From the desk of Jim Snyder
New Home Page
Early next week the Pantherlair Home Page moves to a new format. I am sure some of the navigational features will take some time to get use to. It may also take some fine tuning but at the end of the day I am sure we will all find our way around the network. Most of the info will still be there it just takes a few new navigational routes.
Fall training camp starts
Pitt has released their fall camp schedule. They will hold Media Day on Monday from 9:15 AM until Noon. The Panthers football team will start practicing on Tuesday. As reported earlier the 44 freshmen will practice separately for the first few days to give them as many reps as possible. There will be no off days this year. The football team is scheduled to practice everyday from August 8th through August 25th. The team will then resume their normal game week practice schedule the following week. Pitt will practice on August 24th at Heinz Field as a part of Fan Fest. This evening practice session will be open to the public.
Fall camp is closed to the general public. The Pantherlair will be there providing you with plenty of stories, updates and photos. On paper it looks like these sessions are set up in a way that should give Chris Peak an opportunity to supply the Pantherlair with even more content than we had a year ago.
According to NCAA rules the media cannot interview freshmen until after their first practice (on Tuesday). This means they will not be available to the media on Monday. The NCAA has always had well meaning but strange rules. This is one of them.
We thought we would give our projections for this fall as the team heads into fall camp.
What should we worry about?
On paper Pitt looks thin going into fall camp at running back and offensive tackle. Football is often a game of injuries but these are two positions where Pitt must stay healthy if they are to bounce back in 2006. LaRod Stephens, Kevin Collier, Conredge Collins, Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn must stay healthy.
The schedule
From a coach’s point of view this could be the best schedule Pitt has had since World War II. Pitt plays seven home games. They have Virginia, Michigan State, Rutgers, West Virginia and Louisville at home. The five highest-ranked teams on the schedule must all come to Pittsburgh.
There are no away games where Pitt will be overmatched. Central Florida and South Florida could pull upsets especially if you catch a very hot day in Florida but Pitt matches up with them from a talent point of view.
Pitt should be a slight favorite against Virginia in their opener. If they win against the Cavaliers, the Michigan State game could be no worse than a pick’em game. Should Pitt happen to beat both Virginia and Michigan State it could mean there is enough fire power to put together a long winning streak.
Pitt does not play West Virginia and Louisville until November. Regardless of what happens early in the season in non-conference play it’s always possible their group of talented youngsters will be a big help late in the year giving Pitt a reasonable chance to upset one of these nationally ranked teams.
Must games
Pitt’s final record may swing on two games. The Panthers open the season at home with Virginia. Pitt figures to be a slight favorite in this one. The Cavaliers had an off-season of turnover on their coaching staff and they have lost some key players. Virginia returns only five starters on offense and defense. Virginia has been to bowls the last four years but playing them early could be a break for the Panthers.
Pitt traveled to New Jersey on short rest last fall and fell behind early to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights then hung on to win 37-29. Most pre-season prognosticators have Pitt finish 3rd or 4th along with Rutgers in the conference. Pitt must find away to win at Heinz Field on October 21st if they want to play meaningful conference games against West Virginia and Louisville in November.
Will Pitt miss these two?
Wide receiver Greg Lee left the program to try his luck in the NFL. Running back Rashad Jennings transferred to Liberty to be closer to his family. Both of these players figured to be a big part of the Pitt offense this fall. Pitt will need a few of their younger players to step up and fill the void if the Panthers are going to move the ball consistently on offense this fall.
Senior leadership
Tyler Palko is a fifth year senior. He has started the past two years. He could be surrounded by a few young players but you have an experienced player quarterbacking them.
H.B. Blade is a two-time All-Big East linebacker entering his senior year. Blades may not be the biggest or the fastest but this experienced middle linebacker should help any youngsters get lineup properly.
Palko and Blades give you a senior leadership at two very important positions.
New poll on Home Page
Going into fall camp we think Pitt will go 8-4 this year. We should know a little more once Pitt breaks fall camp. We should know a whole lot more once they play Virginia in their opener. If Pitt stays healthy and beats Virginia its very possible they could put together a nice winning steak to start the season.
We have a new poll on the Home Page. It asks home many games do you think Pitt will win during the regular season? Remember they go to a 12-game regular season this fall.
Scholarship limitations
A quick look at the media guide shows Pitt with only 14 seniors. They also have only 15 juniors. There are 21 sophomores on scholarship and 34 freshmen. There are a total of 84 players on scholarship going into the fall camp. These numbers are based on the year of eligibility not their classroom year. If past tradition holds true one walk-on could win a scholarship at fall camp to put Pitt at the limit of 85.
Pitt can award 14 scholarships to replace the 14 seniors. My guess is that a couple of redshirt juniors may not be asked back could give you 16 or 17 scholarships to award. Historically most teams have some attrition. This could get you up into the 20 range which is a working number we heard many weeks ago.
The coaching staff already has nine verbal commitments from nine high school players. Pitt must hold a scholarship for Baldwin’s Justin Hargrove who will take a grayshirt. Kickers Adam Grassele and David Abdul are both seniors. I suspect two scholarships would go to kickers next fall. Purdue transfer Dave Brytus could get one and so might Conor Lee. This week Pitt offered a scholarship to Findley kicker Brandon Walker. If Ohio State does not make a move in the next few weeks there is a very good chance Pitt could land Walker.
Pitt must still address their needs at running back and linebacker. Once you do this there may not be many scholarships to pass out.
Southern Columbia’s Henry Hynoski, Nordonia’s Jordan Mabin and Mount Lebanon’s Andrew Devlin all have Pitt near the top of their lists. All three have indicated they will decide in the next couple of weeks. Once Pitt knows better where they stand with these three they should have a better feel what areas need to be addressed with their remaining scholarships. At this point we feel better about Mabin and Hynoski than we do about Devlin.
Pitt brought in four freshmen wideouts in the Class of 2006 so I am not sure this is an area of great need. Pitt, however, is still in the hunt with Valley’s Toney Clemons, Erie’s Mo Williams, Rochester’s Derek Moye and a couple of Floridians in Darrian Williams and Matt Clemens. If you only got one of these I think Pitt would be fine although Mo Williams is such a good athlete looking at him as a defensive back would not be such a bad idea. At this point it looks like Pitt would like two out of this group.
The loss of Rashad Jennings means landing a couple of running backs is a high priority. Pitt is near the top of the lists of Bo Williams, [/B]Henry Hynoski[/B], Greg Williams, Doug Hogue and Xavier Stinson. Malcolm Harris and Chacon Lee are also possibilities. Pitt needs to land two running backs and needs at least one of them to be a big back.
Hopefully you had a chance to read Tony Greco’s article with Buddy Jackson’s coach earlier this week. It is both informative and humorous. We heard one report that a few days after Buddy committed to Pitt the Florida Gator’s head coach called him. Apparently word of Buddy’s speed had reached Urban Myers and he tested Buddy’s commitment to Pitt. Buddy remains firmly committed to the Panthers.
Chris Peak finally caught up with Tommie Duhart after several days of phone attempts. Duhart signed a Letter of Intent with Pitt in 2005 but failed to qualify. He is now at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. Chris Peak will have an article up on him a little later this morning.
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.
New Home Page
Early next week the Pantherlair Home Page moves to a new format. I am sure some of the navigational features will take some time to get use to. It may also take some fine tuning but at the end of the day I am sure we will all find our way around the network. Most of the info will still be there it just takes a few new navigational routes.
Fall training camp starts
Pitt has released their fall camp schedule. They will hold Media Day on Monday from 9:15 AM until Noon. The Panthers football team will start practicing on Tuesday. As reported earlier the 44 freshmen will practice separately for the first few days to give them as many reps as possible. There will be no off days this year. The football team is scheduled to practice everyday from August 8th through August 25th. The team will then resume their normal game week practice schedule the following week. Pitt will practice on August 24th at Heinz Field as a part of Fan Fest. This evening practice session will be open to the public.
Fall camp is closed to the general public. The Pantherlair will be there providing you with plenty of stories, updates and photos. On paper it looks like these sessions are set up in a way that should give Chris Peak an opportunity to supply the Pantherlair with even more content than we had a year ago.
According to NCAA rules the media cannot interview freshmen until after their first practice (on Tuesday). This means they will not be available to the media on Monday. The NCAA has always had well meaning but strange rules. This is one of them.
We thought we would give our projections for this fall as the team heads into fall camp.
What should we worry about?
On paper Pitt looks thin going into fall camp at running back and offensive tackle. Football is often a game of injuries but these are two positions where Pitt must stay healthy if they are to bounce back in 2006. LaRod Stephens, Kevin Collier, Conredge Collins, Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn must stay healthy.
The schedule
From a coach’s point of view this could be the best schedule Pitt has had since World War II. Pitt plays seven home games. They have Virginia, Michigan State, Rutgers, West Virginia and Louisville at home. The five highest-ranked teams on the schedule must all come to Pittsburgh.
There are no away games where Pitt will be overmatched. Central Florida and South Florida could pull upsets especially if you catch a very hot day in Florida but Pitt matches up with them from a talent point of view.
Pitt should be a slight favorite against Virginia in their opener. If they win against the Cavaliers, the Michigan State game could be no worse than a pick’em game. Should Pitt happen to beat both Virginia and Michigan State it could mean there is enough fire power to put together a long winning streak.
Pitt does not play West Virginia and Louisville until November. Regardless of what happens early in the season in non-conference play it’s always possible their group of talented youngsters will be a big help late in the year giving Pitt a reasonable chance to upset one of these nationally ranked teams.
Must games
Pitt’s final record may swing on two games. The Panthers open the season at home with Virginia. Pitt figures to be a slight favorite in this one. The Cavaliers had an off-season of turnover on their coaching staff and they have lost some key players. Virginia returns only five starters on offense and defense. Virginia has been to bowls the last four years but playing them early could be a break for the Panthers.
Pitt traveled to New Jersey on short rest last fall and fell behind early to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights then hung on to win 37-29. Most pre-season prognosticators have Pitt finish 3rd or 4th along with Rutgers in the conference. Pitt must find away to win at Heinz Field on October 21st if they want to play meaningful conference games against West Virginia and Louisville in November.
Will Pitt miss these two?
Wide receiver Greg Lee left the program to try his luck in the NFL. Running back Rashad Jennings transferred to Liberty to be closer to his family. Both of these players figured to be a big part of the Pitt offense this fall. Pitt will need a few of their younger players to step up and fill the void if the Panthers are going to move the ball consistently on offense this fall.
Senior leadership
Tyler Palko is a fifth year senior. He has started the past two years. He could be surrounded by a few young players but you have an experienced player quarterbacking them.
H.B. Blade is a two-time All-Big East linebacker entering his senior year. Blades may not be the biggest or the fastest but this experienced middle linebacker should help any youngsters get lineup properly.
Palko and Blades give you a senior leadership at two very important positions.
New poll on Home Page
Going into fall camp we think Pitt will go 8-4 this year. We should know a little more once Pitt breaks fall camp. We should know a whole lot more once they play Virginia in their opener. If Pitt stays healthy and beats Virginia its very possible they could put together a nice winning steak to start the season.
We have a new poll on the Home Page. It asks home many games do you think Pitt will win during the regular season? Remember they go to a 12-game regular season this fall.
Scholarship limitations
A quick look at the media guide shows Pitt with only 14 seniors. They also have only 15 juniors. There are 21 sophomores on scholarship and 34 freshmen. There are a total of 84 players on scholarship going into the fall camp. These numbers are based on the year of eligibility not their classroom year. If past tradition holds true one walk-on could win a scholarship at fall camp to put Pitt at the limit of 85.
Pitt can award 14 scholarships to replace the 14 seniors. My guess is that a couple of redshirt juniors may not be asked back could give you 16 or 17 scholarships to award. Historically most teams have some attrition. This could get you up into the 20 range which is a working number we heard many weeks ago.
The coaching staff already has nine verbal commitments from nine high school players. Pitt must hold a scholarship for Baldwin’s Justin Hargrove who will take a grayshirt. Kickers Adam Grassele and David Abdul are both seniors. I suspect two scholarships would go to kickers next fall. Purdue transfer Dave Brytus could get one and so might Conor Lee. This week Pitt offered a scholarship to Findley kicker Brandon Walker. If Ohio State does not make a move in the next few weeks there is a very good chance Pitt could land Walker.
Pitt must still address their needs at running back and linebacker. Once you do this there may not be many scholarships to pass out.
Southern Columbia’s Henry Hynoski, Nordonia’s Jordan Mabin and Mount Lebanon’s Andrew Devlin all have Pitt near the top of their lists. All three have indicated they will decide in the next couple of weeks. Once Pitt knows better where they stand with these three they should have a better feel what areas need to be addressed with their remaining scholarships. At this point we feel better about Mabin and Hynoski than we do about Devlin.
Pitt brought in four freshmen wideouts in the Class of 2006 so I am not sure this is an area of great need. Pitt, however, is still in the hunt with Valley’s Toney Clemons, Erie’s Mo Williams, Rochester’s Derek Moye and a couple of Floridians in Darrian Williams and Matt Clemens. If you only got one of these I think Pitt would be fine although Mo Williams is such a good athlete looking at him as a defensive back would not be such a bad idea. At this point it looks like Pitt would like two out of this group.
The loss of Rashad Jennings means landing a couple of running backs is a high priority. Pitt is near the top of the lists of Bo Williams, [/B]Henry Hynoski[/B], Greg Williams, Doug Hogue and Xavier Stinson. Malcolm Harris and Chacon Lee are also possibilities. Pitt needs to land two running backs and needs at least one of them to be a big back.
Hopefully you had a chance to read Tony Greco’s article with Buddy Jackson’s coach earlier this week. It is both informative and humorous. We heard one report that a few days after Buddy committed to Pitt the Florida Gator’s head coach called him. Apparently word of Buddy’s speed had reached Urban Myers and he tested Buddy’s commitment to Pitt. Buddy remains firmly committed to the Panthers.
Chris Peak finally caught up with Tommie Duhart after several days of phone attempts. Duhart signed a Letter of Intent with Pitt in 2005 but failed to qualify. He is now at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. Chris Peak will have an article up on him a little later this morning.
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.
