FINALLY, A DC HAS COME TO PITT!!!

Today Pitt announced their new Defensive Coordinator…FINALLY…and also brought aboard two new coaches as well.  In true Panther fan form, Pitt fans took to social media to pretty much bash the announcements left and right.  If there is another fan base that jumps off  a bridge quicker than Pitt’s, please let me know, because I do believe they have the market cornered.

We’ll start with the DC.  Matt House was promoted from defensive backs coach to the coordinator position.  House is young and has never held this big of a job, but he was a pretty strong recruiter and considering the year the DBs just had, did a great job on the coaching side of things as well. House has promised that he will mix up the defenses with forms of both the 3-4 and 4-3 and he also states the defense will be very aggressive (maybe my brother will finally stop texting me during games that they need to blitz more).  House’s resume has been pretty well known, but in case you don’t remember, he has experience at Michigan State, North Carolina, Buffalo, and also a couple of years in the NFL. Most people will point out that when he was the interim co-DC for the Ole Miss game, things did not go really according to plan.  Oh, how quickly we forget that Pitt played that game with their third string middle linebacker, Pitt’s offense gave them VERY little time off the field (especially at the start of the second half), and finally that Ole Miss is a team that was getting better and better throughout the year.  Why focus on that though, when it is so much fun having Pitt fans be…well…Pitt fans. 

Also coming to the Pitt coaching staff is veteran coach John Palermo to coach the defensive ends and linebackers.  He comes from Tennessee and the Redskins before that, but the thing that stuck out was that Palermo spent 15 years at Wisconsin on Barry Alvarez staffs. If he was good enough for Barry Alvarez to keep for a decade and a half, why on earth would he be a bad hire for the Panthers? With House’s promotion, the defensive coaches are somewhat young, so why not bring in someone with some years under their belt?

Lastly, is the hire that I think will turn out to be a very good one for Pitt. The rumors surfaced about this a few weeks ago and I am glad they are true. Former Panthers’ DB Hank Poteat returns to his alma mater as a GA and will handle the cornerbacks.  Poteat spent a decade in the NFL and recently was the defensive backs coach at Kentucky Christian University.  Poteat played under some great coaches as a pro in Bill Cowher and Bill Belichick.  He also is from Harrisburg, PA and those ties cannot hurt him on the recruiting trail.  Poteat brings in young energy and the staff has a lot of youth on their side, which I think helps in the recruiting aspects.

Overall, I like these hires and I know that is not a popular opinion right now, but some of the tweets today were just so Pitt fans if you will.  Really, the only problem I have with the whole process is how long it took, but other than that, I cannot complain.  I think each coach serves a purpose and I’m excited to see how these additions can improve Pitt.  It says a lot that when Dave Huxtable left Pitt as the DC, there was not even a ripple among the potential recruits. 

LOI DAY

Today was signing day for college football and for the first time in a good while, there were no unfortunate surprises at the deadline. Paul Chryst and his staff locked up this year’s class  pretty quick and all recruits signed by 10:15AM, with the exception of a kid from Hawaii, who had to wait until afternoon due to the time difference between there and the east coast. That tells me that this group of players is very excited to come to the University of Pittsburgh.

Overall the Panthers welcomed 27 members in this class, 23 of which signed today. 4 players have been enrolled at Pitt since January.  There are a lot of write ups about this class.  Of course, the always reliable Chris Peak has some great information at his paid site.  If you are looking for a free review of the class, check out Chris Dokish, as he always has solid information as well.

There really was only one real big question mark coming into today and that was Clairton’s Tyler Boyd.  Boyd flirted with WVU and Tennessee, before deciding to stay put and giving a big relief to the twitter universe at the same time. The twitter following of the Boyd announcement before, during, and after would be comical…if I wasn’t busy being one of the nervous fans following it.  Including Boyd, below is a roundup of the players that officially became part of Chryst’s first full class (last year was part those we do not speak of’s class):

Tra’von Chapman – QB; James Conner – RB; Jaymar Parrish – RB; Tyler Boyd – WR; Zach Challingsworth – WR; Reggie Green – WR; Jester Weah – WR; Devon Edwards – TE; Tony Harper – TE; Scott Orndoff – TE; Carson Baker – OL; Dorian Johnson – OL; Jaryd Jones-Smith – OL; Alex Officer – OL; Aaron Reese – OL; Tyrique Jarrett – DL; Luke Maclean – DL; Justin Moody – DL; Shakir Soto – DL; Jeremiah Taleni – DL; Matt Galambos – LB; Zach Poker – LB; Titus Howard – DB; Rachid Ibrahim – DB; Terrish Webb – DB; Chris Blewitt – K; Ryan Winslow – P

By all accounts it is a solid staff. It does not have a ton of star power, but there are a lot of quality players and I do like what the staff brought into the program.  Let’s have some fun and make a few predictions, which if I am right, I will gloat over and become an insufferable piece of shit.  If I am wrong, I will destroy this post and deny I ever made such predictions….enjoy:

The stars – This should be obvious, but in case you don’t follow recruiting at all the stars of the class are Dorian Johnson and Tyler Boyd.

Players with the best chance for playing time next season – I will say Orndoff, Soto, Jarrett, Boyd, and Johnson. 3 of those players enrolled early, allowing them to be a little ahead of the rest of the class when they come in June.

Sleeper picks – My sleepers in this class are going to come from my side of the state and I’ll say that Jones-Smith, Galambos, & Moody will all surpass what is expected of them.

Worth the wait player – This player will wait a few years before contributing, but step on and contribute a lot. Tra’von Chapman is the pick here. I believe he will redshirt and I also think he’ll sit and wait his turn for a year or two after that, but once he’s ready, I think Panther fans will love him.

Fan Favorite – The player that fans will love for their playing style and commitment to Pitt is a tie.  I am choosing Zach Challingsworth and James Conner.

I hope you enjoyed the write up.  Only time will tell with this class, but I really do like it overall.  There are a couple of reaches, but you will have that with every class. 

Two other notes to pass along to you:

1.      Paul Chryst was asked about a defensive coordinator and his response was simply that they plan to announce one.  Whoa….I’m glad he wasn’t vague about it or anything.

2.      It was announced today that the spring game will be on Friday, April 12^th at Bethal Park’s stadium (HI MIKE GRIMM!).

I probably will only blog sparingly until Spring Practice, but check back occasionally for updates. HAIL TO PITT!