From the desk of Jim Snyder
This week’s War Room will be abbreviated and with good reason. Tony Greco of the Pantherlair is getting married this weekend.
Being a devoted college fan he was smart enough to schedule this wedding to it would not interfere with the football or basketball season. In fact he was so it top of this matter it will not interfere with Pitt’s fall football camp. Good thinking Tony.
I hope you will join us in congratulating Tony.
Big East Media Day
Pitt was picked to finish 6th behind Cincinnati in a poll of media reporters that follow the Big East Conference. Pitt has the Bearcats at home this year. Will Pitt really be an underdog to Cincinnati at home this year? If I dwell on this one too long I may do more drinking than just toasting Tony this weekend.
One of the reasons for Pitt being picked sixth is the uncertainty at the quarterback position. If Matt Cavanaugh does not know who his quarterback will be it is unfair to expect reporters to speculate.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese hit it right on the head this week when he reported this week that it is very important for the league’s image for both Pitt and Syracuse to return to prominence. I don’t want any other team in the conference to drop back but these two need to be legitimate contenders to win the conference championship. South Florida could develop into a power but it would not have the same impact on the league’s national image.
I wonder what Rich Rod was thinking when they asked him if recruiting Noel Devine and Pat Lazear to West Virginia was similar to bring in a couple of more guys like Pac Man Jones?
Here are some random quotes from Dave Wannstedt at Media Day
On Scott McKillop- “McKillop is a lot better than I ever thought he would be. His instincts are great, and that is the first thing you look for is good instincts. He is fast as HB (Blades), as big as HB (Blades) and he will be a nice player this season.”
Who will start at linebacker? “If the season started today…. My linebackers would be Shane Murray, (Scott) McKillop for sure, and we would rotate in Nate Nix and Dorin Dickerson.”
On Pat Bostick - DW-“Pat has been in school since May, and is looking good. He will be in the mix for our quarterback position. He will have to compete and be in the mix.”
Will you rotate quarterbacks? DW- “No, I don’t think we will do that. Our guys will have a competition and we will pick who plays the best and go with them. If that changes as the season goes we will change accordingly.”
It was interesting to see Coach Wannstedt singling out Buddy Jackson and his 4.3 speed. He has got the height and the speed but is built like basketball recruit Eloy Vargas. I have always looked at him as a redshirt candidate but we will see how fall camp goes.
Coach Wannstedt indicated seven newcomers would play this year. That would put Pitt right about at the national average. Most schools redshirt about 15 freshmen and play about 7. It looks like LeSean McCoy, Tommie Duhart, Chris Jacobson and Dom DiCicco figure to be in that group of seven. Quarterback and linebacker are areas of concern. Fall camp will determine if Pat Bostick or one of the incoming linebackers will make the two-deep chart.
Coach Wannstedt chose not to talk about Elijah Fields on Media Day this week but it did little to squash concerns of those in attendance about seeing Fields playing for Pitt this fall.
Derek Kinder did a nice job on his interview on Rivals Radio. He was a good player to represent the University.
Hoops schedule
This coming week starts another Evaluation Period for college basketball coaches. A lot of the attention turns to Las Vegas which will be hosting three different tournaments. The Reebok Summer Championship, the adidas Super 64 and the Main Event are all played in Vegas from July 22nd to 26th. In early August this traveling road show moves to Orlando.
Linebackers and other odds and ends
This week we reported that Pitt has lost five (5) linebackers this past year. Coach Wannstedt reported at Media Day that Greg Webster’s career is in doubt as a result of his battle with Chron’s disease so that could make six (6). That is a lot for any program to absorb. It is small wonder that the Pitt staff moved Dorin Dickerson and Shane Murray to linebacker.
Last Friday we reported linebacker Steve Gardiner from Dublin Coffman has Pitt in his top three. He was in Nashville recently to visit his girl friend. The picture we have of Gardiner in the database is not the best. We tried to line him up so Rivals would have a better picture but he blew us off for the girl friend. Go figure. (We do have some decent video of him). Gardiner is scheduled to visit Pitt today. Some on the Southside think Pitt has a good chance of not only landing Gardiner and also of getting a quick decision from him. The last time we wrote about Gardiner it brought an irate e-mail from a Mountaineer fan insisting he would end up in Morgantown. He could be in for another let down.
We also reported this week on defensive ends Jake Stoller from the University School in the Cleveland area and Jack Crawford who goes to high school in New Jersey but is originally from England. We also have a very bad picture of this young man who missed a Nike Camp when he returned to England. That was out chance for a better photo.
I had a cousin who played baseball at Pitt in the late 50’s. He later worked in Pitt’s SID office with Beano Cook. He is retired now but he coached baseball for several years at the University School. He still lives near the University School campus. Too bad alums can’t recruit or we would have him talk to Stoller. He is a player we should follow closely.
We also reported on defensive end Logan Shultz from Gettysburg. He appears to be a player the staff likes but they may wait to see where they stand with Jake Stoller, Kaleb Ramsey and Jack Crawford before offering Shultz although he could be offered as a guard.
We like Pitt’s chances with Jake Stoller. If he gets a better read on where he stands with Ohio State he could also be a summer time decision. Ohio State has an annoying habit of telling many recruits don’t commit to anyone without checking back with us. They try to keep Ohio kids on the hook for as long as possible even if they have others rated ahead of them. We also had three articles this week on the Ticker on Kaleb Ramsey. It looks like he could be a player that makes a summertime decision.
Chris Peak talked to Kyle Hubbard this week. He was at home in Cleveland having dinner with his parents. Chris spoke him he was still trying to make up his mind if he wanted to play football or try basketball at Cleveland State. Hubbard told me many times during the recruiting process he thought of himself as a wide receiver although he was recruited as a tight end and has been working out as a tight end at Pitt this summer. If Hubbard bails out it could negatively effect the recruitment of his friend Justin Staples from St Edward’s. Hopefully another linebacker prospect does not bite the dust in this mess. If Hubbard leaves landing two tight ends will be very important. Hopefully Hubie Graham will eventually jump on board. If Kyle Hubbard does leave Bishop McCort’s Wayne Jones will not have to greyshirt and will go on full scholarship this summer. I guess there is always a silver lining.
We are starting to think quarterback Star Jackson is long shot but there was video of him this week working out at Auburn’s summer camp if you are interested. Please see the Ticker.
Pitt has seven (7) commitments. If we assume they will take 11 more we thought we would give a dream list a shot. Here is my wish list for the Class of 2008.
1) Averin Collier-Athlete-Churchville Chili
2) Jonathan Baldwin-WR-Aliquippa
3) Marcus Sales-WR-CBA
4) Reggie Ellis-DT –Washington Dunbar
5) Jared Holley-DB-Easton
6) Steve Gardiner-LB-Dublin Coffman
7) Justin Staples-LB-St Edward’s
8) Kaleb Ramsey-DE-Laurel Highlands
9) Jake Stoller-DE-University School or Jack Crawford-DE-Richland, NJ
10) Offensive lineman
11) Quarterback
The quarterback and offensive line position is still murky. The Pitt coaching staff may have to extend another offer to get one at each position. In both cases it looks like they have been in a holding pattern. Obviously pulling a rabbit out of the hat and landing Terrelle Pryor would be the desired answer at quarterback but they may have to turn to Kiski’s Josh Vick. We spoke to Josh Vick yesterday and he reports no new offers. Vick is supposed to visit Pitt on Monday for a chat with the Pitt coaches. We have featured articles on several offensive line candidates in recent weeks. It appears the staff has not reached a consensus yet on which one to offer but we would certainly like them to take at least one more.
There is some speculation that Gateway linebacker Shayne Hale prefers teams that run a 3-4 defense. The theory goes that he wants to play linebacker and is concerned that teams that run a 4-3 scheme will put him at defensive end. There is also renewed speculation that he will go with Cameron Saddler in a package deal. To be honest I think in a 4-3 scheme Hale is best suited to play defensive end.
Rivals.com will conclude their final round of voting for their Ultimate College team on Sunday. Please cast your vote if you have not had a chance this week. I am still a little surprised that Mike Ditka got more votes than any other Pitt player. I don’t know if you saw the piece the NBC Nightly News did on Mike last week. Ditka is leading an effort to get the NFL to contribute more to disabled NFL players. An excellent story and as they said at the end it is always good to have the tough guy on your side.
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 week’s War Room will be abbreviated and with good reason. Tony Greco of the Pantherlair is getting married this weekend.
Being a devoted college fan he was smart enough to schedule this wedding to it would not interfere with the football or basketball season. In fact he was so it top of this matter it will not interfere with Pitt’s fall football camp. Good thinking Tony.
I hope you will join us in congratulating Tony.
Big East Media Day
Pitt was picked to finish 6th behind Cincinnati in a poll of media reporters that follow the Big East Conference. Pitt has the Bearcats at home this year. Will Pitt really be an underdog to Cincinnati at home this year? If I dwell on this one too long I may do more drinking than just toasting Tony this weekend.
One of the reasons for Pitt being picked sixth is the uncertainty at the quarterback position. If Matt Cavanaugh does not know who his quarterback will be it is unfair to expect reporters to speculate.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese hit it right on the head this week when he reported this week that it is very important for the league’s image for both Pitt and Syracuse to return to prominence. I don’t want any other team in the conference to drop back but these two need to be legitimate contenders to win the conference championship. South Florida could develop into a power but it would not have the same impact on the league’s national image.
I wonder what Rich Rod was thinking when they asked him if recruiting Noel Devine and Pat Lazear to West Virginia was similar to bring in a couple of more guys like Pac Man Jones?
Here are some random quotes from Dave Wannstedt at Media Day
On Scott McKillop- “McKillop is a lot better than I ever thought he would be. His instincts are great, and that is the first thing you look for is good instincts. He is fast as HB (Blades), as big as HB (Blades) and he will be a nice player this season.”
Who will start at linebacker? “If the season started today…. My linebackers would be Shane Murray, (Scott) McKillop for sure, and we would rotate in Nate Nix and Dorin Dickerson.”
On Pat Bostick - DW-“Pat has been in school since May, and is looking good. He will be in the mix for our quarterback position. He will have to compete and be in the mix.”
Will you rotate quarterbacks? DW- “No, I don’t think we will do that. Our guys will have a competition and we will pick who plays the best and go with them. If that changes as the season goes we will change accordingly.”
It was interesting to see Coach Wannstedt singling out Buddy Jackson and his 4.3 speed. He has got the height and the speed but is built like basketball recruit Eloy Vargas. I have always looked at him as a redshirt candidate but we will see how fall camp goes.
Coach Wannstedt indicated seven newcomers would play this year. That would put Pitt right about at the national average. Most schools redshirt about 15 freshmen and play about 7. It looks like LeSean McCoy, Tommie Duhart, Chris Jacobson and Dom DiCicco figure to be in that group of seven. Quarterback and linebacker are areas of concern. Fall camp will determine if Pat Bostick or one of the incoming linebackers will make the two-deep chart.
Coach Wannstedt chose not to talk about Elijah Fields on Media Day this week but it did little to squash concerns of those in attendance about seeing Fields playing for Pitt this fall.
Derek Kinder did a nice job on his interview on Rivals Radio. He was a good player to represent the University.
Hoops schedule
This coming week starts another Evaluation Period for college basketball coaches. A lot of the attention turns to Las Vegas which will be hosting three different tournaments. The Reebok Summer Championship, the adidas Super 64 and the Main Event are all played in Vegas from July 22nd to 26th. In early August this traveling road show moves to Orlando.
Linebackers and other odds and ends
This week we reported that Pitt has lost five (5) linebackers this past year. Coach Wannstedt reported at Media Day that Greg Webster’s career is in doubt as a result of his battle with Chron’s disease so that could make six (6). That is a lot for any program to absorb. It is small wonder that the Pitt staff moved Dorin Dickerson and Shane Murray to linebacker.
Last Friday we reported linebacker Steve Gardiner from Dublin Coffman has Pitt in his top three. He was in Nashville recently to visit his girl friend. The picture we have of Gardiner in the database is not the best. We tried to line him up so Rivals would have a better picture but he blew us off for the girl friend. Go figure. (We do have some decent video of him). Gardiner is scheduled to visit Pitt today. Some on the Southside think Pitt has a good chance of not only landing Gardiner and also of getting a quick decision from him. The last time we wrote about Gardiner it brought an irate e-mail from a Mountaineer fan insisting he would end up in Morgantown. He could be in for another let down.
We also reported this week on defensive ends Jake Stoller from the University School in the Cleveland area and Jack Crawford who goes to high school in New Jersey but is originally from England. We also have a very bad picture of this young man who missed a Nike Camp when he returned to England. That was out chance for a better photo.
I had a cousin who played baseball at Pitt in the late 50’s. He later worked in Pitt’s SID office with Beano Cook. He is retired now but he coached baseball for several years at the University School. He still lives near the University School campus. Too bad alums can’t recruit or we would have him talk to Stoller. He is a player we should follow closely.
We also reported on defensive end Logan Shultz from Gettysburg. He appears to be a player the staff likes but they may wait to see where they stand with Jake Stoller, Kaleb Ramsey and Jack Crawford before offering Shultz although he could be offered as a guard.
We like Pitt’s chances with Jake Stoller. If he gets a better read on where he stands with Ohio State he could also be a summer time decision. Ohio State has an annoying habit of telling many recruits don’t commit to anyone without checking back with us. They try to keep Ohio kids on the hook for as long as possible even if they have others rated ahead of them. We also had three articles this week on the Ticker on Kaleb Ramsey. It looks like he could be a player that makes a summertime decision.
Chris Peak talked to Kyle Hubbard this week. He was at home in Cleveland having dinner with his parents. Chris spoke him he was still trying to make up his mind if he wanted to play football or try basketball at Cleveland State. Hubbard told me many times during the recruiting process he thought of himself as a wide receiver although he was recruited as a tight end and has been working out as a tight end at Pitt this summer. If Hubbard bails out it could negatively effect the recruitment of his friend Justin Staples from St Edward’s. Hopefully another linebacker prospect does not bite the dust in this mess. If Hubbard leaves landing two tight ends will be very important. Hopefully Hubie Graham will eventually jump on board. If Kyle Hubbard does leave Bishop McCort’s Wayne Jones will not have to greyshirt and will go on full scholarship this summer. I guess there is always a silver lining.
We are starting to think quarterback Star Jackson is long shot but there was video of him this week working out at Auburn’s summer camp if you are interested. Please see the Ticker.
Pitt has seven (7) commitments. If we assume they will take 11 more we thought we would give a dream list a shot. Here is my wish list for the Class of 2008.
1) Averin Collier-Athlete-Churchville Chili
2) Jonathan Baldwin-WR-Aliquippa
3) Marcus Sales-WR-CBA
4) Reggie Ellis-DT –Washington Dunbar
5) Jared Holley-DB-Easton
6) Steve Gardiner-LB-Dublin Coffman
7) Justin Staples-LB-St Edward’s
8) Kaleb Ramsey-DE-Laurel Highlands
9) Jake Stoller-DE-University School or Jack Crawford-DE-Richland, NJ
10) Offensive lineman
11) Quarterback
The quarterback and offensive line position is still murky. The Pitt coaching staff may have to extend another offer to get one at each position. In both cases it looks like they have been in a holding pattern. Obviously pulling a rabbit out of the hat and landing Terrelle Pryor would be the desired answer at quarterback but they may have to turn to Kiski’s Josh Vick. We spoke to Josh Vick yesterday and he reports no new offers. Vick is supposed to visit Pitt on Monday for a chat with the Pitt coaches. We have featured articles on several offensive line candidates in recent weeks. It appears the staff has not reached a consensus yet on which one to offer but we would certainly like them to take at least one more.
There is some speculation that Gateway linebacker Shayne Hale prefers teams that run a 3-4 defense. The theory goes that he wants to play linebacker and is concerned that teams that run a 4-3 scheme will put him at defensive end. There is also renewed speculation that he will go with Cameron Saddler in a package deal. To be honest I think in a 4-3 scheme Hale is best suited to play defensive end.
Rivals.com will conclude their final round of voting for their Ultimate College team on Sunday. Please cast your vote if you have not had a chance this week. I am still a little surprised that Mike Ditka got more votes than any other Pitt player. I don’t know if you saw the piece the NBC Nightly News did on Mike last week. Ditka is leading an effort to get the NFL to contribute more to disabled NFL players. An excellent story and as they said at the end it is always good to have the tough guy on your side.
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.
