Head Coach Walt Harris
Opening statement:
“We appreciate the turnout. We appreciate everyone making the effort to be here, including one of our ex-players, Yogi Roth. We’re starting our eighth year; we’re looking forward to the challenge. We do have a challenge. I think that challenge is the fact that we have some inexperienced football players, graduated a large amount, especially on offense and our specialists. We welcome the challenge and our players have worked extremely hard this summer. They feel real good about themselves. In the positions that we graduated players, we have guys that have played in games and haven’t started. I know we’re looking forward to the opportunity to make it happen for them. There’s only one position, besides cornerback, and that is quarterback where we really haven’t had a guy who’s played a lot of ball, so that will add to the excitement.
But it’s kind of nice, honestly, to have a practice under our belt before we have this because it gives us an idea of our work…our kids worked real hard today. Our defense was flying around; our offensive line has gotten more numbers than we’ve had. We’ve had some problems. Princell [Brockenbrough] went to get an MRI today instead of going to practice and that’s pretty scary, but that will probably be an ongoing thing. We have a few things that we need to clean up. First of all, we had some young men that didn’t make it. We had Craig Bokor- he’ll be attending prep school. We have two other guys that were in the process; they’re in the clearing house right now, and our challenge will be to try and figure out their eligibility. We have Jawan Walker, who didn’t practice, and was not there today. He’s working on his eligibility and Josh Lay still has some academic work. He did not practice today. Any questions?”
Q: What does Jawan Walker need to do to become eligible?
A: “He just has some academic work to do…I’m not able to tell you exactly what he has to do. He’s got academic work to finish.”
Q: Do you expect Walker and Lay to eventually be eligible?
A: “I don’t know. That’s up in the air.”
Q: Where does the quarterback decision stand right now?
A: “Contrary to what you all believe, it is no fun to play quarterback guru or quarterback derby, or whatever you want to call it. Some of you don’t have all the information and there’s no way you could ever get it, either. A lot of our past with our quarterbacks was based on the fact that one was a lot better than the other but he just never surfaced. He didn’t take advantage, whoever he is. So I think some people felt like we like to jerk those guys around, but that’s not right at all. We were trying to get the best player to rise to the occasion and he was a little slow at making it happen.
But as for these two guys, we have a lot of work to do. They are, as I’ve mentioned numerous times, very dedicated and very knowledgeable for young men that have played so little, and they love the game. They’re very good leaders, and we’re holding them back that way because I think that they don’t really feel like they’re able to do as much leading as they want to do because they’re not the starter.
I think it’s still too early to say. We’re out there in shorts and that’s not the way football is played. We’ve got a lot of work to do at a lot of positions: receiver, running game, offensive line protection, before we can really identify which guy is going to be our guy. And as I’ve mentioned to them in a meeting this morning, it’s going to be the guy that it’s easiest for me to call plays for, and what I mean by that, is the guy that’s most consistent. Sometimes it’s not the guy that gets the ball in the end zone all the time in a scrimmage. Sometimes it’s maybe a big run, or maybe the people they’re playing with are better, or maybe they just got lucky. It’s really the guy that I feel I have more of a guarantee about how he’s going to perform, play after play, snap after snap, because I think consistency in that position is the key for success. So they’ve been given that information today, and that’s nothing new to them, but I just want to make sure I clarify that.”
Q: With all of the young guys, what is the key to keeping them focused during long three hour practices and throughout camp?
A: “Hopefully, year after year, we’re recruiting guys that have high goals for themselves. They want to be somebody, and they want to be somebody real soon. I wish that we didn’t have to practice the way that we’re practicing, because I think we’d do it differently and I think it’d make it easier for our players to focus longer because we’d be out there less. But the way the rules are, we have to be out there and utilize the time that they give us, because they take it away on the next day. It forces us to be out there longer than we’d normally like. I think it really tests a young person’s concentration. I know today, just in the receiver corps, we had what we call a winning edge. The first winning edge that we talked about was ball security, and Coach [Wayne] Moses, our running back coach, demonstrated the four points of pressure and everything we believe in about preventing turnovers in the area of fumbles.
To answer your question, it depends on their goals, how bad they want to be good, and how soon they want to be good, because it is hard when you’re out there like we are. Those single days are almost three hours to be focused.”
Q: Two years ago, you recruited some highly talented offensive linemen, and you red-shirted them last year. Are they all here and do you expect them to see playing time early?
A: “One of the guys in that highly recruited group is no longer with us, if I remember right. He didn’t show up for spring practice but I think of the young guys that came in that group, the one that has the best chance of playing early, and I mean earlier in the season, would be Mike McGlynn. Mike McGlynn had a tremendous summer and he’s very well coached. He’s got good strength, good quickness and he’s big. He’s not quite as big as [Rob] Petitti, but he’s a big man. He takes coaching very well. As I mentioned he was coached very well in high school and he likes to play. So of the young guys, I’d say he probably has the best chance of playing early.”
Q: Joe Flacco had a very strong arm out there at quarterback today. Is it a two-man battle or does he have an opportunity to win the job?
A: “I’d say right now it’s more of a two-man battle than it is with Joe. But Joe, he’s one of my favorite guys out here. He wasn’t a big recruit, whatever that means, but the guy’s got a good arm, he’s a wonderful young man. He did not come from a very sophisticated high school football program but I think there’s been a lot of learning that he’s gone through. I think as he becomes more and more comfortable, I think he’ll start to push from the bottom up. But it’s very difficult to have a three-man derby, I think, and we’re really focusing on the two-man because those two are the oldest. They know the system best and they would give us the best chance, but I would not count out Joe from being a factor somewhere down the road here because he does have talent and you can tell he’s more comfortable because he’s been doing it again.
It’s always fun to see last year’s freshman quarterback sitting in the meeting room this morning while I’m coaching the next freshman quarterback, Darrell Strong, who is completely bewildered by all the terminology, all the routes, all the patterns, all the adjustments, and looking over at Joe. For example, it’s a lot easier, a lot more fun this year than last year. So when Joe has the opportunity to spend the time that Tyler and Luke had done, he’ll be more of a factor than he is right now but he does have excellent potential.”
Q: Are you operating under the assumption that Walker and Lay may not play this year?
A: “I don’t know if we can make any opinions on that right now.”
Q: Do you have a bigger hand in planning the defense this year?
A: “I would say not much more than it has been before. I’ve spent a lot of time with defense this off-season, which I thought was good. Hopefully Paul [Rhoads] enjoyed it. I spent most of my time with Paul reviewing some games and what we’re teaching, how we’re teaching, what I’ve learned from my years coaching defense. He has to choose the plan that our defensive staff puts together. He’s given that responsibility to execute the plan. We have a very good defense here. In fact, we have had a good defense here for a couple of years and we think last year was an aberration and we can’t wait to get back and prove ourselves again on defense.”
Q: Can you talk about moving Charles Spencer from the defensive to the offensive side of the ball, as well as Chris Vangas?
A: “Charles has a lot of gifts. We’ve been hoping and waiting and wishing for him to settle into his position, but we gave him a lot of that time on defense and just from watching him play, it just didn’t look like he was getting it done. The unfortunate thing is that he hurt his shoulder last year, but he’s healthy this year. He’s real strong for a guy that’s as big as he is and he’s got the talent. It’s going to be up to us to slow it down in some ways in what we do in order for him to catch up because it’s not easy to come in and play on the offensive line after not having played it in college. Chris Vangas had a lot of work this spring, and I think he’s worked hard at trying to prove himself physically. We have a couple of older guys that are playing that position. Justin Belarski and Rob Frederick were starters for us last year at center, but both had stress fractures and are very valuable, and are probably ahead of Chris right now.”
Q: Is Troy Banner’s career over or is he taking time off? Is it his choice or your choice?
A: “Troy Banner, right now, is not part of our team…my choice.”
Q: Is it fair to label this a rebuilding year for Pitt?
A: “We don’t think that we rebuild, we’re all about reloading. We do have some guys, like I mentioned, that graduated, but that’s the fun of it. We’ve got guys that have played in a backup role and now’s there a chance for them to play.”
Q: Do you think that it’s fortunate that the year you lose so much talent is also the year that Miami is no longer in the conference?
A: “I don’t think our conference is going to be weak. There will not be a team that’s as talented as Miami but there will be some other very competitive teams and I think it will be an extremely competitive conference this year.”
Q: Do you need to be more physical on both sides of the ball, and how do you do that during camp?
A: “The game is won on the line, honestly. The linemen win championships, and in order for us to win a championship, I agree with you. We need to become much more physical. We need to get back to what we’ve done on defense - shut down the run and lead the conference in running. We’ve got to find a way to run the ball better than in the whole time that we’ve been here. When you can run the ball, it makes it a lot easier to be a successful football team.”
Q: With all the injuries in the receiving corps and with the loss of Larry, what’s it going to take for one or two of the young, talented receivers to step in?
A: “It’s going to take a real mature guy to put it all together as a young freshman. We’ve had two young freshmen that have come on in the past that have shown maturity at a tender age. One was Antonio Bryant and the other was Larry Fitzgerald – two great examples of maturity in a young player. I don’t know if we have anybody in their league but we feel there are some young guys that have different kinds of talent. If we tell them they did something wrong, they did it right the rest of the day. That’s the key. It’s not all about talent, it’s about paying attention to detail and doing all the little things. The talented guys are so talented they don’t get coached too much in high school. That’s why some of the talented guys don’t respond as well.
Q: With the youth of this team, will you take a longer period of time before concentrating on South Florida?
A: It will go the way it always does. We’ll have a final scrimmage on a Wednesday and then start to work on our opponent after that. It will be critical to remain the same.
Q: How is Tyler Palko progressing?
A: I think there were a couple of plays today that he executed well and there were a couple of plays when he didn’t do that. He’s into it so he knows what he did wrong before you even get a chance to tell him.
Q: Do you have a date in mind for when you want to choose a starting quarterback?
A: I would like to choose a starting quarterback before we open the season. I don’t want to go into our first game with two of them. I’m going to do what’s best for this football program and it’s up to them to get to the level we want them to be. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Q: If you do not see what it is you want to see from your quarterbacks, is it possible you won’t have made a decision before the first game?
A: That’s possible but I would hope that’s not the case. I would hope there are enough opportunities to see our quarterbacks get to the level needed. We lost some proven firepower so it’s even more important that the quarterback execute our entire scheme.
Q: How many days before you begin practicing in pads?
A: We are scheduled to practice in shoulder pads on Thursday and for our fifth practice, we will be in full gear.
Q: You’ve been in this position before with having to choose between two young quarterbacks. Is there anything you’ve learned from those past experiences that will make the decision any easier this time around?
A: I’ve been coaching the position for quite a while now. It is my experience that the guy that is the most consistent will be the starting quarterback for this program. I’m looking for consistency. You want your most consistent football player to have a lot of ability but that’s not always the case. That’s why it is important that every position on this football team has consistent football players so that we’re not relying on just one person to get the job done. Our quarterbacks will get better with another year of experience.
Q: What is the running back situation for the team?
A: We feel that Raymond Kirkley is a good football player. I thought he looked well out there as did Marcus Furman. He made a couple of great moves out there today. We think Tim Murphy is a very good football player, too. Coach [Wayne] Moses has told me that if Tim Murphy gets more time at the tailback position, that we will get a capable fullback in the starting lineup. You can never have enough guys but those three guys will make it competitive.
Q: Can you see any of those three guys as a featured back that gets 25-30 carries a game?
A: I think Raymond or Tim could be that guy. That’s a lot physically for Marcus but his key is his flexibility. He made some real nice lateral cuts out there today. It was a welcome sight to see for the coaches.
Q: Can you talk about the kicking game?
A: We have very little experience there and are going to test them a lot. We don’t know how the guy we pick is going to react during a game. J.B. Gibboney has played in some games for us and that experience helps a lot but we want to feel confident in one guy.
Q: How much added pressure is it on a coaching staff to play five games in a span of 25 days?
A: That’s the way it is. We’re not going to whine or cry about it. We just have to take care of what we need to.
Opening statement:
“We appreciate the turnout. We appreciate everyone making the effort to be here, including one of our ex-players, Yogi Roth. We’re starting our eighth year; we’re looking forward to the challenge. We do have a challenge. I think that challenge is the fact that we have some inexperienced football players, graduated a large amount, especially on offense and our specialists. We welcome the challenge and our players have worked extremely hard this summer. They feel real good about themselves. In the positions that we graduated players, we have guys that have played in games and haven’t started. I know we’re looking forward to the opportunity to make it happen for them. There’s only one position, besides cornerback, and that is quarterback where we really haven’t had a guy who’s played a lot of ball, so that will add to the excitement.
But it’s kind of nice, honestly, to have a practice under our belt before we have this because it gives us an idea of our work…our kids worked real hard today. Our defense was flying around; our offensive line has gotten more numbers than we’ve had. We’ve had some problems. Princell [Brockenbrough] went to get an MRI today instead of going to practice and that’s pretty scary, but that will probably be an ongoing thing. We have a few things that we need to clean up. First of all, we had some young men that didn’t make it. We had Craig Bokor- he’ll be attending prep school. We have two other guys that were in the process; they’re in the clearing house right now, and our challenge will be to try and figure out their eligibility. We have Jawan Walker, who didn’t practice, and was not there today. He’s working on his eligibility and Josh Lay still has some academic work. He did not practice today. Any questions?”
Q: What does Jawan Walker need to do to become eligible?
A: “He just has some academic work to do…I’m not able to tell you exactly what he has to do. He’s got academic work to finish.”
Q: Do you expect Walker and Lay to eventually be eligible?
A: “I don’t know. That’s up in the air.”
Q: Where does the quarterback decision stand right now?
A: “Contrary to what you all believe, it is no fun to play quarterback guru or quarterback derby, or whatever you want to call it. Some of you don’t have all the information and there’s no way you could ever get it, either. A lot of our past with our quarterbacks was based on the fact that one was a lot better than the other but he just never surfaced. He didn’t take advantage, whoever he is. So I think some people felt like we like to jerk those guys around, but that’s not right at all. We were trying to get the best player to rise to the occasion and he was a little slow at making it happen.
But as for these two guys, we have a lot of work to do. They are, as I’ve mentioned numerous times, very dedicated and very knowledgeable for young men that have played so little, and they love the game. They’re very good leaders, and we’re holding them back that way because I think that they don’t really feel like they’re able to do as much leading as they want to do because they’re not the starter.
I think it’s still too early to say. We’re out there in shorts and that’s not the way football is played. We’ve got a lot of work to do at a lot of positions: receiver, running game, offensive line protection, before we can really identify which guy is going to be our guy. And as I’ve mentioned to them in a meeting this morning, it’s going to be the guy that it’s easiest for me to call plays for, and what I mean by that, is the guy that’s most consistent. Sometimes it’s not the guy that gets the ball in the end zone all the time in a scrimmage. Sometimes it’s maybe a big run, or maybe the people they’re playing with are better, or maybe they just got lucky. It’s really the guy that I feel I have more of a guarantee about how he’s going to perform, play after play, snap after snap, because I think consistency in that position is the key for success. So they’ve been given that information today, and that’s nothing new to them, but I just want to make sure I clarify that.”
Q: With all of the young guys, what is the key to keeping them focused during long three hour practices and throughout camp?
A: “Hopefully, year after year, we’re recruiting guys that have high goals for themselves. They want to be somebody, and they want to be somebody real soon. I wish that we didn’t have to practice the way that we’re practicing, because I think we’d do it differently and I think it’d make it easier for our players to focus longer because we’d be out there less. But the way the rules are, we have to be out there and utilize the time that they give us, because they take it away on the next day. It forces us to be out there longer than we’d normally like. I think it really tests a young person’s concentration. I know today, just in the receiver corps, we had what we call a winning edge. The first winning edge that we talked about was ball security, and Coach [Wayne] Moses, our running back coach, demonstrated the four points of pressure and everything we believe in about preventing turnovers in the area of fumbles.
To answer your question, it depends on their goals, how bad they want to be good, and how soon they want to be good, because it is hard when you’re out there like we are. Those single days are almost three hours to be focused.”
Q: Two years ago, you recruited some highly talented offensive linemen, and you red-shirted them last year. Are they all here and do you expect them to see playing time early?
A: “One of the guys in that highly recruited group is no longer with us, if I remember right. He didn’t show up for spring practice but I think of the young guys that came in that group, the one that has the best chance of playing early, and I mean earlier in the season, would be Mike McGlynn. Mike McGlynn had a tremendous summer and he’s very well coached. He’s got good strength, good quickness and he’s big. He’s not quite as big as [Rob] Petitti, but he’s a big man. He takes coaching very well. As I mentioned he was coached very well in high school and he likes to play. So of the young guys, I’d say he probably has the best chance of playing early.”
Q: Joe Flacco had a very strong arm out there at quarterback today. Is it a two-man battle or does he have an opportunity to win the job?
A: “I’d say right now it’s more of a two-man battle than it is with Joe. But Joe, he’s one of my favorite guys out here. He wasn’t a big recruit, whatever that means, but the guy’s got a good arm, he’s a wonderful young man. He did not come from a very sophisticated high school football program but I think there’s been a lot of learning that he’s gone through. I think as he becomes more and more comfortable, I think he’ll start to push from the bottom up. But it’s very difficult to have a three-man derby, I think, and we’re really focusing on the two-man because those two are the oldest. They know the system best and they would give us the best chance, but I would not count out Joe from being a factor somewhere down the road here because he does have talent and you can tell he’s more comfortable because he’s been doing it again.
It’s always fun to see last year’s freshman quarterback sitting in the meeting room this morning while I’m coaching the next freshman quarterback, Darrell Strong, who is completely bewildered by all the terminology, all the routes, all the patterns, all the adjustments, and looking over at Joe. For example, it’s a lot easier, a lot more fun this year than last year. So when Joe has the opportunity to spend the time that Tyler and Luke had done, he’ll be more of a factor than he is right now but he does have excellent potential.”
Q: Are you operating under the assumption that Walker and Lay may not play this year?
A: “I don’t know if we can make any opinions on that right now.”
Q: Do you have a bigger hand in planning the defense this year?
A: “I would say not much more than it has been before. I’ve spent a lot of time with defense this off-season, which I thought was good. Hopefully Paul [Rhoads] enjoyed it. I spent most of my time with Paul reviewing some games and what we’re teaching, how we’re teaching, what I’ve learned from my years coaching defense. He has to choose the plan that our defensive staff puts together. He’s given that responsibility to execute the plan. We have a very good defense here. In fact, we have had a good defense here for a couple of years and we think last year was an aberration and we can’t wait to get back and prove ourselves again on defense.”
Q: Can you talk about moving Charles Spencer from the defensive to the offensive side of the ball, as well as Chris Vangas?
A: “Charles has a lot of gifts. We’ve been hoping and waiting and wishing for him to settle into his position, but we gave him a lot of that time on defense and just from watching him play, it just didn’t look like he was getting it done. The unfortunate thing is that he hurt his shoulder last year, but he’s healthy this year. He’s real strong for a guy that’s as big as he is and he’s got the talent. It’s going to be up to us to slow it down in some ways in what we do in order for him to catch up because it’s not easy to come in and play on the offensive line after not having played it in college. Chris Vangas had a lot of work this spring, and I think he’s worked hard at trying to prove himself physically. We have a couple of older guys that are playing that position. Justin Belarski and Rob Frederick were starters for us last year at center, but both had stress fractures and are very valuable, and are probably ahead of Chris right now.”
Q: Is Troy Banner’s career over or is he taking time off? Is it his choice or your choice?
A: “Troy Banner, right now, is not part of our team…my choice.”
Q: Is it fair to label this a rebuilding year for Pitt?
A: “We don’t think that we rebuild, we’re all about reloading. We do have some guys, like I mentioned, that graduated, but that’s the fun of it. We’ve got guys that have played in a backup role and now’s there a chance for them to play.”
Q: Do you think that it’s fortunate that the year you lose so much talent is also the year that Miami is no longer in the conference?
A: “I don’t think our conference is going to be weak. There will not be a team that’s as talented as Miami but there will be some other very competitive teams and I think it will be an extremely competitive conference this year.”
Q: Do you need to be more physical on both sides of the ball, and how do you do that during camp?
A: “The game is won on the line, honestly. The linemen win championships, and in order for us to win a championship, I agree with you. We need to become much more physical. We need to get back to what we’ve done on defense - shut down the run and lead the conference in running. We’ve got to find a way to run the ball better than in the whole time that we’ve been here. When you can run the ball, it makes it a lot easier to be a successful football team.”
Q: With all the injuries in the receiving corps and with the loss of Larry, what’s it going to take for one or two of the young, talented receivers to step in?
A: “It’s going to take a real mature guy to put it all together as a young freshman. We’ve had two young freshmen that have come on in the past that have shown maturity at a tender age. One was Antonio Bryant and the other was Larry Fitzgerald – two great examples of maturity in a young player. I don’t know if we have anybody in their league but we feel there are some young guys that have different kinds of talent. If we tell them they did something wrong, they did it right the rest of the day. That’s the key. It’s not all about talent, it’s about paying attention to detail and doing all the little things. The talented guys are so talented they don’t get coached too much in high school. That’s why some of the talented guys don’t respond as well.
Q: With the youth of this team, will you take a longer period of time before concentrating on South Florida?
A: It will go the way it always does. We’ll have a final scrimmage on a Wednesday and then start to work on our opponent after that. It will be critical to remain the same.
Q: How is Tyler Palko progressing?
A: I think there were a couple of plays today that he executed well and there were a couple of plays when he didn’t do that. He’s into it so he knows what he did wrong before you even get a chance to tell him.
Q: Do you have a date in mind for when you want to choose a starting quarterback?
A: I would like to choose a starting quarterback before we open the season. I don’t want to go into our first game with two of them. I’m going to do what’s best for this football program and it’s up to them to get to the level we want them to be. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Q: If you do not see what it is you want to see from your quarterbacks, is it possible you won’t have made a decision before the first game?
A: That’s possible but I would hope that’s not the case. I would hope there are enough opportunities to see our quarterbacks get to the level needed. We lost some proven firepower so it’s even more important that the quarterback execute our entire scheme.
Q: How many days before you begin practicing in pads?
A: We are scheduled to practice in shoulder pads on Thursday and for our fifth practice, we will be in full gear.
Q: You’ve been in this position before with having to choose between two young quarterbacks. Is there anything you’ve learned from those past experiences that will make the decision any easier this time around?
A: I’ve been coaching the position for quite a while now. It is my experience that the guy that is the most consistent will be the starting quarterback for this program. I’m looking for consistency. You want your most consistent football player to have a lot of ability but that’s not always the case. That’s why it is important that every position on this football team has consistent football players so that we’re not relying on just one person to get the job done. Our quarterbacks will get better with another year of experience.
Q: What is the running back situation for the team?
A: We feel that Raymond Kirkley is a good football player. I thought he looked well out there as did Marcus Furman. He made a couple of great moves out there today. We think Tim Murphy is a very good football player, too. Coach [Wayne] Moses has told me that if Tim Murphy gets more time at the tailback position, that we will get a capable fullback in the starting lineup. You can never have enough guys but those three guys will make it competitive.
Q: Can you see any of those three guys as a featured back that gets 25-30 carries a game?
A: I think Raymond or Tim could be that guy. That’s a lot physically for Marcus but his key is his flexibility. He made some real nice lateral cuts out there today. It was a welcome sight to see for the coaches.
Q: Can you talk about the kicking game?
A: We have very little experience there and are going to test them a lot. We don’t know how the guy we pick is going to react during a game. J.B. Gibboney has played in some games for us and that experience helps a lot but we want to feel confident in one guy.
Q: How much added pressure is it on a coaching staff to play five games in a span of 25 days?
A: That’s the way it is. We’re not going to whine or cry about it. We just have to take care of what we need to.
