Here is today's edition of the Redshirt Diaries, news and notes and analysis from me.....
pittsburgh.rivals.com
Welcome to the second edition of the Redshirt Diaries. These will run twice weekly. Always on Monday and then depending on the schedule of things either Thursdays or Fridays. This is where I will give a lot of news and notes and my thoughts and analysis on the developments at Pitt and by extension the ACC. As we get further along I am sure there will be plenty of good nuggets of information for you to chew on.
Let's get started:
* The great Beano Cook once said to me the all-time classic line "Zikes, trying to determine how good a football team is by watching spring football is sort of like [pleasuring yourself] to determine if you are a good [at the act of having sex]." One of the greatest lines ever delivered by the legendary pope of college football. Beano was a classic, he loved Pitt and I loved talking to him and picking his brain about college football. That answer was in response to my question one year at the spring game "hey Beano, what did you think of the game today?" The funniest thing is he always called me Zikes because he never really knew how to pronounce my name. I wore it as a badge of honor quite frankly. The larger point is I have never been one to get too excited about spring football developments because of the way it plays out. Anyone who is even a little injured is held out. The guys who are older are given days off. And generally the "stars" of the spring are guys who will have minimal impact on the fall. But there are some really important things to watch. The younger guys who haven't played a ton but are going to be counted on to step into bigger roles are always ones to watch. The newcomers are always important to watch as well. I think the most important thing I always watched was the speed, size and football instincts of newcomers in the scrimmages. The thing is these days scrimmages are closed to the media so we have to make these kinds of determinations based on drills and the parts of practice we are allowed to watch. That's why I look forward to next week when I am able to join Karl at practice and can make some first hand observations about who can play and who can't. In general the guys who can play will jump off the page immediately. But again, if the defense is winning does it mean that the defense is going to be great or is the offense just bad? Any time you hear about developments at spring football make sure you measure it against what you know to be reality. Guys improve from fall to spring but I am always skeptical of guys who make huge jumps in production against skeleton crews in the spring. It will help you understand if you read this item in Cook's unforgettable voice.....
* The great ones, though, you know as soon as you see them. The three greatest examples are Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis and Aaron Donald. All three were at training camp, not during the spring, when they made their debuts and I knew all three were going to be stars after their first day in pads. Fitzgerald made the defensive backs look silly in 11-on-11. Revis tossed a future NFL lineman out of his way and lit up a running back six yards deep in the backfield. And my favorite story was Donald, who was so ridiculous on the scout team that Wannstedt had to take him off the field in order to try and have success on offense and get some work for the first unit. They simply couldn't block Donald and he was blowing up every play. That's when you know "OK, this dude is different."
* One player to watch in the spring is backup quarterback Julian Dugger, the kid from Penn Hills. The end of the season was dismal as the Panthers lost their final five games and then lost in the GameAbove Sports Bowl to Toledo. But the one good development was Dugger getting to play in the bowl game. I will be honest, I didn't have many expectations for him coming in to Pitt but that game showed me a lot. He was 7-of-13 for 72 yards so it wasn't like he lit the world on fire. But his athleticism and his ability to run the read-option stuff and the RPOs means he probably is a much better fit in the Kade Bell offense than maybe we first thought. He has to develop as a passer, which is why it is good that he is the backup and can spend more time watching while Eli Holstein plays but I hope that the coaching staff gives him a lot of opportunity in the spring to run the offense. He looks to me like a player who could develop into a star if the coaching staff commits to him. I hate the comparison in some ways but I remember when Rod Rutherford was a freshman and sophomore and he could barely hit the broad side of a barn with a pass. But Walt Harris understood his talent and understood that he had a lot of ability to work with and stuck with him. He developed into one of the best quarterbacks Pitt has had in the past 30 years. I am not saying Dugger is going to throw for 37 touchdowns or whatever but I do think he has a similar skill set, is actually a little better pure athlete than Rutherford and is in an offense that will take advantage of his talents.
* Karl has a bunch of content coming the next two days about the visitors and also the current team and I will continue to cut and paste it all into the forums to keep you as up to date as I possibly can. Thanks for your patience as we are just getting started.....
** OK YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK THE LINK TO READ THE REST OF IT BECAUSE THERE ARE APPARENTLY LIMITS AS TO HOW MANY WORDS CAN BE WRITTEN IN A FORUM POST AND MINE EXCEEDED THEM!!! JUST CLICK THE LINK TO READ THE REST.....
Redshirt Diaries presented by Cedarbrook Golf Course
Welcome to the second edition of the Redshirt Diaries. These will run twice weekly. Always on Monday and then depending
Welcome to the second edition of the Redshirt Diaries. These will run twice weekly. Always on Monday and then depending on the schedule of things either Thursdays or Fridays. This is where I will give a lot of news and notes and my thoughts and analysis on the developments at Pitt and by extension the ACC. As we get further along I am sure there will be plenty of good nuggets of information for you to chew on.
Let's get started:
* The great Beano Cook once said to me the all-time classic line "Zikes, trying to determine how good a football team is by watching spring football is sort of like [pleasuring yourself] to determine if you are a good [at the act of having sex]." One of the greatest lines ever delivered by the legendary pope of college football. Beano was a classic, he loved Pitt and I loved talking to him and picking his brain about college football. That answer was in response to my question one year at the spring game "hey Beano, what did you think of the game today?" The funniest thing is he always called me Zikes because he never really knew how to pronounce my name. I wore it as a badge of honor quite frankly. The larger point is I have never been one to get too excited about spring football developments because of the way it plays out. Anyone who is even a little injured is held out. The guys who are older are given days off. And generally the "stars" of the spring are guys who will have minimal impact on the fall. But there are some really important things to watch. The younger guys who haven't played a ton but are going to be counted on to step into bigger roles are always ones to watch. The newcomers are always important to watch as well. I think the most important thing I always watched was the speed, size and football instincts of newcomers in the scrimmages. The thing is these days scrimmages are closed to the media so we have to make these kinds of determinations based on drills and the parts of practice we are allowed to watch. That's why I look forward to next week when I am able to join Karl at practice and can make some first hand observations about who can play and who can't. In general the guys who can play will jump off the page immediately. But again, if the defense is winning does it mean that the defense is going to be great or is the offense just bad? Any time you hear about developments at spring football make sure you measure it against what you know to be reality. Guys improve from fall to spring but I am always skeptical of guys who make huge jumps in production against skeleton crews in the spring. It will help you understand if you read this item in Cook's unforgettable voice.....
* The great ones, though, you know as soon as you see them. The three greatest examples are Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis and Aaron Donald. All three were at training camp, not during the spring, when they made their debuts and I knew all three were going to be stars after their first day in pads. Fitzgerald made the defensive backs look silly in 11-on-11. Revis tossed a future NFL lineman out of his way and lit up a running back six yards deep in the backfield. And my favorite story was Donald, who was so ridiculous on the scout team that Wannstedt had to take him off the field in order to try and have success on offense and get some work for the first unit. They simply couldn't block Donald and he was blowing up every play. That's when you know "OK, this dude is different."
* One player to watch in the spring is backup quarterback Julian Dugger, the kid from Penn Hills. The end of the season was dismal as the Panthers lost their final five games and then lost in the GameAbove Sports Bowl to Toledo. But the one good development was Dugger getting to play in the bowl game. I will be honest, I didn't have many expectations for him coming in to Pitt but that game showed me a lot. He was 7-of-13 for 72 yards so it wasn't like he lit the world on fire. But his athleticism and his ability to run the read-option stuff and the RPOs means he probably is a much better fit in the Kade Bell offense than maybe we first thought. He has to develop as a passer, which is why it is good that he is the backup and can spend more time watching while Eli Holstein plays but I hope that the coaching staff gives him a lot of opportunity in the spring to run the offense. He looks to me like a player who could develop into a star if the coaching staff commits to him. I hate the comparison in some ways but I remember when Rod Rutherford was a freshman and sophomore and he could barely hit the broad side of a barn with a pass. But Walt Harris understood his talent and understood that he had a lot of ability to work with and stuck with him. He developed into one of the best quarterbacks Pitt has had in the past 30 years. I am not saying Dugger is going to throw for 37 touchdowns or whatever but I do think he has a similar skill set, is actually a little better pure athlete than Rutherford and is in an offense that will take advantage of his talents.
* Karl has a bunch of content coming the next two days about the visitors and also the current team and I will continue to cut and paste it all into the forums to keep you as up to date as I possibly can. Thanks for your patience as we are just getting started.....
** OK YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK THE LINK TO READ THE REST OF IT BECAUSE THERE ARE APPARENTLY LIMITS AS TO HOW MANY WORDS CAN BE WRITTEN IN A FORUM POST AND MINE EXCEEDED THEM!!! JUST CLICK THE LINK TO READ THE REST.....
