Well, if Dan Marino demands it then it should happen.  He wants the Pitt-PSU series to resume (from the Trib):

“Why wouldn’t Penn State want to play us?” Marino said Wednesday. “To me, it would make sense.”

Pitt and Penn State will renew their storied rivalry over the next four seasons, starting Sept. 10 at Heinz Field. Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes said last year that Penn State officials have shown no willingness to extend the series beyond 2019. The teams haven’t met since 2000.

But Marino knows a way to put the series in serious jeopardy.

“We just have to beat them the next four years, and they definitely won’t renew it,” Marino said.

OK then.

Here are two podcasts by Chris Peak of Rivals.

The first which was recorded on May 5th is about Twitter and Tweets and how they can bite people in the ass.

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Well, last night went about the way it was expected to for Tyler Boyd:

Tyler Boyd wasn’t selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, but he went to sleep Thursday comfortable and confident his NFL career will get started Friday.

Boyd was joined by family, friends and teammates in a crowded suite at the Omni William Penn, Downtown. Among those seated with him while he watched the draft was former Clairton coach Tom Nola, ex-Pitt teammates Terrish Webb and Titus Howard, and Pitt running back James Conner.

When Boyd’s name wasn’t called among the 31 picks in the first round, he took the disappointment with a quiet shrug.

“It doesn’t matter what team picks me or what round I go,” he said. “I just know I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity. I just want the opportunity to see my name come across that screen.

“I’m just trying to stay as calm as possible. I have anxiety in me, believe it or not. If not today, I’m going to do the same thing (Friday).”

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Let’s hope we see a scene similar to this tomorrow night with Tyler Boyd being the subject:

The Post-Gazette’s Sam Werner weighs in with an article asking if Boyd could be the only Pitt player drafted this year.  Here is the depressing part:

Beyond Boyd, tight end J.P. Holtz and cornerback Lafayette Pitts figure to be the next most likely candidates to hear their names called this weekend, though it’s likely one or both will have to wait to try to catch on with a team as an undrafted free agent.

Holtz played in all 52 games over his four-year career, starting 48. He said NFL teams have approached him about possibly switching to fullback and he has no objections.

“I’m willing to do whatever I need to do to make a team,” he said after pro day.

Pitts also didn’t miss a game the past four years and started 51. According to Brandt, he clocked in at 4.44 seconds at Pitt’s pro day and should have plenty of offers from teams after this weekend if he isn’t selected.

If Boyd is the only Panthers player chosen, it would mark the second consecutive year Pitt had just one player chosen. Offensive lineman T.J. Clemmings was the only one to go a year ago. Pitt had three players chosen in 2014, which broke a three-year streak of having no draftees.

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Trib reports on James “Mr Everything” Conner’s visit on the Ellen DeGeneres Show – in case you missed it please watch the video posted below…

Shortly after a video of the segment appeared on DeGeneres’ website and on TribLive.com, Conner began receiving interview requests through Erie videographer and family friend Mike Gallagher. Reporters called from Kansas City, Denver and Jacksonville, Gallagher said.

“I had one message from a guy who wants to pitch him to Campbell’s Soup,” Gallagher said. “I responded I need him to beat Penn State first.”  The NCAA does not permit college athletes to do endorsements.

DeGeneres’ producers taped an interview with Conner in Pittsburgh several days before his appearance in which he said doctors told him the cure rate for his disease is 85 to 90 percent.

“That’s more than enough for me,” he told DeGeneres. “I’d be good if you said 2 percent. It’s on. Let’s go.”

Here is the video, have a handkerchief handy for the tears…

The Pitt News cover the show also.

“If you think you’re having a bad day, and then you see him at practice with one of those masks on, it’s amazing,” Galambos said.

DeGeneres and Conner discussed the limitations chemotherapy puts on his training, as well as his future plans for the upcoming football season.

“The only thing I can’t do is — I have a port in my chest — so I can’t really get tackled,” Connor said.  “Good for you, you can’t get tackled. That’s a great thing,” DeGeneres responded, laughing.

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ex-Panther and our 2104 starting QB Chad Voytik is Eastern Kentucky bound. The Football Championship Series (FCS) “Colonels” play in the Ohio Valley Conference  and, if you care to, you can follow Mr. Voytik’s progress on the internet via their “Live Audio” links at this website.

He’s not going to have an easy time of it there if he wants to grab that starting position right off the bat but it appears to be a better situation for him to get playing time than had he stayed at Pitt.

I wrote two weeks ago about the Colonels (Colonel = Eagle; get it?) and their returning starting QB Bennie Coney who has played well there.  However, it wasn’t such great play that he can’t be sat down (we heard that before on here) , but also isn’t a situation where Voytik is going to waltz in and automatically get the starting job handed to him as if there was no incumbent in that position at all.

Coney had decent stats at E. Kentucky with 225 completions in 367 attempts (61.3%) for 2471 yards.  He also had a very good 23 TDs to 8 INTs ratio that showed he didn’t turn the ball over a lot.  That’s about a 10:1 Completion to TD ratio and is very good.  His overall QB rating was 134 and that’s OK too.

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Well, you know the players had fun out there.  I think the fans did too – as long as you kept the realization that is was a glorified scrimmage foremost in your mind.

As we talked about on here earlier, the way the Captains conducted the draft we fans were never going to see a full 1st team out there so neither the Blue team nor the Gold team was anything like what we’ll see going into or coming out of fall camp.

But it was a beautiful day for Pitt football and I have to say to anyone who professes to be a big fan and then decides that there are “better things to do than watch a glorified scrimmage” then too bad for you as you missed out on a great Saturday afternoon of football and having a blast with other Pitt fans.

Watch this and then we’ll address some points that I took away from the scrimmage…

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The local media and we here on the Blather have been in some serious discussions about our current QB corps.  The reason for that is that coming out of spring practices there is some real trepidation about who will be the back-up QB in case starter Nate Peterman goes down with an injury.

The main questions seem to be “Can Pitt recruit good quarterbacks?” and the answer is… it depends.

That’s a loaded question and really has two ways to be answered; first is can we land highly rated QB recruits and second, can we get our recruited QBs to play at the expected level or even exceed that?

These discussions led me to want to review the last 15 years of our QBs, both those we recruited and those we placed on the roster via transferring in from another program.  So, I did some digging and came up with the table below.

Before you get too deep into it here are some notes on it. The ‘Year” is the recruiting class.  The numbers in parentheses are the highest national recruit ranking for the QB position the player received – I used the higher of two if the player was ranked by both Rivals and Scouts.

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[Greetings from Cincinnati — don’t ask.]

Even before anyone was hired, I stated that it was unlikely Pitt was going to see much in the way of transfers. With a large senior class, JUCO, redshirt, a couple of local kids and a sophomore in line for plenty of playing time. That has indeed been the case.

Pleasantly surprising has been the retention of the 3-man recruiting class. All three had other choices with their release — and they did indeed take a quick look about. Corey Manigault was the first to ask for his release, but was also the first to recommit. Justice Kithcart — the player with the most programs coming to poach him — has decided to stay. And now it seems Crisshawn Clark is going to stay as well.

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It looks like we may see a true FR step into the starting role at CB given our shortness of talented depth there due to Lafayette Pitts’s graduation.   Of course the first name that springs to mind is Damar Hamlin, the highly rated and coveted DB from Pgh’s Central Catholic will be joining the Panthers in the fall.

DiPaola has this:

Actually, Coach Pat Narduzzi’s defense puts heat on all its cornerbacks, often locking them up in one-on-one confrontations with wide receivers. That might be the reason he recruited three in this year’s freshman class: Central Catholic’s Damar Hamlin, Brashear’s Therran Coleman and Henry Miller of Kissimmee, Fla.

If those players are ready, Narduzzi and Hill are willing to give them the opportunity to win a job. At least, that has been said repeatedly through the first five days of spring drills.

But that may not sit all that well with the kids who have been waiting in the wings for a chance to shine.

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One of the things that people seem to be debating is when it all started going south. Hindsight is on full blast.

Pointing to that failure to advance past the Villanova in the Elite Eight. Or that Butler game. Those are moments. Losing to Wichita State? Those are games.

Things became problematic when Pitt had back-to-back disastrous recruiting classes. That put Pitt in a hole that Jamie Dixon had been trying to get out of for a while.

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Two days ago we talked about ex-WR Elijah Zeise being moved to the Linebacker position. Here is an article and some background on the move:

He looks just like his old man.  I like this switch and it shows that for as much as the fans want new players to come into the program and get playing time right away Narduzzi doesn’t feel that way.  Any coach will play guys like Boyd or Whitehead as true freshman but the reality is that most players usually have to wait their turn until their Sophomore or j* year to become starters.

We fans are high on rsFR Brightwell and McKee and rookie FR Kaezon Pugh, and those kids look to have nice talents, but they’ll be sitting a lot more than playing this season. That said, after this year when we lose who may well be the starting LB lineup of SRs Galambos, Caprara and Bradley those kids, Brightwell and McKee will be rsSOs with two years college experience under their belts and will fleet up to starting some games.

Jerry DiPaola of the Trib has this piece on the subject.

Beset by injuries at the position and in the name of trying to “get the best 11 on the field,” coach Pat Narduzzi on Tuesday texted Zeise, requesting a meeting to talk about a position switch. “Honestly, I thought I might be in trouble for something,” Zeise said.

On the contrary. Narduzzi sees an opportunity for Zeise to replace Nicholas Grigsby at the star (outside) linebacker spot that also requires the skills of a safety. Zeise, who will be a sophomore in the fall, played wide receiver, safety and cornerback at North Allegheny and helped the Tigers win the PIAA Class AAAA championship in 2012.

“He’s a good athlete, and I think we need him on defense,” Narduzzi said. “He’s a guy who can come in and play some very quality reps for us. He has a chance to start.”

Moving Zeise (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) from wide receiver to linebacker makes statements about Pitt’s situation at both positions.

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Forget about Jamie Dixon… what about Elijah Zeise moving to LB??

Mike Vukovcan has this in his daily KDKA blog about two recruits saying thanks but no thanks to Pitt:

**Moving to football recruiting, 2 local players decided to go to Brian Kelly and Notre Dame. After visiting the campus this weekend,  Central Catholic’s David Adams and Kurt Hinish both decided to commit to Notre Dame.

Both players had offers from Pitt but Adams is the real loss.  I’ve said many times that I thought he should’ve been the #1 local target for Pat Narduzzi and his assistants.  Adams is a tough, play-making middle linebacker that could’ve stepped in at Pitt from day one and play.  That’s not going to be the case so it’s “next man up” on the recruiting board.

If you’re a Pitt fan and worried about a lack of recruiting news and local recruits going elsewhere, relax! First of all, it’s March and secondly, Narduzzi and his staff will bring in top end talent.

**A player that I think is a must get for Pitt is Beaver Falls DT Donovan Jeter.  The 4-star player has Pitt high on his list but it would benefit Pitt if they could get a commitment from him soon.

Huh, I just looked at the updated roster for 2016 and noticed that contrary as in the past we now have 20 rsSR and SR players… and all of them are on scholarship. Looks like the Pitt team is growing up after all those players were purged by Chryst over the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Coach Pat Narduzzi Quote Sheet

Opening statement:

“So we got practice number four in, a good practice. A good Tuesday practice, and we got some good meetings in. I think we cleaned up a lot of things from Saturday’s practice. I’m happy with how we’re progressing right now and where we are.”

On moving Elijah Zeise from wide receiver to linebacker:

“He’s a good athlete and I think we need him on defense. He’s a guy that can come in and play quality reps for us and he got a chance to start it today. We want the best 11 players from offense and defense on the field, so we have a chance to try it and we’ll see how it goes. We tried it out in bowl practice and knew he could do it. He actually had three straight tackles in a bowl practice period. He has a nose for the football, you see that on kickoffs and special teams. So we’re going to try it out. I think it’ll go well and you’re going to like it.”

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The biggest storyline at Pitt now isn’t spring camp nor the BB loss – it is that the NCAA has granted James Conner another season of play when they approved his “Medical Redshirt” exemption for the 2015 season. What this means folks is not only do we have Conner for this season but also for the 2017 season.

No one has any idea how Conner will do this year with 1) his MCI injury which was sort of lost in the news of Conner’s cancer battle.  Remember that ankle cost him the full year even before his diagnosis of Hodgkin’s-Lymphoma.

It may well have been that even without his other illness Conner may not have bounced back 100% from that MCI.  Now however, I think it is pretty safe to assume that his 2017 season would see him as the post-medical issues James Conner who tore up the field in 2014 for 1769 yards at a 5.9 ypc clip with 26 (!!) TDs.

If he does well this season, and let’s hope so for both his and our program’s sake, he may well declare before the ’17 season – but who knows.  Conner had already said he’d forgo the NFL draft, which he was eligible for just like Boyd, and return for 2016 even before he got hurt.

There are grand days ahead my friends and no wonder RB Chris James took off after the season ended. These NCAA decisions, at least this one, isn’t all that hard to figure out in advance… especially with the emotional and publicity potential involved with the NCAA on this call.

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To start the day, here is a taste of last year’s “412 Crew”

March 15, 2016

PHOTO GALLERY | QUOTES

PITTSBURGH – Pitt Football held its first spring practice of 2016 on Tuesday with a two-hour session at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex.

Day one featured just helmets and shorts as the Panthers implemented their new offense under the direction of Pitt’s freshly minted offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Click here to read post-practice comments from Canada.

The Panthers return four starters to the offensive line, but will be without graduated center Artie Rowell, meaning the Panthers will be testing out new players at center in the upcoming weeks.

Taking snaps at center with the first-string offensive line today was redshirt freshman Alex Bookser. Also in the mix are fellow freshmen Alex Paulina,Tony Pilato and Alex Galiyas.

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I threw this up quickly earlier when I was running out the door. It is a press release from Pitt on the eve of Spring Drills.  Here are some observations I have after reading it:

We moved ex-WR Manny Stocker to QB as depth. That is a bit of a surprise but at 6’2″ and 220 lbs he has the build and was actually recruited at the position by other schools.  Here is what Pitt lists as his HS info:

Starred at Coatesville Area under Coach Matt Ortega…as a senior, passed for nearly 2,000 yards and accounted for 30 touchdowns (20 passing and 10 rushing)…a team captain, he led Coatesville to a 9-3 record and the quarterfinals of the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs…invited to participate in the Under Armour Elite Top 25 Quarterback Showcase…rated one of Pennsylvania’s top 40 overall prospects by Rivals.

Huh,  there is a little bit of a backstory to Stocker’s transfer from NC state to UTM to Pitt.

Manny Stocker Sr. told WRAL that his son – who was recruited by former coach Tom O’Brien – didn’t get a fair shot from Doeren and his staff.

“In the beginning, he was told by the new staff that he would be competing for the job,” Stocker, Sr told the television station. “But on the first day of summer camp, he got zero snaps. Coach Doeren wanted to redshirt Manny for him to develop but he didn’t even get many snaps on the scout team.

“We accepted the fact Manny didn’t get the position. But we don’t feel it was a fair process.” Neither Stocker nor his father have indicated where he’ll transfer.

He is a bit of a wandered having been at University of Tennessee at Martin just before Pitt… here is his lone college highlight:

Manny Stocker, a transfer from N.C. State, made a memory of his first play as a Skyhawk quarterback with a 70-yard run down the right sideline for a 63-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

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