War Room (November 1st)
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.
From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Look to the left before crossing Fifth Avenue
The Pitt football staff picked up a verbal commitment from wide receiver Oderick Tuner (6’ 2 ½” 180) this past week. Quite frankly it was apparent for some time that Turner was very high on Pitt. For a short while, it seemed the Pitt staff slowed him down just a bit from committing. He has been a well-spoken, polite young man during interviews. We always had the impression that his father was encouraging him to be a Panther. This gives Pitt nine (9) verbal commitments.
One of our “birdies’ stopped by to say that Coach Walt Harris now believes that the staff will give away 17-18 scholarships this year. This means they are now approximately half-way home. The “birdie” also reported Coach Harris is very pleased with the way recruiting is going and thinks they still have a chance for a solid class this year.
Craig Bokor (6’ 3” 270) is currently at Valley Forge. If he gets his academic affairs in order we expect him to enroll in January. There is still a possibility that running back Rashad Jennings (6’ 2” 250) from last year’s class might also still make it academically.
Pitt already has verbal commitments from three defensive linemen (Rashad Duncan, Marlon Terry and Derrell Jones). Throw in Craig Bokor and you probably have the defensive side of the ball covered.
Pitt also has a verbal commitment from offensive lineman John Brown (6’ 4” 280) from Burrell High school. You would still like to see a couple of more offensive linemen to go with Brown and the three offensive linemen that are being redshirted this year. A JUCO or prep offensive lineman is still not out of the question.
Many schools are starting to lineup “official visits” for December. Pitt will be short a weekend. Many players will make “official visits” to colleges the weekend of December 4th but the Panthers will be playing their make-up game with South Florida in Tampa. This is but one of the negatives that resulted from the hurricane that hit Florida in early September.
The Pantherlair published an article by Jim O’Brien on Brandon Short of McKeesport last week (check it out if you missed it). Short discusses why he chose Penn State over Pitt. The University of Pittsburgh is not for every prospect. Ideally you should be mature and have a good home situation and if you do Pitt is an excellent school. There a been a couple of high profile prospects in recent years that quite frankly needed to get away from Western PA if they were to have a chance to succeed in the game of life.
My experience is that Pitt guys do “get it”. (We have several Pitt grads in the family). If you attend the Oakland campus you quickly learn to look both ways before crossing Fifth Avenue or you will be run over by a bus. My observation is that “most” Pitt grads are prepared for life. It is no accident that announcers Dan Marino, Mark May, Billy Osborne, Mike Ditka, John Congemi and many others are good speakers and can talk without using notes. Grads out of Happy Valley may have high board scores and great grades in high school. They are book smart but often graduate from college as “serendipities”. (A few tried to marry into the family but we dodge a couple of bullets). There is more than one reason they call it Happy Valley. It often does not resemble the real world. Spend five minutes listening to Mike White and you will know exactly the point I am trying to make.
A “birdie” also indicated that Coach Harris appeared to be in a good mood and seemed to be upbeat about how the team has responded the past two weeks. I would not read too much into this. I think he simply sees what we all have observed. Pitt was horrible the first four weeks but has looked much better the last two games. Some of the pieces are starting to fall into place with quarterback Tyler Palko playing better and the offensive line giving better protection. If the running backs get healthy a bowl game is well within their reach. It will not be easy with three of the final four games on the road. Syracuse has looked horrible when playing on the road this fall but is 3-1 at the Carrier Dome with their only loss coming at the hands of Florida State. The Orange gave Florida State all they could handle before losing by four points.
Last week Florida fired Ron Zook. Gator alums had been grumbling the past couple of years. The fraternity house incident and the loss to a 24-point underdog (Mississippi State) opened the door for the Florida administration. They were taking no chance that Coach Zook could rally his team and finish with a winning record and in a bowl. They took heat from some of their players and many college coaches for this move. Colleges often do not change coaches in mid-season in part because most replacements are usually under contract and are not available until after the football season is over anyway. Perhaps the way the Florida administration handled the situation was the right way. They had made up their mind. Nothing was going to change it. They did not need to fly in Donald Trump to say, “You are fired!” They simply said we have decided to go in a different direction. We will honor our contracts to the head coach and to our assistant coaches. The announcement that they would honor their contracts means there is no need to negotiate. There is no need to talk to an agent. You simply inform your employees and move on. Many in Florida think the Zooker is a good man. He loves football and is an outstanding recruiter. They simply did not see him as their head coach. Hopefully college football or the NFL will find a place for Coach Zook as an assistant. He is passionate about the game. He was one our favorite special teams coaches when he was with the Steelers.
No matter what direction Pitt decides to go it is in their best interest to win as many games as possible. Should they decide to “recruit” a new coaching staff you don’t want them thinking they are taking over a hopeless cause. Pitt is certainly in a much better position now than they were late in the Majors II era when the facilities were below that of other colleges and there were only 65 players on scholarship. Next year Pitt will return 9 starters on offense and 7 on defense. They also will have a young quarterback who will have plenty of game experience. They seem to be setup for a solid year.
Pitt hoops see another shade of Gray
We spoke to the coach of center Vernon Goodridge late last week. The last time we talked to Coach Darryl Schoefield he told us that Pitt, Georgetown and Mississippi State were his three finalists. We asked him if that was still the case and he assured us that it was. We asked if Goodridge had visits planed and he again said, “No, Vernon needs to take care of his classroom work.” A number of NBA scouts have stopped by recently to watch Goodridge workout. Coach Schoefield told us the workouts went well. His coach also said that he does NOT expect Goodridge to sign in the early signing period. I had coach Schoefield on a cell phone. As luck would have it, the reception was not good when he spoke about Coach Thompson at Georgetown and unfortunately I missed the point he was trying to make. In summary we do not expect Goodridge to sign in November. If he does it would be to Georgetown because he has no plans to visit the other two schools. More likely he will play things out to see where he fits in the NBA draft before deciding if he wants to go to college.
Chris Taft and Carl Krauser are both preseason first team all-Big East picks. It is too bad there isn’t room for Chevy Troutman. He is an outstanding role model for what Pitt basketball has been all about the past three years. He plays defense, takes the high percentage shot and is a very good passer. Pitt was ranked No. 17 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN poll.
A “birdie” stopped by a Pitt practice last week and said, “Wait until you see Aaron Gray. All the baby fat is gone. He looks like a different player.” When he was being recruited we would often speak to Aaron’s mother. She would tell us Aaron had a job. He would work until 9:00 PM and then head for the gym to workout. We suspected Pitt was picking up a player with a great work ethic. Aaron is a very good student who is often seen working out in the weight room at 6:00 AM. He will be a big upgrade in filling the role Toree Morris played last year. The “birdie” also said Antonio Graves looked more mature and more confident in what he was trying to accomplish. Look for improvement in these two sophomores.
At the Big East media day this past week, Mike Tranghese indicated that the Big East presidents are to meet within the next two weeks to discuss scheduling (among other things) although he suggested there may be no announcements until March. These discussions may give a clue as to whether this group intends to try a make a go of it or is simply in a holding pattern until the football schools go their separate ways. A decision to form two separate divisions would probably mean they would like to see if they can get this 16-team monster to work. If they ultimately decide, “we do not trust each other”, everyone must play everyone - it could be a signal that we are not all that far away from another restructuring. One of their goals should be to get as many teams into the NCAA tournament as possible. Two divisions with multiple winners is probably their best shot at accomplishing this goal. The revenues from Big East will take a hit for the next few years. Divisions in basketball and all other sports except football will save a few dollars on travel and will build long-term rivalries. One big long list will simply be saying, “I really do not want to be here but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.” Big East fans will have great basketball either way the next several years.
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 11/1 10:23 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
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.
From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Look to the left before crossing Fifth Avenue
The Pitt football staff picked up a verbal commitment from wide receiver Oderick Tuner (6’ 2 ½” 180) this past week. Quite frankly it was apparent for some time that Turner was very high on Pitt. For a short while, it seemed the Pitt staff slowed him down just a bit from committing. He has been a well-spoken, polite young man during interviews. We always had the impression that his father was encouraging him to be a Panther. This gives Pitt nine (9) verbal commitments.
One of our “birdies’ stopped by to say that Coach Walt Harris now believes that the staff will give away 17-18 scholarships this year. This means they are now approximately half-way home. The “birdie” also reported Coach Harris is very pleased with the way recruiting is going and thinks they still have a chance for a solid class this year.
Craig Bokor (6’ 3” 270) is currently at Valley Forge. If he gets his academic affairs in order we expect him to enroll in January. There is still a possibility that running back Rashad Jennings (6’ 2” 250) from last year’s class might also still make it academically.
Pitt already has verbal commitments from three defensive linemen (Rashad Duncan, Marlon Terry and Derrell Jones). Throw in Craig Bokor and you probably have the defensive side of the ball covered.
Pitt also has a verbal commitment from offensive lineman John Brown (6’ 4” 280) from Burrell High school. You would still like to see a couple of more offensive linemen to go with Brown and the three offensive linemen that are being redshirted this year. A JUCO or prep offensive lineman is still not out of the question.
Many schools are starting to lineup “official visits” for December. Pitt will be short a weekend. Many players will make “official visits” to colleges the weekend of December 4th but the Panthers will be playing their make-up game with South Florida in Tampa. This is but one of the negatives that resulted from the hurricane that hit Florida in early September.
The Pantherlair published an article by Jim O’Brien on Brandon Short of McKeesport last week (check it out if you missed it). Short discusses why he chose Penn State over Pitt. The University of Pittsburgh is not for every prospect. Ideally you should be mature and have a good home situation and if you do Pitt is an excellent school. There a been a couple of high profile prospects in recent years that quite frankly needed to get away from Western PA if they were to have a chance to succeed in the game of life.
My experience is that Pitt guys do “get it”. (We have several Pitt grads in the family). If you attend the Oakland campus you quickly learn to look both ways before crossing Fifth Avenue or you will be run over by a bus. My observation is that “most” Pitt grads are prepared for life. It is no accident that announcers Dan Marino, Mark May, Billy Osborne, Mike Ditka, John Congemi and many others are good speakers and can talk without using notes. Grads out of Happy Valley may have high board scores and great grades in high school. They are book smart but often graduate from college as “serendipities”. (A few tried to marry into the family but we dodge a couple of bullets). There is more than one reason they call it Happy Valley. It often does not resemble the real world. Spend five minutes listening to Mike White and you will know exactly the point I am trying to make.
A “birdie” also indicated that Coach Harris appeared to be in a good mood and seemed to be upbeat about how the team has responded the past two weeks. I would not read too much into this. I think he simply sees what we all have observed. Pitt was horrible the first four weeks but has looked much better the last two games. Some of the pieces are starting to fall into place with quarterback Tyler Palko playing better and the offensive line giving better protection. If the running backs get healthy a bowl game is well within their reach. It will not be easy with three of the final four games on the road. Syracuse has looked horrible when playing on the road this fall but is 3-1 at the Carrier Dome with their only loss coming at the hands of Florida State. The Orange gave Florida State all they could handle before losing by four points.
Last week Florida fired Ron Zook. Gator alums had been grumbling the past couple of years. The fraternity house incident and the loss to a 24-point underdog (Mississippi State) opened the door for the Florida administration. They were taking no chance that Coach Zook could rally his team and finish with a winning record and in a bowl. They took heat from some of their players and many college coaches for this move. Colleges often do not change coaches in mid-season in part because most replacements are usually under contract and are not available until after the football season is over anyway. Perhaps the way the Florida administration handled the situation was the right way. They had made up their mind. Nothing was going to change it. They did not need to fly in Donald Trump to say, “You are fired!” They simply said we have decided to go in a different direction. We will honor our contracts to the head coach and to our assistant coaches. The announcement that they would honor their contracts means there is no need to negotiate. There is no need to talk to an agent. You simply inform your employees and move on. Many in Florida think the Zooker is a good man. He loves football and is an outstanding recruiter. They simply did not see him as their head coach. Hopefully college football or the NFL will find a place for Coach Zook as an assistant. He is passionate about the game. He was one our favorite special teams coaches when he was with the Steelers.
No matter what direction Pitt decides to go it is in their best interest to win as many games as possible. Should they decide to “recruit” a new coaching staff you don’t want them thinking they are taking over a hopeless cause. Pitt is certainly in a much better position now than they were late in the Majors II era when the facilities were below that of other colleges and there were only 65 players on scholarship. Next year Pitt will return 9 starters on offense and 7 on defense. They also will have a young quarterback who will have plenty of game experience. They seem to be setup for a solid year.
Pitt hoops see another shade of Gray
We spoke to the coach of center Vernon Goodridge late last week. The last time we talked to Coach Darryl Schoefield he told us that Pitt, Georgetown and Mississippi State were his three finalists. We asked him if that was still the case and he assured us that it was. We asked if Goodridge had visits planed and he again said, “No, Vernon needs to take care of his classroom work.” A number of NBA scouts have stopped by recently to watch Goodridge workout. Coach Schoefield told us the workouts went well. His coach also said that he does NOT expect Goodridge to sign in the early signing period. I had coach Schoefield on a cell phone. As luck would have it, the reception was not good when he spoke about Coach Thompson at Georgetown and unfortunately I missed the point he was trying to make. In summary we do not expect Goodridge to sign in November. If he does it would be to Georgetown because he has no plans to visit the other two schools. More likely he will play things out to see where he fits in the NBA draft before deciding if he wants to go to college.
Chris Taft and Carl Krauser are both preseason first team all-Big East picks. It is too bad there isn’t room for Chevy Troutman. He is an outstanding role model for what Pitt basketball has been all about the past three years. He plays defense, takes the high percentage shot and is a very good passer. Pitt was ranked No. 17 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN poll.
A “birdie” stopped by a Pitt practice last week and said, “Wait until you see Aaron Gray. All the baby fat is gone. He looks like a different player.” When he was being recruited we would often speak to Aaron’s mother. She would tell us Aaron had a job. He would work until 9:00 PM and then head for the gym to workout. We suspected Pitt was picking up a player with a great work ethic. Aaron is a very good student who is often seen working out in the weight room at 6:00 AM. He will be a big upgrade in filling the role Toree Morris played last year. The “birdie” also said Antonio Graves looked more mature and more confident in what he was trying to accomplish. Look for improvement in these two sophomores.
At the Big East media day this past week, Mike Tranghese indicated that the Big East presidents are to meet within the next two weeks to discuss scheduling (among other things) although he suggested there may be no announcements until March. These discussions may give a clue as to whether this group intends to try a make a go of it or is simply in a holding pattern until the football schools go their separate ways. A decision to form two separate divisions would probably mean they would like to see if they can get this 16-team monster to work. If they ultimately decide, “we do not trust each other”, everyone must play everyone - it could be a signal that we are not all that far away from another restructuring. One of their goals should be to get as many teams into the NCAA tournament as possible. Two divisions with multiple winners is probably their best shot at accomplishing this goal. The revenues from Big East will take a hit for the next few years. Divisions in basketball and all other sports except football will save a few dollars on travel and will build long-term rivalries. One big long list will simply be saying, “I really do not want to be here but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.” Big East fans will have great basketball either way the next several years.
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 11/1 10:23 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
