From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Bradley And Pitt - A weird combination
Penn State assistant Tom Bradley has been thrown out as a possibility for the Pitt opening. Bradley is a highly respected defensive coordinator and many observers believe he will be the next head coach at Penn State. Tom Bradley has a reputation of being a fierce, no holds barred recruiter. He has absolutely given Pitt fits recruiting in Western PA. However, it is hard to believe you could get a deal done here. Pitt would not want to take a risk of being turned down by a Penn State assistant. Tom would not like to be seen publicly courting Pitt. On the surface this one appears to be too complicated. There are probably too many “Catch 22’s” here. However, Tom Bradley was a guest of a Pitt Trustee at the Backyard Brawl when Pitt beat West Virginia on Thanksgiving night. If Tom wants to talk he does have a very viable pipeline into Pitt. Does anyone know a matchmaker who specializes in mixed marriages?
Another “birdie” stopped by to say that he ran into Coach Bradley at Station Square this week and Bradley indicated he did have a legitimate interest in the Pitt job. This ‘birdie” indicated Bradley may have a handshake with former Panther Sal Sunseri in place in which Sal would become Bradley’s defensive coordinator. I’ll tell you this pair would turn recruiting upside down in Western PA.
Sal Sunseri has also made numerous calls into Pittsburgh to say he would be interested in the head coaching position.
WPIAL Recruiting
Speaking of recruiting in Western PA. The assistant coach generally assigned to recruit prospects in Western PA is Bob Junko. There are exceptions to the rule. Former running backs coach Dino Babers was assigned to Andrew Johnson when the two seemed to hit it off. It hurt Pitt when Babers left to return to the West Coast. Pitt knew from the beginning they were in trouble with Gateway’s Justin King. They assigned Curtis Bray who is a friend of Gators coach Terry Smith. Bray is also a Gateway grad. However, as a general rule recruiting in Western PA is the responsibility of Coach Bob Junko.
Pitt will honor commitments
Will Pitt honor their commitments? Yes they will. You must take a long-term view on this one. High school coaches will hold it against Pitt for a very long time if you do not honor verbal commitments. Despite the fact Pitt will honor these commitments we have already talked to a number of recruits that still need to be reassured. Unfortunately anxiety will become a big part of their thought process until the new coach reassures them. The new coach will have to say, “I love you. You fit into our plans.” When they do a number will fall into line.
Will changing coaches have an effect on recruiting? There is not doubt about it. It affects other schools when they change coaches and Pitt will not be an exception to this rule. Many will stay with Pitt. Generally you will hold onto 70-75% of your recruits. Other schools that have struck out with one of their A- list targets will be scouring the Rivals database in the coming weeks. They will take a long look at all players that have committed to schools making coaching changes. It becomes an important part of their “B” pile.
So who left and who will stay
It was not good news this week reporting that Brookhaven stars Dominic Jones and Keith Massey have now committed to Minnesota. These two led Brookhaven to the Ohio Division II state championship and both have speed. Brookhaven is an open enrollment school in Columbus. It attracts the city’s best athletes in both football and basketball. Last year Pitt went down to the wire with Oklahoma for two of their basketball players and now Minnesota scores a reversal in football. Pitt needs a break through at this school. They need to establish a pipeline. The damage here is beyond the loss of Dominic Jones.
Central Catholic’s John Pelusi has been looking at Stanford and Pitt. There is one thing we know for sure. John Pelusi will not be going to Stanford. There is now a very good chance he will be coming to Pitt.
You would think that Walt Harris would try to take 3 or 4 Pitt assistant coaches with him to Stanford. Coach Harris will want to avoid reinventing the wheel. The quickest way for him to keep his system in place is to take a few assistants with him to Stanford. Once Pitt names a new coach he should try and retain two or three of the existing assistants. This means you could have a bit of a recruiting war going on between Coach Harris and the new Pitt coach. We would like to see Pitt keep Charlie Partridge, Bill Bliel and Bryan Deal for at least one year. These three could keep the recruiting process going. Obviously it is up to the new coach but this would be a good place to start. One thing working in Pitt’s favor this year is that they have a small senior class. Normally you can give out up to 25 scholarships this year. The last we heard the target number was 17-18. The fact that this is a smaller class than normal minimizes some of the damage.
Assistant Charlie Partridge has done a good job of recruiting Florida the past couple of years. If Dave Wannstedt were the next Pitt coach you have to believe the name value of Wannstedt would have helped you to recruit in Florida for the next 2 or 3 years. Now that he has witdrawn this is no longer an option.
Head Coach Search
A few years ago I thought Paul Rhoads had a very good chance of becoming the next head coach at Pitt. Many of the current players would like to see Coach Rhoads be named the new head coach and a few of the recruits would too. It just doesn’t look like the stars are in alignment for Coach Rhoads. If Jeff Long and the Pitt administration weren’t unhappy with the direction of the program they would have renewed Coach Harris. It appears they want to go in a different direction. Paul Rhoads is bright and very energetic. He coached up a storm in Pitt’s last game with West Virginia. Rhoads probably deserves serious consideration. However, many folks felt the Pitt football team underachieved last year. The finger was often pointed at the defense.
On Monday we had a very long article outlining why in the end Pitt will probably look at Dave Wannstedt as the “safe choice”. We always had some concern if the “fire” was still burning with Dave. He recently announced at a press conference that he was “burnt out” and needed a year off. He has all the money he will ever need. Wannstedt may need time to recharge his batteries. He subsequently withdrew his name from consideration.
Of the two names that have been tossed around so far the two that intrigue is the most are Bo Pelini and Tom Bradley. Jeff Long should talk to both of them to see if there is a fit.
Most schools will have large numbers of recruits in this weekend. Pitt also has a group scheduled. It remains to been seen how many actually show up. The NCAA rules have a “Dead Period” scheduled from December 20th to January1st. Schools are not permitted to recruit during this period. This is done so schools that are not in bowls (see Penn State) will not gain an unfair advantage. This means Pitt has a couple of weeks to get a coach in place. Come the first of the year someone better be in place and recruiting very hard.
In the new Big East Pitt and West Virginia have been to the most bowls games. They will both be appearing in their 24th bowl this year.
Sign up for an annual Rivals.com subscription
Rivals.com is running two marketing promotions right now. In once case they are offering a deal for those that convert to an annual subscription. You save money plus they thrown in a couple of extras. It is a very good deal and has been a huge success nationwide.
Rivals.com has a second marketing promotion, which is designed to encourage subscribers to upgrade to the Ultimate Ticket. Give yourself a Christmas gift. Please call 1-866-2-Rivals during business hours. Well over 90% of all new subscriptions are for the Ultimate Ticket.
Pitt News Stand
We have a new and improved “Pitt News Stand”. This search engine looks for articles on the Internet about Pitt every 20 minutes. It has been refined to look for articles on Pitt’s hunt for a new football coach. If you want to see what others are writing around the country check the “Pitt News Stand” at the top of the Between Fifth & Forbes premium message board.
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.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
This post was edited on 12/17 7:42 AM by Steve Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 12/17 8:14 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
Bradley And Pitt - A weird combination
Penn State assistant Tom Bradley has been thrown out as a possibility for the Pitt opening. Bradley is a highly respected defensive coordinator and many observers believe he will be the next head coach at Penn State. Tom Bradley has a reputation of being a fierce, no holds barred recruiter. He has absolutely given Pitt fits recruiting in Western PA. However, it is hard to believe you could get a deal done here. Pitt would not want to take a risk of being turned down by a Penn State assistant. Tom would not like to be seen publicly courting Pitt. On the surface this one appears to be too complicated. There are probably too many “Catch 22’s” here. However, Tom Bradley was a guest of a Pitt Trustee at the Backyard Brawl when Pitt beat West Virginia on Thanksgiving night. If Tom wants to talk he does have a very viable pipeline into Pitt. Does anyone know a matchmaker who specializes in mixed marriages?
Another “birdie” stopped by to say that he ran into Coach Bradley at Station Square this week and Bradley indicated he did have a legitimate interest in the Pitt job. This ‘birdie” indicated Bradley may have a handshake with former Panther Sal Sunseri in place in which Sal would become Bradley’s defensive coordinator. I’ll tell you this pair would turn recruiting upside down in Western PA.
Sal Sunseri has also made numerous calls into Pittsburgh to say he would be interested in the head coaching position.
WPIAL Recruiting
Speaking of recruiting in Western PA. The assistant coach generally assigned to recruit prospects in Western PA is Bob Junko. There are exceptions to the rule. Former running backs coach Dino Babers was assigned to Andrew Johnson when the two seemed to hit it off. It hurt Pitt when Babers left to return to the West Coast. Pitt knew from the beginning they were in trouble with Gateway’s Justin King. They assigned Curtis Bray who is a friend of Gators coach Terry Smith. Bray is also a Gateway grad. However, as a general rule recruiting in Western PA is the responsibility of Coach Bob Junko.
Pitt will honor commitments
Will Pitt honor their commitments? Yes they will. You must take a long-term view on this one. High school coaches will hold it against Pitt for a very long time if you do not honor verbal commitments. Despite the fact Pitt will honor these commitments we have already talked to a number of recruits that still need to be reassured. Unfortunately anxiety will become a big part of their thought process until the new coach reassures them. The new coach will have to say, “I love you. You fit into our plans.” When they do a number will fall into line.
Will changing coaches have an effect on recruiting? There is not doubt about it. It affects other schools when they change coaches and Pitt will not be an exception to this rule. Many will stay with Pitt. Generally you will hold onto 70-75% of your recruits. Other schools that have struck out with one of their A- list targets will be scouring the Rivals database in the coming weeks. They will take a long look at all players that have committed to schools making coaching changes. It becomes an important part of their “B” pile.
So who left and who will stay
It was not good news this week reporting that Brookhaven stars Dominic Jones and Keith Massey have now committed to Minnesota. These two led Brookhaven to the Ohio Division II state championship and both have speed. Brookhaven is an open enrollment school in Columbus. It attracts the city’s best athletes in both football and basketball. Last year Pitt went down to the wire with Oklahoma for two of their basketball players and now Minnesota scores a reversal in football. Pitt needs a break through at this school. They need to establish a pipeline. The damage here is beyond the loss of Dominic Jones.
Central Catholic’s John Pelusi has been looking at Stanford and Pitt. There is one thing we know for sure. John Pelusi will not be going to Stanford. There is now a very good chance he will be coming to Pitt.
You would think that Walt Harris would try to take 3 or 4 Pitt assistant coaches with him to Stanford. Coach Harris will want to avoid reinventing the wheel. The quickest way for him to keep his system in place is to take a few assistants with him to Stanford. Once Pitt names a new coach he should try and retain two or three of the existing assistants. This means you could have a bit of a recruiting war going on between Coach Harris and the new Pitt coach. We would like to see Pitt keep Charlie Partridge, Bill Bliel and Bryan Deal for at least one year. These three could keep the recruiting process going. Obviously it is up to the new coach but this would be a good place to start. One thing working in Pitt’s favor this year is that they have a small senior class. Normally you can give out up to 25 scholarships this year. The last we heard the target number was 17-18. The fact that this is a smaller class than normal minimizes some of the damage.
Assistant Charlie Partridge has done a good job of recruiting Florida the past couple of years. If Dave Wannstedt were the next Pitt coach you have to believe the name value of Wannstedt would have helped you to recruit in Florida for the next 2 or 3 years. Now that he has witdrawn this is no longer an option.
Head Coach Search
A few years ago I thought Paul Rhoads had a very good chance of becoming the next head coach at Pitt. Many of the current players would like to see Coach Rhoads be named the new head coach and a few of the recruits would too. It just doesn’t look like the stars are in alignment for Coach Rhoads. If Jeff Long and the Pitt administration weren’t unhappy with the direction of the program they would have renewed Coach Harris. It appears they want to go in a different direction. Paul Rhoads is bright and very energetic. He coached up a storm in Pitt’s last game with West Virginia. Rhoads probably deserves serious consideration. However, many folks felt the Pitt football team underachieved last year. The finger was often pointed at the defense.
On Monday we had a very long article outlining why in the end Pitt will probably look at Dave Wannstedt as the “safe choice”. We always had some concern if the “fire” was still burning with Dave. He recently announced at a press conference that he was “burnt out” and needed a year off. He has all the money he will ever need. Wannstedt may need time to recharge his batteries. He subsequently withdrew his name from consideration.
Of the two names that have been tossed around so far the two that intrigue is the most are Bo Pelini and Tom Bradley. Jeff Long should talk to both of them to see if there is a fit.
Most schools will have large numbers of recruits in this weekend. Pitt also has a group scheduled. It remains to been seen how many actually show up. The NCAA rules have a “Dead Period” scheduled from December 20th to January1st. Schools are not permitted to recruit during this period. This is done so schools that are not in bowls (see Penn State) will not gain an unfair advantage. This means Pitt has a couple of weeks to get a coach in place. Come the first of the year someone better be in place and recruiting very hard.
In the new Big East Pitt and West Virginia have been to the most bowls games. They will both be appearing in their 24th bowl this year.
Sign up for an annual Rivals.com subscription
Rivals.com is running two marketing promotions right now. In once case they are offering a deal for those that convert to an annual subscription. You save money plus they thrown in a couple of extras. It is a very good deal and has been a huge success nationwide.
Rivals.com has a second marketing promotion, which is designed to encourage subscribers to upgrade to the Ultimate Ticket. Give yourself a Christmas gift. Please call 1-866-2-Rivals during business hours. Well over 90% of all new subscriptions are for the Ultimate Ticket.
Pitt News Stand
We have a new and improved “Pitt News Stand”. This search engine looks for articles on the Internet about Pitt every 20 minutes. It has been refined to look for articles on Pitt’s hunt for a new football coach. If you want to see what others are writing around the country check the “Pitt News Stand” at the top of the Between Fifth & Forbes premium message board.
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.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
This post was edited on 12/17 7:42 AM by Steve Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 12/17 8:14 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
