From the desk of Jim Snyder
The future looks bright
Coach Wannstedt is trying to rebuild the program. The 2007 season is about scratching out wins and getting to a bowl game. A number of Big East teams returned their skilled position players this year. Next year it will be Pitt’s turn.
We have updated the depth chart. We are currently showing the injured Mike McGlynn as a backup right tackle. He could be moved to center once he is healthy or jump in anywhere on the right side of the line if anyone gets banged up in camp.
We do not show defensive end Doug Fulmer who is coming of surgery and has not yet been given medical clearance to play.
If you look at our two-deep chart you will find that Pitt will graduate Jeff Otah, Mike McGlynn, Darrell Strong and Chris Vangas on offense. Big left tackles that can play are often hard to find so Otah will be the hardest to replace next year. The rest of the offense is back in 2008 and so are their backups.
On defense Pitt will lose Chris McKillop, Joe Clermond, Kennard Cox and Mike Phillips. Their replacements are in the pipeline for 2008. If Elijah Fields stays the course he figures to be a playmaker next year.
In addition to the depth chart we have been busy updating the Pitt roster. There are still a couple of elements to add but if they come together it will be the best looking roster on the internet.
Rivals.com has contracted with a new company to supply scores and stats. The techs have been very busy trying to get it ready for the start of the football season. Keep you fingers crossed that it works. If it does we will be kicking it up a notch this fall.
Pitt is building some depth at defensive tackle. It looks like they will rotate five players. They are all quality players and they will all be back next year.
Last year the defensive line took its lumps when Chris McKillop, Mick Williams, Doug Fulmer and John Malecki were injured. If they can stay healthy Pitt should be much better up front this year. The defense also had Eric Thatcher miss most of the year due to injury.
Losing wideout Derek Kinder in camp was a bad break. He needs surgery from a non-contact injury on grass. Go figure. Pitt will have a quarterback without any game experience this year. It would have been nice to have Kinder in the lineup so Bill Stull had some experience around him. Fortunately wide receiver is the one position where Pitt has stocked themselves with good athletes. The Panthers might have a drop off in experience but they still have good athletes to put out there this fall.
In the first scrimmage Bill Stull threw one interception although he did complete 71.4% of his passes. Look for Pitt to throw high percentage passes early on.
The rushing numbers were not that impressive despite the fact that Pitt has a number of very talented running backs. Here are the average yards per carry.
LaRod Stephens-Howling 4.57 yards per carry
Kevin Collier 3.6 yards per carry
LeSean McCoy 2.33
Shariff Harris 2.88
Conredge Collins1.5
Shayne Books 2.0
In any football program the offensive line is usually the last unit to mesh. These numbers also suggest that the second team defensive line at Pitt is better than the second team offense right now.
The coaching staff shuffled the two-deep chart this week. Linebacker Dorin Dickerson is now taking snap with the first team. It is only a matter of time until he takes over and Dickerson will be a good one. Adam Gunn looks like he is being groomed at a couple of the linebacker spots so you should also see him on the field this fall. Craig Bokor was moved top offensive guard. There is a good chance he will finish fall camp on the two-deep chart which means he should get playing time this year. Pitt has enough depth at defensive tackle that they could afford to make this move.
Part of the depth chart shuffles suggest that many members of the Class of 2007 will probably be redshirted. It is still very early but it looks like these players will play this fall. LeSean McCoy, Aundre Wright, Tommie Duhart and Dom DeCicco look like they will be on the depth chart. One of these players is a JUCO transfer and two of them spent a year at prep school so they are not true freshmen away from home for the first time. You will probably have about three others join this list.
We expect Bill Stull to open the season at quarterback but Pitt will need to get Pat Bostick ready to play. Dexter Davidson has not been cleared to play so Matt Cavanaugh will be giving Bostick his fair share of reps. He is the future.
Periodically rumors float about Dexter Davidson transferring. Quite frankly nobody is going to transfer without a scholarship to another school. A more like scenario is that he is declared medically unable to play. If that happens it would free up a scholarship slot.
This week Post-Gazette beat writer Paul Zeise indicated he has putting in 10-12 hour days at Pitt camp and on some days 14 hours. The same has been true for Chris Peak and Tony Greco. Chris Peak has put it very long hours during fall camp and has giving us great coverage.
Most of the experts feel Pitt is still a year away from moving up in the Big East but you never know when a young team can pull things together. My grandson is an underclassman for a high school team in the Nashville area. Two years ago his school won the large school state championship. They were loaded with seniors that had started for two years. They were hit heavily by graduation losing 18 starters. Last fall in camp they looked just awful. Parents looked at each other and said in unison it was fun while it lasted but it looks like a rebuilding year. They had a hard time taking the snap from center and could barely get an offensive play back to the line of scrimmage. After their first four games they were 1-3. They got into conference play and won a couple of close games. Before you know it they got on a roll and put a win streak together. Before the season ended they back in the state championship game for the second year in a row. You never know what will happen if a young team starts playing with confidence.
This Pitt team has more talent and more athleticism than Pitt teams of recent years but it is young. It would not surprise me if things started to fall into place sometime during the 2007 season.
Derek Kinder has been lost to injury for the year. Elijah Fields must sit out this year. Both Mike McGlynn and defensive end Doug Fulmer would be on the two-deep if they were healthy. Pitt can not afford a series of injuries as occurred last fall.
Pitt holds their second scrimmage on Saturday at 10:45 am. The Pantherlair will be there. It is scheduled to run for about two hours. Coach Wannstedt addresses the media after the scrimmage is over.
Don’t forget Pitt will hold their annual Fan Fest at Heinz Field on Thursday August 23rd. Admission is free and it is open to all Pitt fans. It runs from 6:30 pm until 9:00pm. Here is your chance to get an autograph or two and check out the 2007 Pitt Panthers.
The University of Pittsburgh has contracted with the folks at Zambelli to put on a fireworks display after the Panthers home opener with Eastern Michigan.
Rivals High and other items in the pipeline
The videos showing recruits are often hard to view because they are being killed by your pop-up blocker. I get around this by going to the player’s profile where you can see them. The techs are aware of this problem but unfortunately they have a ton on their plate right now.
Rivals.com has several projects in the pipeline. They are hoping to release a number of these by the time the football season starts.
One of the new projects is called Rivals High. The plan is to beef up high school coverage. This week they announced that the Big East Editor will move over to help produce the high school project. We now have a new Big East Editor. All of this is an investment of time and money on the part of Rivals.com. Hopefully it will not be long before we start seeing this project rolled out. Like many other things it is a process. Rome was not built in a day. This one will take time and hard work but we will all have more information and hopefully a lot more fun once it is up and running.
Hoops talk
Since the last War Room report we interviewed forward Quintrell Thomas who claimed a Pitt offer and was planning on visiting Pitt. He was told the Pitt coaches decided to go another direction.
This week Jerry Meyer reported that forward Troy Gillenwater was committing to New Mexico State. Gillenwater also clamed a Pitt offer.
Forward Eloy Vargas has been vacationing in the Dominican Republic. His high school classes start next week so he should be back soon. Best case scenario is he visits Florida in September and then commits to Pitt.
The longer this thing drags out with Eloy Vargas the less I like Pitt’s chances.
We have an interview in the pipeline on forward Andrew Van Nest which will run today or tomorrow.
Recruiting roundup
Football recruiting has slowed temporarily. The coaches are no longer allowed to send text messages. They are forced to send e-mails and hope for a reply. If that fails they must go back through the high school coach. Most high school and college coaches are busy with fall camp so even that is not easy. The last thing a high school coach wants is for his team to be distracted by a college coach.
Players can take official visits once school is back in session so within the next few weeks the colleges will start jockeying for official visits.
There was a report in the Rochester Chronicle and Democrat which quoted Averin Collier as saying he was leaning to Clemson because he wanted to play running back and liked their offense. Our “birdies” say he was told that Clemson graduated both running backs which would open it up for him. However, it is not true. Clemson’s starting tailback should be four-star running back James Davis and he is only a sophomore. He will be backed up by five-star running back C.J. Filler who is a freshman. As Yogi Berra used to say. It isn’t over until it’s over.
There was a rumor that Laurel Highlands defensive end Kaleb Ramsey was going to decide between Pitt, Boston College and Georgia Tech last Sunday. We interviewed him and he said he was going to a Pitt fall practice session this past weekend but he was a no show. Right now it looks like this is between Pitt and Boston College. He father wants him to commit now to secure a scholarship but the son wants to wait.
We also interviewed defensive end Jake Stoller from the University School. Like many young men in Ohio he is trying to figure out where he stands with Ohio State. If the Buckeyes do not offer this should come down to Wisconsin or Pitt in late September or early October.
In case you missed it Pitt commits Manny Williams and Ronald Hobby both picked up an additional star earlier this week and are both now listed as three-star prospects.
The last I looked Pitt was ranked No. 23 in the country and No. 1 in the Big East. The team ranking tend to reward you for bulk and Pitt has a limited number of scholarships to give this year so I am not sure they will be ranked high in the team rankings by year’s end. If you have a limited number of scholarships you better make sure the ones you do bring in can play.
Pitt Fall Camp HQ
Keep checking our Pitt Fall Camp HQ page. We have a new video up this morning of Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt talking about the team. We also have a catalogue of photos and videos in case you missed one along the way.
There is only one practice session today and it is in the afternoon. Tomorrow we have our second scrimmage. Stayed tuned to the Pantherlair for best camp coverage.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die-hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
This post was edited on 8/17 9:34 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
The future looks bright
Coach Wannstedt is trying to rebuild the program. The 2007 season is about scratching out wins and getting to a bowl game. A number of Big East teams returned their skilled position players this year. Next year it will be Pitt’s turn.
We have updated the depth chart. We are currently showing the injured Mike McGlynn as a backup right tackle. He could be moved to center once he is healthy or jump in anywhere on the right side of the line if anyone gets banged up in camp.
We do not show defensive end Doug Fulmer who is coming of surgery and has not yet been given medical clearance to play.
If you look at our two-deep chart you will find that Pitt will graduate Jeff Otah, Mike McGlynn, Darrell Strong and Chris Vangas on offense. Big left tackles that can play are often hard to find so Otah will be the hardest to replace next year. The rest of the offense is back in 2008 and so are their backups.
On defense Pitt will lose Chris McKillop, Joe Clermond, Kennard Cox and Mike Phillips. Their replacements are in the pipeline for 2008. If Elijah Fields stays the course he figures to be a playmaker next year.
In addition to the depth chart we have been busy updating the Pitt roster. There are still a couple of elements to add but if they come together it will be the best looking roster on the internet.
Rivals.com has contracted with a new company to supply scores and stats. The techs have been very busy trying to get it ready for the start of the football season. Keep you fingers crossed that it works. If it does we will be kicking it up a notch this fall.
Pitt is building some depth at defensive tackle. It looks like they will rotate five players. They are all quality players and they will all be back next year.
Last year the defensive line took its lumps when Chris McKillop, Mick Williams, Doug Fulmer and John Malecki were injured. If they can stay healthy Pitt should be much better up front this year. The defense also had Eric Thatcher miss most of the year due to injury.
Losing wideout Derek Kinder in camp was a bad break. He needs surgery from a non-contact injury on grass. Go figure. Pitt will have a quarterback without any game experience this year. It would have been nice to have Kinder in the lineup so Bill Stull had some experience around him. Fortunately wide receiver is the one position where Pitt has stocked themselves with good athletes. The Panthers might have a drop off in experience but they still have good athletes to put out there this fall.
In the first scrimmage Bill Stull threw one interception although he did complete 71.4% of his passes. Look for Pitt to throw high percentage passes early on.
The rushing numbers were not that impressive despite the fact that Pitt has a number of very talented running backs. Here are the average yards per carry.
LaRod Stephens-Howling 4.57 yards per carry
Kevin Collier 3.6 yards per carry
LeSean McCoy 2.33
Shariff Harris 2.88
Conredge Collins1.5
Shayne Books 2.0
In any football program the offensive line is usually the last unit to mesh. These numbers also suggest that the second team defensive line at Pitt is better than the second team offense right now.
The coaching staff shuffled the two-deep chart this week. Linebacker Dorin Dickerson is now taking snap with the first team. It is only a matter of time until he takes over and Dickerson will be a good one. Adam Gunn looks like he is being groomed at a couple of the linebacker spots so you should also see him on the field this fall. Craig Bokor was moved top offensive guard. There is a good chance he will finish fall camp on the two-deep chart which means he should get playing time this year. Pitt has enough depth at defensive tackle that they could afford to make this move.
Part of the depth chart shuffles suggest that many members of the Class of 2007 will probably be redshirted. It is still very early but it looks like these players will play this fall. LeSean McCoy, Aundre Wright, Tommie Duhart and Dom DeCicco look like they will be on the depth chart. One of these players is a JUCO transfer and two of them spent a year at prep school so they are not true freshmen away from home for the first time. You will probably have about three others join this list.
We expect Bill Stull to open the season at quarterback but Pitt will need to get Pat Bostick ready to play. Dexter Davidson has not been cleared to play so Matt Cavanaugh will be giving Bostick his fair share of reps. He is the future.
Periodically rumors float about Dexter Davidson transferring. Quite frankly nobody is going to transfer without a scholarship to another school. A more like scenario is that he is declared medically unable to play. If that happens it would free up a scholarship slot.
This week Post-Gazette beat writer Paul Zeise indicated he has putting in 10-12 hour days at Pitt camp and on some days 14 hours. The same has been true for Chris Peak and Tony Greco. Chris Peak has put it very long hours during fall camp and has giving us great coverage.
Most of the experts feel Pitt is still a year away from moving up in the Big East but you never know when a young team can pull things together. My grandson is an underclassman for a high school team in the Nashville area. Two years ago his school won the large school state championship. They were loaded with seniors that had started for two years. They were hit heavily by graduation losing 18 starters. Last fall in camp they looked just awful. Parents looked at each other and said in unison it was fun while it lasted but it looks like a rebuilding year. They had a hard time taking the snap from center and could barely get an offensive play back to the line of scrimmage. After their first four games they were 1-3. They got into conference play and won a couple of close games. Before you know it they got on a roll and put a win streak together. Before the season ended they back in the state championship game for the second year in a row. You never know what will happen if a young team starts playing with confidence.
This Pitt team has more talent and more athleticism than Pitt teams of recent years but it is young. It would not surprise me if things started to fall into place sometime during the 2007 season.
Derek Kinder has been lost to injury for the year. Elijah Fields must sit out this year. Both Mike McGlynn and defensive end Doug Fulmer would be on the two-deep if they were healthy. Pitt can not afford a series of injuries as occurred last fall.
Pitt holds their second scrimmage on Saturday at 10:45 am. The Pantherlair will be there. It is scheduled to run for about two hours. Coach Wannstedt addresses the media after the scrimmage is over.
Don’t forget Pitt will hold their annual Fan Fest at Heinz Field on Thursday August 23rd. Admission is free and it is open to all Pitt fans. It runs from 6:30 pm until 9:00pm. Here is your chance to get an autograph or two and check out the 2007 Pitt Panthers.
The University of Pittsburgh has contracted with the folks at Zambelli to put on a fireworks display after the Panthers home opener with Eastern Michigan.
Rivals High and other items in the pipeline
The videos showing recruits are often hard to view because they are being killed by your pop-up blocker. I get around this by going to the player’s profile where you can see them. The techs are aware of this problem but unfortunately they have a ton on their plate right now.
Rivals.com has several projects in the pipeline. They are hoping to release a number of these by the time the football season starts.
One of the new projects is called Rivals High. The plan is to beef up high school coverage. This week they announced that the Big East Editor will move over to help produce the high school project. We now have a new Big East Editor. All of this is an investment of time and money on the part of Rivals.com. Hopefully it will not be long before we start seeing this project rolled out. Like many other things it is a process. Rome was not built in a day. This one will take time and hard work but we will all have more information and hopefully a lot more fun once it is up and running.
Hoops talk
Since the last War Room report we interviewed forward Quintrell Thomas who claimed a Pitt offer and was planning on visiting Pitt. He was told the Pitt coaches decided to go another direction.
This week Jerry Meyer reported that forward Troy Gillenwater was committing to New Mexico State. Gillenwater also clamed a Pitt offer.
Forward Eloy Vargas has been vacationing in the Dominican Republic. His high school classes start next week so he should be back soon. Best case scenario is he visits Florida in September and then commits to Pitt.
The longer this thing drags out with Eloy Vargas the less I like Pitt’s chances.
We have an interview in the pipeline on forward Andrew Van Nest which will run today or tomorrow.
Recruiting roundup
Football recruiting has slowed temporarily. The coaches are no longer allowed to send text messages. They are forced to send e-mails and hope for a reply. If that fails they must go back through the high school coach. Most high school and college coaches are busy with fall camp so even that is not easy. The last thing a high school coach wants is for his team to be distracted by a college coach.
Players can take official visits once school is back in session so within the next few weeks the colleges will start jockeying for official visits.
There was a report in the Rochester Chronicle and Democrat which quoted Averin Collier as saying he was leaning to Clemson because he wanted to play running back and liked their offense. Our “birdies” say he was told that Clemson graduated both running backs which would open it up for him. However, it is not true. Clemson’s starting tailback should be four-star running back James Davis and he is only a sophomore. He will be backed up by five-star running back C.J. Filler who is a freshman. As Yogi Berra used to say. It isn’t over until it’s over.
There was a rumor that Laurel Highlands defensive end Kaleb Ramsey was going to decide between Pitt, Boston College and Georgia Tech last Sunday. We interviewed him and he said he was going to a Pitt fall practice session this past weekend but he was a no show. Right now it looks like this is between Pitt and Boston College. He father wants him to commit now to secure a scholarship but the son wants to wait.
We also interviewed defensive end Jake Stoller from the University School. Like many young men in Ohio he is trying to figure out where he stands with Ohio State. If the Buckeyes do not offer this should come down to Wisconsin or Pitt in late September or early October.
In case you missed it Pitt commits Manny Williams and Ronald Hobby both picked up an additional star earlier this week and are both now listed as three-star prospects.
The last I looked Pitt was ranked No. 23 in the country and No. 1 in the Big East. The team ranking tend to reward you for bulk and Pitt has a limited number of scholarships to give this year so I am not sure they will be ranked high in the team rankings by year’s end. If you have a limited number of scholarships you better make sure the ones you do bring in can play.
Pitt Fall Camp HQ
Keep checking our Pitt Fall Camp HQ page. We have a new video up this morning of Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt talking about the team. We also have a catalogue of photos and videos in case you missed one along the way.
There is only one practice session today and it is in the afternoon. Tomorrow we have our second scrimmage. Stayed tuned to the Pantherlair for best camp coverage.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die-hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
This post was edited on 8/17 9:34 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
