Pitt’s Heather Lyke Named a Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year Awardee

I think the conversation now shifts from “I don’t think she’s good enough” to “Can we keep her?”

Congratulations Heather. Well deserved.

….Per the Pitt Sports SID…

PITTSBURGH—The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced that Pitt’s Heather Lyke has been named a recipient of the Cushman & Wakefield AD of the Year Award.

The award highlights the efforts of athletics directors for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses and their surrounding communities. Lyke was named one of four honorees representing the Football Bowl Subdivision, joining Mark Harlan (Utah), Jamie Pollard (Iowa State) and Gene Taylor (Kansas State).

Continue reading “Pitt’s Heather Lyke Named a Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year Awardee”

Pitt Football Two-Deep or Depth Chart – You Can’t Call it the Truth

Ed Note: Folks – here is a very nice follow up and bridge article in connecting the BB season to the 2023 FB season. It is written by Rick (Erie) Caldwell and coming off the great and detailed work just posted by Richard in SC makes these pieces a fine one-two punch of things to think about before September rolls around. Enjoy!

What’s in a Two-deep? In college football, it is the projected starter and back-up at every position, obviously. Which doesn’t really make sense, does it? Stay with me…NFL 101: Introducing the Basics of Cover 2 | News, Scores, Highlights,  Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

The Two-deep isn’t something you can wax poetically about, as in “Back when I played…”  It feels as if it is an invention of broadcasting, allowing the radio talking heads and the TV commentators to prepare for describing the game to their listeners or viewers. It helped them save some time by focusing their research on players who would actually see the field.

It’s a good idea that has been corrupted like a lot of good ideas.

The one starter you can count on these days for most teams is the word “or” and for Pitt it is also the transfer QB. As in Kedon Slovis OR Nick Patti. Actually three or four “ors” may be contenders at a position, making the wrongly named “Two-deep” a “Three-deep” or “Four-deep.”

Make a decision please, will you?

Sorry, that’s not how it’s done these days. College football coaches don’t really want to list a starter even if they know one has edged out the other as the starting quarterback. Part of it is competitive. The coach wants their opponent to keep guessing up until the minute before his offense takes the field, making them prepare for Slovis’ pinpoint passing expertise (ikr) and Patti’s option running style.

The Transfer Portal CFB (@TPortalCFB) / Twitter

The other part is a little new school. If a coach names a starter, that means the backups have lost the competition. They may transfer – and in this day and age that might be the same day they find out someone else is the starter.

Well anyway, below is my “way too early” two-deep for Pitt football in 2023:

OFFENSE

Former Pine-Richland Star, Boston College QB Phil Jurkovec Officially Signs  With Pitt - Pittsburgh Sports Now

QB: Phil Jurkovec / Christian Veilleux or Nate Yarnell

RB: Rodney Hammond / C’Bo Flemister or Derrick Davis Jr

WR1: Konata Mumpfield / Addison Copeland

WR2: Bub Means / Myles Alston

WR3: Daejon Reynolds / Israel Polk (FR)

TE: Gavin Bartholomew / Karter Johnson

LT: Ryan Baer or Branson Taylor

LG: Ryan Jacoby / Dorien Ford

C: Jake Kradel / Terrence Moore

RG: Blake Zubovic / Terrence Enos

RT: Matt Goncalves / Jason Collier

(Defense and Special Teams after page break)

Continue reading “Pitt Football Two-Deep or Depth Chart – You Can’t Call it the Truth”

2022 WTE Production Lost – Pitt

With the start of spring training, I thought I would get a jump on my Way to Early (WTE) ACC team reviews. Along with Pitt, I expect all ACC teams to lose and then gain players with the start of the second TP period (May 1 -15).

We all know who Pitt lost to  expired eligibility, early NFL entrance, and the TP. But do we know what other ACC teams and OOC opponents lost? That is the point of these articles.

I would like your input on how to improve these articles. So, any feedback is appreciated. The WTE team articles will show the same format as Pitt’s.

As you are well aware, I like to use color coding. Here are the keys:

  • Green – College eligibility has expired.
  • Reddish Pink – Entered the Transfer Portal.
  • Blue – Left team with eligibility remaining.
  • Yellow – Starter on Defense.

Besides headings and names, I also use “BOLD” for what I think are important items.

As usual, I start with a comparison of team’s schedule for 2022 and 2023.

I usually travel to Pittsburgh in late September or early October to visit my brother and take in a Pitt game. It looks like the available games are UNC or Louisville. This year, my younger brother from Texas may make it three. Also, I enjoyed my last visit to Wake Forest and have targeted that as my away game.

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#11 Pitt vs #3 Xavier Musketeers NCAA Game Thread

Here we go for our third chance to show the college BB world that Pitt is for real. I know Pitt fans are the hardest on the Panthers (just read some of the in-game comments on here!), but I feel we’ve done a damn good job since the tip-off against Mississippi State. Now, onward…

Here is what we’ve done since the end of our ACC season:

Have to say that a 3-1 record when it counts for advancing ain’t too shabby. 24-11 overall is pretty damn good for the program also. We’ll see how that holds for this afternoon against Xavier. Here are two quick overviews of the two teams playing today (I scoff at ESPN’s 68.8% chance to win for the Musketeers):

ESPN’s Pitt vs Xavier

NCAA’s Pitt vs Xavier

Here are some more detailed info tidbits for the two schools:

Pitt:

Pitt’s Basketball Season

Pitt’s Men’s Stats

Pitt’s Roster

Xavier:

Xavier’s Basketball Season

Xavier’s Men’s Stats

Xavier’s Roster

And here’s who we will play after today’s win:

Here is the progression of the BB program since Kevin “Slim” Stallings was hired:

OK – have at it and let’s bring home another win!

HTP!!