in the Big East in both interceptions and forced turnovers.DeCicco said he would like to see himself as a player who could help be part of a turnaround in those areas.

Which, of course, is consistent with everything that has been said about the change to the defense this year. A good deal of that also has to do with more speed at all positions on the defense. I’m going to break character and skip the stock Paul Rhodes bashing. He’s gone, that’s all that matters.

Speaking of more speed at all positions, that also includes the increased depth. At linebacker, redshirt freshman Greg Williams has settled in at linebacker after a couple changes in position.

“This might be the place I’ll be the rest of my football life,” Williams said. “I’m doing well. I might have found a home.”

A cousin of Arizona Cardinals tailback Edgerrin James of Immokalee and a nephew of former NFL back Albert Bentley of Immokalee, Williams started at that position this past season. He ran for 1,481 yards and 17 touchdowns as a Barron Collier senior in 2006 and for 3,077 yards in his career.

After redshirting this past fall, he was first moved to strong safety then to outside linebacker. Being moved constantly didn’t sit well with Williams until he talked to new defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Phil Bennett, the former coach at Southern Methodist.

“At first, I was down and upset because I didn’t want to play linebacker,” Williams said. “But I’ve grown to like it because I’m fast and I know what running backs like to do.”

Of course, there might be some temptation to move Williams back to safety because of depth issues. Williams, though, impressed throughout spring practices with his play at linebacker so that doesn’t seem too likely that they coaches would keep shifting him around when he is developing an affinity for the spot.

I admit to being surprised by this.

University of Pittsburgh junior forward Sam Young announced on Friday that he will return to Pitt for his senior season. Young, who will not declare for the NBA Draft, announced his decision two days before the NBA Draft Early Entry declaration deadline on Sunday, April 27.

“In discussing my options the last couple of weeks with Coach Dixon and my family, I feel that it is in my best interest to return to Pitt for my senior year,” Young said. “With the players we have returning to the team, we have an opportunity to accomplish something special next year. I can’t wait to get the season started.”

Not the part about Young coming back for his senior year. I’m just stunned he didn’t go to the Orlando pre-draft camp and workouts.

It was a no risk exploration to find out about his draft status for 2009 and to learn more about what they want to see from him. It’s why so many juniors who stand no chance of being drafted and clearly will return do declare for the NBA Draft. They just want to know where they stand.

That said, this is excellent news. Lots of expectations, but plenty of optimism as well.

Last night was the night to get the taxes done. Anyone know if you can just not pay the taxes owed and let the IRS simply take the money from that “economic stimulus” check? Just asking. So, I missed the always startling news of player discipline issues.

Pitt defensive back Sherod Murdock has been suspended indefinitely for disciplinary reasons. Athletic department spokesperson E.J. Borghetti said the school has no further comment on the incident, which led to his suspension.

Murdock is a 6-foot, 170-pound redshirt freshman from Tampa, Fla. He is competing for one of the reserve safety spots.

Never like to read any player getting in some trouble. The vague reason just furthers message board/comment speculation. Of course, cynicism says this isn’t particularly problematic since Murdock would only be a back-up most likely. Plus, the suspension will only cost him the Blue-Gold Spring game. Most likely he’ll be back for training camp in August.

This is more troubling.

Pitt starting left tackle Jason Pinkston is being investigated for his role in an altercation on campus over the weekend.

It’s a relatively specific issue: on-campus “altercation” (reading as: fight). Considering Pinkston has been out of spring drills as he recovers from his shoulder injury, this is not the way to help the rehab.

UPDATE: Per the Pitt News, this bit.

Pitt defensive back Sherod Murdock was involved in an incident at Sutherland Hall Saturday night, Pitt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill confirmed.

Murdock was then suspended indefinitely from the football team yesterday for disciplinary reasons.

Pitt police responded to Sutherland at about 11 p.m. Saturday for “a disturbed, potentially violent person,” their log reported.

Hill said that Murdock’s suspension was connected to the incident, but added, “I had not said [this person and Murdock] were one in the same person.”

Um, and he didn’t say that he wasn’t. Sutherland Hall holds about 739 students and they were in lock down with this matter.

The police log said Pittsburgh medics transported the person to the hospital.

A UPMC Presbyterian operator confirmed Murdock had been in the hospital over the weekend and had been discharged. The operator would not give patient details other than name confirmation, including when the patient came to the hospital or when he was discharged.

Hill said one other member of the football team was involved in the incident, although his status on the team is not in question. The action, Hill said, is no longer under review.

Still, nebulous, but not good. No wonder EDSBS is looking to give Pitt some big points in the Fulmer Cup when this finally gets hashed out.

How do we know we’re heading for the final week of spring practice and there just isn’t much to talk about? When the player puff pieces hit re-runs? Last week, the Trib had a piece on Doug Fulmer, this week it’s the P-G.

“Doug is fine, the mental part is not a concern,” Pitt defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “If you watch him, sometimes the thing we have to be most concerned about is that he is a little too excited to get out there. We need to slow him down. He’s missed a lot of games, but he has been outstanding this spring.

“He is one of the hardest-working, blue-collar guys on the team. And a lot of times when you say that, you are talking about a guy who lacks some athleticism or speed — with Doug, that’s not at all the case, which is why he is where he is.”

Fulmer will be one of three players, the other two being sophomore Jabaal Sheard and redshirt sophomore Greg Romeus, who will play the majority of the snaps at the two end spots. He has been one of the more dominating defensive players throughout most of spring.

Reed over at PPP, explains why he’s pulling even harder this season for Dorin Dickerson to have a break-out season.

In an O-line still struggling with injuries, question marks and high anxiety (at least for the fans), John Malecki is an apparent bright spot as he has transitioned from the D-line to the O-line at Right Guard.

Malecki had to adjust from striking with his hands on defense to learning to block with his chest and shoulders under the direction of offensive line coach Tony Wise, who’s encouraged with Malecki’s progress.

“John is learning every day. But he’s got very good footwork, and he can move,” Wise said. “If he makes a mistake, he can make up for it, no matter what it is. That kind of quickness he has is a real positive.”

Malecki already possessed the traits Wannstedt wants in an offensive lineman — from his attitude and aggression to his technique and toughness — so Wannstedt considers this spring a “refresher course” for Malecki.

“Most of those guys have enough athletic ability, and most of those guys are tough enough,” Wannstedt said. “In John’s case, he’s one of the smarter players on our team. The learning part is coming quicker than most.”

In the 2008 recruiting class, early verbal commits are often forgotten. Especially when they were relatively unknown or undervalued at the time. Take the case of Ronald Hobby. Hobby gave a verbal to Pitt back in July 2007. He had speed, but his “star” value was only 1-2 star “athlete” with speed. By the time of signing day, he was a 3-star for both recruiting sites.

Hobby got an early start at Pitt by doing the early enrollment. He may not be winning a starting corner spot, but he is learning and will have a head start.

“I’m very pleased with Ronnie,” Wannstedt said. “Where being here early will benefit Ron Hobby will be in August. Right now, he’s lost. He’s trying to feel his way. But come August, when the other freshmen show up and don’t know where to line up, he’s going to know the drills, know the defense.”

After starring at Gwynn Park, where he averaged 26.1 yards per catch and had 51 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries last fall, Hobby is splitting time with Buddy Jackson as the second-team boundary corner. Hobby hopes to get a jump on other incoming freshmen, especially corners Jarred Holley and Antwuan Reed.

“What motivated me was the early start,” Hobby said. “I wanted to get adapted to the college life early, using time management and practicing and competing. I think I definitely have a head’s up on everybody.”

The biggest adjustment?

“Half the time, I want to sleep,” Hobby said, “but I can’t sleep because I have so much work to do.”

Have to say, that last part just doesn’t seem to go away for the rest of your life.

A big Pitt/Wannstedt puff piece from Yahoo!/Rivals.com to start off the day.

The upset of West Virginia may not have been a fluke, but Wannstedt – ever the cautious coach – warns that it won’t matter when the Panthers open the 2008 season against Bowling Green on August 30.

“That will be the focal point, but it won’t have a darn thing to do with us beating Bowling Green,” he said. “Beating West Virginia reinforced that we could be good and reaffirmed to the kids we were recruiting that you could win at Pitt.”

There are a lot of reasons to anticipate a successful season for Pitt this fall. Seven starters return from a defense that ranked fifth in the nation last season. The return of Stull and Kinder should boost the passing game, which will benefit McCoy.

…

You also need a reliable quarterback. Stull, who has thrown only 30 college passes, doesn’t figure to challenge for All-American honors, but he should be an upgrade at quarterback. His presence is another reason many Pitt fans can’t wait for the season to start.

But Wannstedt can. “I can wait,” he said. “We need to work. The season will get here soon enough.”

When it arrives, Wannstedt will have a team with eight offensive starters returning. He’ll have a dynamic tailback, an All-American linebacker, a junior quarterback and an all-conference receiver returning from injury. He’ll have a team with one of the best defensive lines in America. He’ll have emerging stars, like strong safety Elijah Fields or defensive end Greg Romeus.

He has a team that lost three games by a touchdown or less last season and is seeking redemption. He has a team coming off that win over West Virginia. There are a lot reasons to like Wannstedt’s team in 2008. And he does, although not for the reasons listed above.

Looks like Pitt is set to be the trendy media favorite “darkhorse” team to “suddenly” jump from losing record to top-25 team at least. This always begs that deep philosophical question of whether a team can truly be considered a sleeper or darkhorse when everyone is picking them to be that team?

Paul Zeise has had a week to watch practices and the P-G beat writer has had daily Q&As. The first one, to the shock of no one was all questions on the O-line. The now annual concerns for the O-line.

Dickerson has looked great at TE by all reports, and that was another major topic for a Q&A. It was also the topic of this story.

“It feels good catching the ball again,” Dickerson said. “I worked real hard in the offseason. I knew this is what I wanted to do, and me and Bill went in there and started throwing every day.”

What has caught Wannstedt’s attention is Dickerson’s willingness and effort to take on defenders with blocks, even though Dickerson likened the difficulty of blocking linebackers to hitting a moving target.

“I was impressed with how he made an attempt to block. That’s usually the biggest transition for these kids,” Wannstedt said. “Catching the ball and running is an easy thing. Everybody wants to do that. Very few guys want to get in there and get their nose bloodied up. Dorin showed that he’s not afraid to do that. If he can keep that attitude, I think he’ll be an asset for us at tight end.”

At least he is willing and working on the blocking. If he can, then he has huge potential to be a key player in the offense.

The latest Q&A addresses Bostick’s wind-up motion –like everyone and their mother, Zeise believes Bostick will be redshirted — and then questions about the linebackers. Especially the young ones: Brandon Lindsey, Tristan Roberts and Greg Williams. And what do you know? A story on the linebacker corps to tie-in to this.

Now, the coaches seem to have found linebackers capable of delivering that speed. That group includes four redshirt freshmen in Max Gruder (middle), Greg Williams, Tristan Roberts and Brandon Lindsey, as well as redshirt sophomore Nate Nix.

Williams, who is 6 feet 3, 220 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, is the most intriguing prospect, mostly because he is physically gifted. He is a converted running back who seems to have picked up his new position well and continues to make plays in every practice.

“The competition we have at linebacker, I really like our young linebackers,” head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “I am really impressed with the progress all of them have made in two weeks. It looks like that will be a good competition and they’ll only continue to improve.”

Of the group, Gruder is the one who likely won’t see the field much this fall, because he is behind McKillop at middle linebacker and also is battling Steve Dell for the backup spot. But Gruder has been a surprise and looks like he might be a fixture at the position when McKillop graduates.

At this point, Shane Murray and Adam Gunn look to remain the starters at the WIL and SAM spots. The rotation, though, should be a little more frequent which means a lot more speed and energy regardless of who is out there.
Finally, there was recap article from Zeise at the start of the week on key obsrvations from spring practices so far. Most of them have already been mentioned in this and previous posts — Dickerson at TE, Stull will be the QB, WR is deep, Defense is strong, O-line [sigh] — but this stood out to me.

Buddy Morris is worth whatever they pay him — Morris was brought in last year as the strength and conditioning coach and he has transformed the program. His grueling schedule has instilled a mental toughness the team seemed to lack in recent years, and more importantly, they are stronger and in better shape this spring then they have been. The Panthers seemed to get stronger as the season wore on last year and played some of their best football down the stretch. That has carried over into the spring, and it is clear his contributions are making a difference.

This is a radical shift from his view on the whole matter in February 2007.

My point? Strength and conditioning is an easy target when things go bad, but I’d be willing to bet most strength and conditioning coaches are roughly the same and their success or failure is almost always commensurate with the talent they have to work with.

I agreed with his viewpoint back then, and I think there is something to be said for the change in players. The majority of the players now, are recruits Wannstedt has brought in. If we agree that the players are better physical, athletic talents, then it stands to reason that they will respond to most strength and conditioning better and probably faster.

Still, that he would change positions like this suggests that what Morris is doing has had a significant and noticeable impact on the players.

There was a scrimmage today. The View From the Zoo has the all important rundown on 2009 recruits that attended. Nice work on the actual information gathered, guys.

Glad to know that I’m not the only one who isn’t sure what year Doug Fulmer actually is.

Doug Fulmer isn’t sure what to make of his class designation — officially, he is a redshirt junior — but after missing the majority of the past two seasons with injuries, the Pitt defensive end isn’t worrying about it.

“I consider myself a ballplayer,” said Fulmer, in the process of appealing for a sixth year of eligibility. “I don’t even pay attention to it. I couldn’t wait to get back out here. It’s been too long.”

Fulmer recovered from a broken left ankle suffered against The Citadel in September 2006 only to tear the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during spring drills last March 22. Now, a year later, he’s finally back on the football field and trying to reclaim his spot in the starting lineup.

He is fighting for the starting left DE position with sophomore Jabaal Sheard. Sheard has the raw athleticism (and a much healthier body), but Fulmer still has more experience and at this point a more physically mature player.

Moving to the receiving corps. Walt Harris made this a prestige position and spot of strength at Pitt. It’s been something of a surprise that despite Coach Wannstedt’s well known preference for running the ball, that the receiver position is still a big position of strength and depth.

The backbone of the group is formed by returning junior starters Oderick Turner and T.J. Porter and key reserves Cedric McGee, a junior, and Maurice Williams, a sophomore. Those four would constitute an excellent receiving corps, but the addition of two talented redshirt freshmen, Aaron Smith and Aundre Wright, pushes it into a higher category.

And that doesn’t take into account the return of fifth-year senior Derek Kinder, a first-team all-Big East as a junior in 2006 who missed the 2007 season with a torn ACL. Kinder is limited as to what he can do in the spring, but he will be pushing for a starting job in preseason camp.

Kinder said he is taking his rehabilitation slowly, but admits it is tough to watch the younger players make big plays because he knows it means he’ll have a much more difficult time breaking into the lineup.

“I get stronger every day, it feels better every day, but I’m not going to rush it,” Kinder said. “You have to be smart but the competitor in me wants to be out there because I know nothing is going to be handed to me.”

Which is yet another reason why the QB position is of such vital importance and the focus of every Pitt fan. We know that there are a bunch of talented receivers — especially some speedy deep threats. It does little good, though, if there is no chance to hook up with them.

So, that’s when observations come into play. Kevin Gorman’s observations from yesterday’s practice suggest that Bill Stull is still the leading guy to get the starting job. I hesitate to say reclaim the spot, since he was injured in the first game and the whole situation at QB is so different from last spring or even last summer.

The Panthers went without pads Friday for the third time during spring drills, fulfilling NCAA rules that mandate three of the 15 practices are without contact. Tomorrow, they will have a live – or full-contact – scrimmage with Big East Conference officials.

Ever the defensive-minded coach, Wannstedt said the quarterbacks will not wear green jerseys, which protect them from contact. But …

“They’ll be live on my whistle, and I’ll have a quick whistle” Wannstedt said, noting that it will be mostly for the benefit of Pitt’s “bread-and-butter,” the defensive line. “They’ll all get hit a little bit. … When they get a hold of them, I’ll control the whistle.”

Such tactics will put to the test the pocket presence of quarterbacks Pat Bostick, Greg Cross, Kevan Smith and Bill Stull, who are playing behind an inexperienced defensive line but are surrounded by talented skill players.

Stull showed some ability to escape pressure (and gets a high mark for creativity) during the two-minute drill. Flushed to his right, he wheeled back left and used Wannstedt as a screen before throwing a touchdown pass to Dorin Dickerson in the end zone.

I am hoping Wannstedt and Cavanaugh are not so wedded to only one QB type system. It just seems that Pitt has two pairs of QBs that can help change things up. The opportunity to mix things up with Stull and/or Bostick sharing time with Cross and/or Smith doesn’t mean going to a straight spread. It does mean keeping teams off-guard and allowing more variety and dictate things from the offense.

A couple other things from Gorman’s post that I feel like commenting. He notes that Dorin Dickerson looks tremendous at the TE position.

Now, I’m starting to think he’s a natural at H-back. He made a few catches today that raised eyebrows.

Two came during red-zone drills. On the first, he beat corner Aaron Berry and safety Dom DeCicco in the upper right corner of the end zone to catch a Stull pass for a touchdown. Then he got a step on safety Elijah Fields on a crossing pattern and leapt to pull down a Bostick pass in front of McKillop for another score.

Later, in 11-on-11 drills, Dickerson made a spectacular one-handed grab with safety Eric Thatcher in coverage. Not only does Dickerson bring size and speed to the tight end position, but he’s a legitimate downfield threat.

If it was all about catching the ball, Darrell Strong would have never had a battle. The issue — especially in the Cavanaugh/Wannstedt offense — will be his blocking skills. That’s something that remains to be seen with scrimmages and especially come summer practices. I’m optimistic, though.

The other is his observations on Wannstedt being effusive in his praise of Dom DeCicco’s performance at safety.

“Dom’s doing a heck of a job,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got some good players – you’ve got (Eric) Thatcher with the experience and Elijah (Fields), as talented a player as we have on the team – but Dom DeCicco has probably made as many plays this past week as any defender we have. You trust him back there. It’s a good situation for our football team right now. I wish we had that kind of talent and depth at a few other spots.”

I’m not disputing any of that. I also think that Wannstedt is going to do everything he can to keep Fields from thinking he’s earned anything at this point. It’s probably safest to make sure Fields believes that he needs to keep working — on and more importantly, off the field — to see significant playing time.

Belated congrats to Sam Young for making the AP All-American Honorable Mention list. Reminder that the declaration date for declaring for the draft is April 27.

Tyreke Evans is one of the top HS guards in the country. He’s the top unsigned guard. He’s not considering Pitt (unfortunately) but the Philly kid did another interview and this was worth noting.

Evans has played with a number of great players at American Christian, so I asked the star who he felt was the best of all, and he told me it was “Nasir [Robinson].” Although Robinson is currently at Chester (PA), he did spend some time at ACA with Evans. I asked Evans if he knew why Nasir left the school, and he simply said “no.”

Some of the players he’s played with at ACA included Martez Walker (decommitted from Louisville), Jerimiah Kelly (signed with DePaul), Kennan Ellis (UAB), Oscar Griffin (undecided SG for 2009), Lamont Jones (decommitted from Louisville).

The ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. profile of 2009 Pitt commit Lamar Patterson is most encouraging.

A strong and athletic wing scorer with a solid handle. Patterson has three-point range and a nice mid-range pull-up. Given the slightest bit of daylight, Lamar will attack the rim with his long arms and explosiveness. He also has fine court vision to find open teammates.

Lamar is a strong and skilled wing. He is a good shooter and rebounder for his size. He is very talented and a better than average athlete. Lamar is also a very good passer with a decent handle. Rebounded and scored inside here. Talented with a great upside. Lamar is a top 75 talent in the 2009 class nationally.

There are days when I really despise the absolute prohibition by the Big East on recruiting any player who has even so much as signed a letter of intent with another Big East school. The BE has the harshest rule in all the conferences. Even in the Big 11, if a player wants to transfer to another member school he can as long as he pays his way.

This is a rule that dates back to the Conference’s earliest days. When recruiting was even more local and just as vicious. The fear was that teams would actually seek to raid each other to get players. The BE rejected even a minor tweak last year to allow players who had only signed the LOI, but was released following a coaching change.

PG Tyshawn Taylor wants to at least explore options now that Crean left Marquette. I have to believe that if the rule wasn’t there, ND would never been able to get McAlarney to come back after they kicked him out of school for a semester for Pot possession. They had to re-recruit the Long Island native, but no BE team could even approach him.

More attractive, though, would be the now former Villanova SG Malcolm Grant. He’s the one who torched Pitt from outside in January, and shot 46.6% from outside on the season. For whatever reason, he got buried on the bench by Jay Wright later into the season, and with it looking likely that he would stay there has asked for and received permission to transfer.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. It’s been a bit hectic in the offline world. Couple that with the coaching carousel craziness and stuff as the Final Four looms for FanHouse, and it has been a frustratingly neglectful week on Blather. Hopefully there’s been stuff from the Pitt Consortium to help fill the gap.

So, let’s do some catching up.

Over the weekend the one story looked at linebackers not named McKillop.

At the Sam linebacker is senior Adam Gunn, on the other side of McKillop at Will linebacker is junior Shane Murray.

Gunn and Murray started every game last year and, while they didn’t grab headlines the way McKillop did last season, the bookends of the linebacker corps improved every time they took the field.

And that is why Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt expects Gunn and Murray to be the glue of a unit that has the makings, especially with McKillop anchoring the middle, of being special.

“Last year at this time I was convincing Shane that he was going to be a linebacker and not a safety, and Adam Gunn was the one guy we were all convinced everybody on the team could take his job away from him,” Wannstedt said. “They were both battling issues and overcame them, and I expect both of those guys to make big plays this year. They have both come a long way in a year.”

No mention of Brandon Lindsey and Nate Nix pushing Gunn. Nor, Tristan Roberts at the Will spot. Apparently Max Gruder is being groomed to see time in the Middle.

Staying on the defense, after Scott McKillop, Greg Romeus probably has some of the biggest expectations to build on last season. Romeus came on strong as the season went on and got plenty of accolades as a redshirt freshman on the D-line. His pure athleticism and strength helped him overcome what he didn’t know. He and D-line coach Greg Gattuso seem to think that is catching up.

Romeus spent most of his high school days reaching for the basketball rim until the football coach spotted him and explained that at 6-5, he could have more potential in football than basketball.

“I enjoy playing football more because it’s a more aggressive game and more of a team sport,” Romeus said. He laughed.

“I like to hit people.”

Romeus, who redshirted as a freshman, became a hit with his coaches once he started to grasp the nuances of the defense midway through the season. He always had the physical skills, but he needed time to learn the techniques involved with playing college football.

“I feel like I’m adapting more to being a football player,” he said. “Things aren’t as shaky as they were at the beginning of last year. I can play faster now. I just want to learn more every day.”

Romeus’ playing time should increase this season because the defensive line has been depleted by the departure of ends Joe Clermond and Chris McKillop.

“We see it as a rotation with everybody getting time,” Romeus said. “I don’t want to set myself up and say that I expect to start. We’re all going to play.”

He may not expect to start, but everyone else does.

Stop me if you have heard this before. The offensive line is struggling. Really, that should just be a stock headline for Pitt. The facts and circumstances may change, but I can’t remember a year where the O-line wasn’t in some sort of major flux in the spring.

As if it’s not bad enough to lose three starters — tackles Mike McGlynn and Jeff Otah and center Chris Vangas — to graduation, compounding the situation is that Pitt’s most veteran linemen are limited to non-contact drills. The Panthers are without senior left guard C.J. Davis (hamstring), a three-year starter; redshirt freshman right guard Chris Jacobson (knee); and bookend tackles in fifth-year senior Chase Clowser (shoulder) and redshirt sophomore Jason Pinkston (shoulder).

“That’s four guys who should all be starters or competing for starting jobs,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “We’re a little bit thin there because of graduation and injuries, but they’re working hard with them.”

The offensive line now has redshirt freshman Jordan Gibbs at left tackle, fifth-year senior Dom Williams at left guard, junior Robb Houser at center, junior John Malecki at right guard and junior Joe Thomas at right tackle.

While they form a fearsome front in pads, averaging 6-foot-4, 287 pounds, their inexperience shows once the ball is snapped. Gibbs played tight end at Penn Manor High. Williams is a career reserve. Malecki was a defensive tackle the past two seasons. Thomas has the most experience, but all of his 14 starts are at right guard.

Add in the highly heralded Lucas Nix won’t be on the practice field until August. On the bright side, they and the redshirt freshmen are getting a lot of work.

Wannstedt singled out the large group of redshirt freshmen — John Fieger, Greg Gaskins, Jordan Gibbs and Wayne Jones — as the most in need of work, particularly since that group will be counted on to provide depth.

“Those guys are going to need every full-speed situation we can put them in between now and the season,” Wannstedt said. “Like I said, they have done really well when they are coming off the ball in drills and hitting bags and doing that stuff, but, when they have to line up over a Mick Williams or a Greg Romeus and have to block them, that is where we will find out who gives us a chance to play and who doesn’t.”

The good news is that at least JUCO Center Robb Houser has been healthy and looking good.

“It makes a big difference being able to transfer for the spring semester,” said Houser, who is expected to compete with redshirt junior John Bachman at center. “I was lucky enough to be eligible to transfer in the spring. I’m learning everything I can. I’m learning the offense really well right now. I know that if I would’ve only had the summer to learn this, it would even be harder because this is actual football practice, five hours a day, double-day style.”

Houser said he’s benefitting from the extra time by getting acquainted with new teammates, getting used to a new system, studying plays and getting stronger in workouts.

“It really makes it much easier for me to earn a starting job than the people who are coming in in June and July,” he said.

He and JUCO QB Greg Cross are both expected to provide immediate help.

Derek Kinder gets a nice little puff piece in his return for a redshirt senior year and coming back from injury.

“You can make yourself crazy wondering why,” Kinder says. Or you can work like hell to make it all the way back.

Kinder still hasn’t tested how his knee will hold up to lateral movement and likely won’t face full contact until the first game of the fall. Why risk it?

Pitt knows what it has in Kinder — one of the game’s most dynamic receivers when healthy. What we don’t know is how the script will end.

I wasn’t the only one missing in action. The women’s basketball success drew the Trib’s Kevin Gorman away. He has a post on his observations at the first practice he’s caught and what he’s heard. Here’s the quickie summary.

• Max Gruder looks like the back-up for McKillop at MLB
• Elijah Fields is impressing in spring practice — again
• The QB situation still looks like it’s Stull, but Bostick does indeed look good, Cross is as athletic as advertised and Kevan Smith has a very strong arm.
• LeSean McCoy looks good, and so does LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Naturally it’s worth reading the whole thing.

As a friend told me, nothing pops like a Pringle.

Penn State Police confirmed today that they have filed charges against Nittany Lions basketball player Stanley Pringle in an incident involving public masturbation that occurred last Thursday in Pattee Library.

Police said Pringle, the team’s point guard, sat behind the victim in the stacks section of the library, attempted to start a conversation with the woman and began masturbating. Police have filed charges of public lewdness and disorderly conduct against him in connection to the incident…

A similar incident occurred on March 21 on the second-floor landing of McElwain Hall’s main stairwell between 8 and 8:15 p.m, when police said a man entered the building behind the woman and followed her to the stairwell landing where he began to masturbate. A similar description of the man was given in both incidents, police said. No charges have been filed for the McElwain Hall incident.

Classic.