From the Desk of Jim Snyder
A few thoughts on the football program
Last week Pitt was coming off a come-from-behind win at Temple who had been beaten badly the week before by Bowling Green who is now 4-2. (Both of Bowling Green’s losses were on the road and one was to No. 2 ranked Oklahoma by a score of 40-24). The media’s scrutiny of Walt Harris reached a pitch last week and a few Pitt alums were calling for immediate change. In addition former Pitt players Mark May and Tony Dorsett both went public with criticism of the Pitt program. The media wrote about a vote of no confidence by Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long.
This past weekend Pitt upset Boston College 20-17 in overtime. Quite frankly they should have won it in regulation when the Pitt defense held BC but a very bad interference call late in the game allowed Boston College to tie the game. The upset shocked most of the “experts” and this writer too. Between Pitt’s upset win and Michigan State hammering Minnesota my Pick Em results are going to be very bad this week. Isn’t that the same Michigan State team that looked so bad in their loss to Rutgers?
Last week Pitt AD Jeff Long and Chancellor Nordenberg were spotted at football practice. Where they there to fire the coach or was this simply a show of support for the football program? Some thing tells me it was the latter. No it was not a long-term statement about the direction of the football program. It may simply have been two men who felt they were being stampeded by the media and some alums into making a decision before they were ready. Should they decide to replace Coach Harris almost all viable candidates are currently under contract to another college or a NFL franchise. It is unlikely any of them will be available until late December or mid-January.
About all I can say with certainty is that Walt Harris will be the Head Coach of the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday when his team takes on Rutgers at Heinz Field.
Last week Bob LaMonte, Walt Harris’ agent, went public. I am not sure what that was all about except that he might be reminding Pitt that Coach Harris has a lawyer and a agent and if you want to say something you know whom to call. If you want to offer some kind of financial settlement we will listen. Most business deals are about money.
Last year expectations for Pitt were very high. A few “experts” made them darkhorse candidates for the national championship. The team under achieved expectations going 8-5. We have talked to parents and others close to the program that indicated that the coaches were stressed out last year as the losses mounted and it was simply no fun playing football at Pitt at that time.
I have mentioned to a number of colleagues that Coach Harris has seemed more relaxed the past couple of weeks despite the loud noise being generated by the media. I was not sure why. He just seemed a little more a peace with his situation.
After the Boston College game defensive end Thomas Smith was quoted as saying” We all know what is going on. We are not stupid. We understand.” He went on to say that Coach Harris seems more relaxed. Smith said, “I have been here for awhile now and I have seem him a lot, he seems really calm.”
Senior offensive tackle Rob Petitti was quoted after the game in the Tribune-Review as saying, “Its like we are having fun again. I know I had as much fun as I have had since I have been here. He (Coach Harris) is bring that back.”
College athletic directors usually only replace a coach in mid-stream if he feels the coach has lost the team or a confrontation takes place between the coach and the AD. It appears agent Bob Lamonte is trying to insure that Pitt goes through him to avoid any confrontations. Even Walt Harris most severe critics would have a hard time making an argument the team as quit. Not only have the rallied from behind for a couple of wins but they have now upset Boston College who came into the game 4-1.
Boston College is certainly not a top 20 team but they have beaten Penn State handily the last two years so they are not the worst team in the country. Pitt has now beaten Boston College 5 of the last 6 times these schools have met and the Panthers have beaten them three consecutive years.
It could be this Pitt team is starting to the circle the wagons and develop an “it is us against the world mentality”. Coach Don Nehlan used this technique successfully for many years at West Virginia. It can sometimes result in a team over achieving. Pitt is now 4-2. They take on Rutgers Saturday who is also 4-2.
Should Pitt decide to make a change you would expect (and certainly hope) that Pitt AD Jeff Long would call his former associates at Oklahoma and Michigan for a few recommendations.
Several weeks ago I was visiting the Rivals’ headquarters. The Nebraska publisher was in for a training session. We spoke briefly in the hall and he said, “If Pitt decides to make a change your next coach will be Bo Pellini.”
Bo Pellini was an all-state player for Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. He played at Ohio State where he was a team captain and academic All-American. He later was a graduate assistant at Iowa under Hayden Fry before coaching in the NFL for nine years with three different pro teams. Two years he was hired as the defensive coordinator at Nebraska. He coached the bowl win over Michigan State after Frank Sollich was let go. Many think he was brought to Nebraska to eventually succeed Coach Sollich but got caught up in the purge by Steve Pederson. Today Bo Pellini is the Co-Defensive Coordinator at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops who is also a Youngstown native. Is Bo Pellini ready to be a head coach? I have no idea. He is young (37) and has an impressive resume. Should Pitt AD Jeff Long decide a change in direction is necessary you would certainly expect him to talk to Coach Bob Stoops. His team is undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the country.
Gridiron Sage published a complete bio this past Saturday on the Between Fifth And Forbes Message Board if you want more information on Coach Bo Pellini.
Tony Dorsett indicated this past week that he would like to help Pitt rebuild their program. We are not sure exactly sure what he had in mind. Alums are no longer allowed to be involved in the recruiting process. We know a few alums who were involved in the Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Bill Fralic, Tony Dorsett and Russ Grim era and would love to be again but it is against NCAA rules. Even if Tony were an employee of the University (let’s say an associate AD) he could not recruit off campus. The NCAA recruiting rules and the scholarship limitations place more emphasis on the ability of the coaching staffs to recruit than was true when Johnny Major first coached at Pitt or when Jackie Sherrill coached at Pitt. It is one of the reasons it needs to be taken into consideration should Pitt decide to hire a new staff.
A little Hoops talk
Pitt will lose Chevy Troutman, Mark McCarroll and Yuri Demetris after this season. They could also lose Chris Taft and maybe Carl Krauser.
Pitt now has verbal commitment from forwards Sam Young (6’ 6”) and Tyrell Biggs (6’ 8”). They have a least two more scholarships available (and maybe 4). You would think that Coach Dixon and his staff would like to pickup two more prospects but to save the other two for next year (should they become available).
Quite frankly if you look at Rivals.com’s Top 150 list it is starting to look pretty picked over. Many of these players have already give verbal commitments to various schools. There are two players we think are still interesting. One is guard Levance Fields. He is from Xaverian High School and has already visited St John’s. He reportedly is trying to set up a visit to Pitt. This is Barry Rorhssen’s and Chris Taft’s old high school. You would hope that a player out of that school would not commit without at least giving Pitt a look. Fields is a four-star player and is ranked No. 93 in the country. He is the 16th ranked point guard in the country.
The other player we like is Arinze Onuaka (6’ 8”) from the Episcopal School in Virginia. He is not ranked in the top 150 but appears to be a prospect with a major college body and a lot of upside. These two look like the best prospects available for the early signing period.
Vernon Goodridge is still out there as is Mike Davis. They big question on these two is where do they stand academically? Will they eventually qualify?
It is quite possible that Coach Dixon and his staff may have to look a junior college players and prep school players for the late signing period.
A few thoughts on the football program
Last week Pitt was coming off a come-from-behind win at Temple who had been beaten badly the week before by Bowling Green who is now 4-2. (Both of Bowling Green’s losses were on the road and one was to No. 2 ranked Oklahoma by a score of 40-24). The media’s scrutiny of Walt Harris reached a pitch last week and a few Pitt alums were calling for immediate change. In addition former Pitt players Mark May and Tony Dorsett both went public with criticism of the Pitt program. The media wrote about a vote of no confidence by Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long.
This past weekend Pitt upset Boston College 20-17 in overtime. Quite frankly they should have won it in regulation when the Pitt defense held BC but a very bad interference call late in the game allowed Boston College to tie the game. The upset shocked most of the “experts” and this writer too. Between Pitt’s upset win and Michigan State hammering Minnesota my Pick Em results are going to be very bad this week. Isn’t that the same Michigan State team that looked so bad in their loss to Rutgers?
Last week Pitt AD Jeff Long and Chancellor Nordenberg were spotted at football practice. Where they there to fire the coach or was this simply a show of support for the football program? Some thing tells me it was the latter. No it was not a long-term statement about the direction of the football program. It may simply have been two men who felt they were being stampeded by the media and some alums into making a decision before they were ready. Should they decide to replace Coach Harris almost all viable candidates are currently under contract to another college or a NFL franchise. It is unlikely any of them will be available until late December or mid-January.
About all I can say with certainty is that Walt Harris will be the Head Coach of the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday when his team takes on Rutgers at Heinz Field.
Last week Bob LaMonte, Walt Harris’ agent, went public. I am not sure what that was all about except that he might be reminding Pitt that Coach Harris has a lawyer and a agent and if you want to say something you know whom to call. If you want to offer some kind of financial settlement we will listen. Most business deals are about money.
Last year expectations for Pitt were very high. A few “experts” made them darkhorse candidates for the national championship. The team under achieved expectations going 8-5. We have talked to parents and others close to the program that indicated that the coaches were stressed out last year as the losses mounted and it was simply no fun playing football at Pitt at that time.
I have mentioned to a number of colleagues that Coach Harris has seemed more relaxed the past couple of weeks despite the loud noise being generated by the media. I was not sure why. He just seemed a little more a peace with his situation.
After the Boston College game defensive end Thomas Smith was quoted as saying” We all know what is going on. We are not stupid. We understand.” He went on to say that Coach Harris seems more relaxed. Smith said, “I have been here for awhile now and I have seem him a lot, he seems really calm.”
Senior offensive tackle Rob Petitti was quoted after the game in the Tribune-Review as saying, “Its like we are having fun again. I know I had as much fun as I have had since I have been here. He (Coach Harris) is bring that back.”
College athletic directors usually only replace a coach in mid-stream if he feels the coach has lost the team or a confrontation takes place between the coach and the AD. It appears agent Bob Lamonte is trying to insure that Pitt goes through him to avoid any confrontations. Even Walt Harris most severe critics would have a hard time making an argument the team as quit. Not only have the rallied from behind for a couple of wins but they have now upset Boston College who came into the game 4-1.
Boston College is certainly not a top 20 team but they have beaten Penn State handily the last two years so they are not the worst team in the country. Pitt has now beaten Boston College 5 of the last 6 times these schools have met and the Panthers have beaten them three consecutive years.
It could be this Pitt team is starting to the circle the wagons and develop an “it is us against the world mentality”. Coach Don Nehlan used this technique successfully for many years at West Virginia. It can sometimes result in a team over achieving. Pitt is now 4-2. They take on Rutgers Saturday who is also 4-2.
Should Pitt decide to make a change you would expect (and certainly hope) that Pitt AD Jeff Long would call his former associates at Oklahoma and Michigan for a few recommendations.
Several weeks ago I was visiting the Rivals’ headquarters. The Nebraska publisher was in for a training session. We spoke briefly in the hall and he said, “If Pitt decides to make a change your next coach will be Bo Pellini.”
Bo Pellini was an all-state player for Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. He played at Ohio State where he was a team captain and academic All-American. He later was a graduate assistant at Iowa under Hayden Fry before coaching in the NFL for nine years with three different pro teams. Two years he was hired as the defensive coordinator at Nebraska. He coached the bowl win over Michigan State after Frank Sollich was let go. Many think he was brought to Nebraska to eventually succeed Coach Sollich but got caught up in the purge by Steve Pederson. Today Bo Pellini is the Co-Defensive Coordinator at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops who is also a Youngstown native. Is Bo Pellini ready to be a head coach? I have no idea. He is young (37) and has an impressive resume. Should Pitt AD Jeff Long decide a change in direction is necessary you would certainly expect him to talk to Coach Bob Stoops. His team is undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the country.
Gridiron Sage published a complete bio this past Saturday on the Between Fifth And Forbes Message Board if you want more information on Coach Bo Pellini.
Tony Dorsett indicated this past week that he would like to help Pitt rebuild their program. We are not sure exactly sure what he had in mind. Alums are no longer allowed to be involved in the recruiting process. We know a few alums who were involved in the Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Bill Fralic, Tony Dorsett and Russ Grim era and would love to be again but it is against NCAA rules. Even if Tony were an employee of the University (let’s say an associate AD) he could not recruit off campus. The NCAA recruiting rules and the scholarship limitations place more emphasis on the ability of the coaching staffs to recruit than was true when Johnny Major first coached at Pitt or when Jackie Sherrill coached at Pitt. It is one of the reasons it needs to be taken into consideration should Pitt decide to hire a new staff.
A little Hoops talk
Pitt will lose Chevy Troutman, Mark McCarroll and Yuri Demetris after this season. They could also lose Chris Taft and maybe Carl Krauser.
Pitt now has verbal commitment from forwards Sam Young (6’ 6”) and Tyrell Biggs (6’ 8”). They have a least two more scholarships available (and maybe 4). You would think that Coach Dixon and his staff would like to pickup two more prospects but to save the other two for next year (should they become available).
Quite frankly if you look at Rivals.com’s Top 150 list it is starting to look pretty picked over. Many of these players have already give verbal commitments to various schools. There are two players we think are still interesting. One is guard Levance Fields. He is from Xaverian High School and has already visited St John’s. He reportedly is trying to set up a visit to Pitt. This is Barry Rorhssen’s and Chris Taft’s old high school. You would hope that a player out of that school would not commit without at least giving Pitt a look. Fields is a four-star player and is ranked No. 93 in the country. He is the 16th ranked point guard in the country.
The other player we like is Arinze Onuaka (6’ 8”) from the Episcopal School in Virginia. He is not ranked in the top 150 but appears to be a prospect with a major college body and a lot of upside. These two look like the best prospects available for the early signing period.
Vernon Goodridge is still out there as is Mike Davis. They big question on these two is where do they stand academically? Will they eventually qualify?
It is quite possible that Coach Dixon and his staff may have to look a junior college players and prep school players for the late signing period.
