in Defense, Offense, Pitt Football, Players, Recruiting, Statistics 1,081 Words

C C C C C-Changes to Ease the Roster

It looks like we are seeing some more of the every-year roster changes that happen for various reasons – most often 5th year players being moved out of the program and others who have seen the handwriting on the wall regarding playing time.  This is done most often to clear up scholarships.  To jog your memories a D1 school is allowed only 85 scholarships on the roster at any one time.

Listed below are the players who will be redshirt Seniors in 2017.  Remember that at this point in their careers each of these kids will have had a full four years in attendance as student/athletes at Pitt and should have an under graduate degree by this time… or very soon. 

In the past there was an unwritten policy Pitt adhered to… if a player accepted a scholarship and kept his nose clean and met all his academic, team and athletic department requirements Pitt would give them a full four years in return.

But I believe that informal policy went by the wayside after Dave Wannstedt was head coach.  Anyway, here is that listing.  Players in red and crossed off are already off the roster and have decided to leave; players in black are not on scholarship at this time or at any point.

Player Year
96 Allen Edwards 6-4/245 DL rsJR Miami, Fla./Dean (MA)
94 Jeremiah Taleni 6-2/290 DL rsJR Kaneohe, Hawaii/Kailua
85 Jester Weah 6-3/210 WR rsJR Madison, Wis./Madison Memorial
84 Zach Poker 6-4/240 TE rs JR Oconomowoc, Wis./
80 Zach Challingsworth 6-2/195 WR rs JR McDonald, Pa./South Fayette
72 Carson Baker 6-5/320 OL rsJR Fairborn, Ohio/Fairborn
63 Alex Officer 6-4/335 OL rsJR Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge
60 Aaron Reese 6-5/310 OL rsJR Chambersburg Pa.
55 Jaryd Jones-Smith 6-7/325 OL rsJR Camden, N.J./West Catholic (Pa.)
45 Devon Edwards 6-4/255 DL rsJR Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor Academy
40 Colton Lively 6-0/240 FB rsJR Lake Dallas, Texas/Lake Dallas
35 Rob Boatright 510/185 DB rsJR Clairton, Pa./Clairton
29 Rachid Ibrahim 6-1/195 RB rsJR Rockville, Md./Avalon
27 Nico Lodovico 6-1/230 LB rsJR Murrysville, Pa./Kent State
24 James Conner 6-2/235 RB rsJR Erie, Pa./McDowell
18 Ryan Winslow 6-5/210 P rsJR Maple Glen, Pa./La Salle College HS

Some of these players we know have decided to move on or have been told that their scholarships won’t be extended for a 5th year. Those players are:

Image result for james connerrsJR RB James Conner – has decided to forgo his 4th year of NCAA eligibility as he’s declared for the NFL draft and probably has an agent by now. I’m not going to show his accomplishments – that is way too long a list, but here is a bit of info and his stats:

“He was named first team All-ACC this season after rushing for 1,060 yards and 16 touchdowns on 208 carries (5.1 avg.)…Conner is also putting up the best receiving numbers of his career with 20 receptions for 299 yards (14.9 avg.) and four touchdowns…his 20 total TDs rank sixth nationally and his 120 points rank seventh in the country…he is the 2016 recipient of the Disney Sports Spirit Award presented annually to college football’s most inspirational figure”

conner-career

rsJR WR Image result for zach challingsworthZach Challingsworth –“2015: Played in 10 games, starting four contests…starting assignments came against Youngstown State, Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Louisville…totaled 12 receptions for 171 yards (14.2 avg.) and a touchdown on the year…posted career highs with three catches for 57 yards and a 13-yard touchdown in Pitt’s 31-13 win at Duke…his touchdown catch against the Blue Devils opened the game’s scoring and he also had a 33-yard reception that set up a Pitt TD in the third quarter.”

At one point we all thought he’d be in the lineup on a much more regular basis.  That was before Jester Weah started catching the football in real games and Matt Canada went to the smaller and faster WRs more often than OCs Joe Rudolph and Jim Chaney did. Our recent WR recruits have all been speedsters and I think Challingsworth probably felt he was recruited over. Here are his stats:

Chally career.png

rsJR RB Rachid Ibrahim -“2015: Did not play in any games and redshirted after sustaining a torn Achilles during training camp. Rachid Ibrahim

2014: Played in all 13 games as a reserve running back…averaged 8.0 yards per carry, netting 263 yards on 33 carries…added 11 receptions for 73 yards (6.6 avg.) and two kickoff returns for 30 yards (15.0 avg.) on the year…posted career highs with 91 yards on 14 carries (6.5 avg.) in the season opener vs. Delaware…had 66 yards on just three carries (22.0 avg.) against Georgia Tech…had a career-long 50-yard run in the Georgia Tech contest…had 23 yards on three carries (7.7 avg.) against Syracuse.”

I really felt that Ibrahim would be a big contributor as his time at Pitt progressed but injuries and other recruits took a toll on that. His 6.6 yards per carry average was excellent though and that was on a full 60 carries.  He just never fit into this staff’s plans. 

I’ll always remember the great time I had with his brother at the 2014 spring game though. Here are his stats:

ibrahim-career

Image result for zach poker pittTE Zach Poker – “2015: Limited to the season’s initial four games as a reserve defensive end due to a foot fracture…totaled four tackles, 1.5 TFLs and a sack on the year…had a season-high three stops with a TFL assist at Iowa…had a 10-yard sack in the opener against Youngstown State.”
Image result for mike grimm pitt
rsSO OL Mike Grimm – 2015: Did not play in any games. 2014: Redshirted as a true freshman.
He also has left the team – he had limited playing time and also was battling injuries.  He hadn’t been listed in the two-deep at all this last season.
Image result for Alex Paulina pitt

rsFR OL Alex Paulina – this isn’t 100% confirmed yet but the talk is that he’s leaving the Pitt program also. Paulina was in Narduzzi’s first recruiting class and was a 3* recruit by Rival.com. Rivals also gave him a “point score” of 5.7 which is .1 point away from being a 4* recruit.

If this is true that he’s leaving then it s a rather big loss on the OL, especially as he was a local kid, ranked #13th in the state and was Narduzzi’s first recruit. I really hope he stays.

Again – this bit about Paulina isn’t confirmed but has been discussed in some quarters. I may have missed a player or two but I think that list above is correct – if not please let me know and I’ll update as always.

EDIT:  It has been mentioned that both Aaron Reese and OL Carson Baker have left the team also – I’ll keep trying to confirm that.

129 thoughts on “C C C C C-Changes to Ease the Roster”

  1. Been off the board for a while. Didn’t know about Ibrahim, Grimm or Challingsworth. I assumed Pitt offering the RB out of FL this weekend was maybe because Ollison was moving on too.

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  2. I thought Reese and Baker were announced on senior day as they were not coming back for 5th year.

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  4. The biggest loss is the OL. Although I believe they’re were told they weren’t in the plans. The coaching staff knows what they are doing. Hopefully they keep churning out O’Neill’s.

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  5. I have some emails out but the Pitt people can’t comment on individual players so all of this is basically rumors unless the kid or his parent allows Pitt to release the info.

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  6. Challingsworth made 2 very nice catches vs Duke last year; one was a TD. Got hurt this year … but as Reed indicated, other WRs have stepped up. At the time, I knew that Bookser was considered the better prospect but thought Grimm would eventually pan out. Paulina was also a surprise.

    I may be wrong but believe Ludovico, Lively and Boatwright are non-schollies.

    I related this story before … I knew an OL who was recruited by Walt (his last class. He made it to 2nd team in his R-soph year but dropped to 3rd team the following year. He got his degree after his 4th year (R-Jr) and Wanny told him he would like to use his schollie for a new recruit.

    He is now employed with a good job … and remains a solid Pitt man and proud alumni .. and often travels from out of town to attend game.

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  8. Kevin Johns has just been hired as OC at Western Mich … so cross him off the list. There was no reason to wait before announcing his hire, so I assumed he wasn’t going to get the job.

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  9. Baker and Reese took part in their graduation ceremony for what that’s worth.

    PITT should have plenty schollie’s to hand out and I’m predicting a great finish to this years class.

    Ike, I did remember that they graduated but don’t remember if they said they were leaving. Pat, (I call him Pat now) better get those kids in ASAP because we are not the only school that is going to be putting on a big push to get recruits to verbal in the next two weeks until February 1st.

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  10. Would not be surprised to see 1-3 JUCO’s for d brought in, the cupboard is still not full on that side of the ball

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  11. There should be a good deal more room to add to the roster with the additional people leaving the team. But I’m hoping we just don’t add to the roster for the sake of filling up the 85 available scholarships. Quality not quantity should be the name of the game. Absent finding those quality recruits, I’d rather hold some scholarships back for the 2018 class.

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  12. Did Ibrahim ever see the field again, like on Special Teams ? Thought he would have been a nice option out of the backfield as a pass receiver or a slot player. Maybe he never fully recovered from his injury or the NARD dOG didn’t take a liking to him. Or something…..

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  14. Grimm was a pretty big get locally. Probably the biggest bust of the bust group.

    Need more O-linemen for depth if we’re losing him + Paulino. Hope this new kid from Florida who’s already enrolled is the real thing.

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  15. Emel, pretty sure Ibrahim took the last squib kickoff against NW. I think he did play special teams latter part of the year.

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  16. Johns seemed like a good candidate for OC. With him going to W Michigan , Pitt better be getting a damn good candidate! And if we are waiting for the candidate until after LOI day to finish his recruiting at his previous school, this gentleman agreement crap has to stop. Although hard to negotiate from a position of strength with a lame duck AD who is probably focused more on his next gig. Embarrassing !

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  18. Yep, Pinnock was the recruit that I was expecting to commit by the middle of the week. Also our new OC is going to be announced soon. Patience. Narduzzi is fully aware that his guy needs to be on board before LOI signing day.

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  20. Dr. Tom, my money is now on Billy Napier, with Alabama raising a stink to wait until after LOI day to announce since he is their Recruiting Coordinator and Pitt sheepishly complying ….

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  22. Stallings is failing to get his team to play with any coordinated defense and the energy they are putting out on offense is severely lacking. That is a bad combination.

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  23. We have become Boston College in bball..virtually overnite.

    How a HC of 30 years after taking a look at this roster….didnt bring in some READY to PLAY……juco’s and 5th Grad Transfers…..amazes me.

    Unless he tried and not even Rafael Matta types would say…..yes.

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  24. Fake news is Stallings masquerading as a legit D1 coach. He’s burnt toast at this point in his career. Thank you Barnes for leaving us with this pile of shat.

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  25. I was using the Pitt roster that’s available through their website but I used to” news” about departures from what I gleaned going through Rivals and Post Gazette, Tribune Review and all the other media sites I could think of.

    like I said I might be wrong on some of them and I wasn’t sure I was even putting out news per se… Just repeating what others have said publicly.

    Tricky info if that is what it is. That’s why I included a disclaimer at the end of the article.

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  27. Some people are suggesting it may be Napier and he’s under contract as head of recruiting at Alabama and the buyout would be too high to take him before LOI Day. I hope that’s what’s going on.

    Would like to hear about a sighting of him somewhere in the area though.

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  29. Men’s BB Season is over. Last one standing turn out the lights.

    F*ck Scott Barnes and may he rot in the Great Northwest for what is left of his sorry ass career.

    Sorry for the profanity but I am literally sick right now – getting beat by that clown of a coach Mike Gottfried…OMG we have a WORSE coach than Mike Gottfried OMGOMGOMG will do this to you.

    I tried to support Stallings. I have tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. But tonight was the last straw – I now admit he is not a good coach after watching him closely all year. Our team is better than this. Lack of coaching pure and simple. He is an old man working out his string. He is not going to get better or change his lazy ways. And that a-hole Barnes stuck us with him.

    Pitt needs to evaluate the lost revenue and prestige from an empty Pete for 2/3 more years vs. the real chance to release Stallings this spring when a new AD comes on board – they can do that easily if they want to with little bad repercussions.

    And The Pete will be empty as long as Stallings is the coach – mark my words.

    Damn I am pissed off right now. Have just put the rest of my Men’s BB tickets online at face value – doubt they will sell. Will be calling the Panther Club tomorrow – that is going to be a nice chat.

    H2P

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  30. Reed, on the perception of your take on “Pat” You do give him credit often and I know you love the way he’s handle the PITT football program off the field…..but imo you have been tough on the guy but again to your point, you’re not just jabbering on a message board now, you’re working hard on putting out the whole story for discussion. I know your opinion is in there but you do line everything with facts. I see all that. My point has been from the beginning is, I just see so many positives with the PITT football program for the first time in so many years, I do get defensive. I guess someone has to since Narduzzi hasn’t. < that’s a joke, kinda …………….ike

    H2P

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  31. That’s a lot of depth to lose on the OL all at once. I hope at least one or two of those guys winds up sticking around.

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  32. I agree Ike…..can’t make a silk purse out of Dixon’s mess….

    The great Shaka Smart is looking Dumb too right about now. Texas is 1-5 in the Big12 and 7-11 overall. Their one win in the Big12 was by 3 points. How many of you would have jumped at the chance to get Smart to come here?

    http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/251/texas-longhorns

    Pitt’s SOS is 16th, so I don’t want to here about who Texas has to play.

    http://insider.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/teamId/221

    Texas has a balanced roster too:

    http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/roster/_/id/251

    I’m not judging Stallings until all these present players are off the team and all Stallings kids are here.

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  35. Sorry guys. HCKS has a 17 year record of mediocrity to judge him with. I have watched him all season and I do not believe that he will suddenly become a wunderkind just because he has a few new kids he recruited on the roster. If he was new and had no record to look at then I would give him more leash – but time has shown him up for what he is – an average coach.

    Does Pitt want to have their men play in an empty, cadaverous, echoing shell of a Pete for the next 2 years – and still be in the same spot we are in today?

    Or do we take the chance to be GREAT again, release him when we get a new AD – which we can with little negative reaction from other coaches or schools do since we will have the excuse the new AD wants their own coach now – and perhaps get a young up and coming firebrand who will put butts in the seats and whose teams will not embarrass the region, the fans, and the school?

    Which will it be? More mediocrity or a chance to shine….

    H2P

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  36. Jackagain that’s a great stance, because Pitt is not going to buy out Stalling’s contract. That means he will have all the time in the world to turn over this roster with his guys. Then you and the 4 other fans left watching games in the Pete can tell us how he is doing. This was a terrible hire.

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  37. Not a single post player in next years recruiting class. Unless Rosie Nix has an Aaron Gray transformation.

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  38. I would love to know why, Pitt let Herman hire Stallings. It was obvious to all,,,what went down.

    It must be just part of the corporate type crap of ceo/cfo type exchanged done in corporate America. Even if you totally wreck a company, some other corp will hire you in some high paying job.

    College bigtime sports is very similar and it IS NOTHING but a business. At which Pitt is not good at. Yea we had a good bball team (mind you good, not great, not even Final 4 worthy), but we invested about $200 Mil in the bball program. 1 Elite 8 for the Investment and now it appears back to Palookaville.

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  41. Who really knows Jack, except for the Great Sports Gods….but one thing is a constant with Pitt sports.
    We seem to get the short end of the stick more often than not. Yea we had a nice run there from 2001 to 2011, most of us could see that ending when Dixon couldn’t recruit, it sort hit the apex when we got several McDonald’s 5 star kids who never panned out, Sleepy & Birch. There was that ‘window of opportunity’ that was open there for a brief moment…and now it seems like eons ago.

    It was there, briefly as well in the mid to late 80’s as well, but shut down pretty quickly as well. Funny they pick a Vandy coach to remind us all of that heartache of what could have been with imo, the best or 2nd best Pitt Team EVER of Smith, Lane, Gore, Miller, Martin, Porter and Matthews.

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  42. A nice little Poke in the Eye…to the Noise out here. Herman’s word for the Deplorables.

    EMel and GF will be at the Deplora-Ball. Make Pitt Football & Basketball Great Again !!!

    Emel, you hit the nail on the head with that.

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  43. That old vaccum salesman wont be around in 18 months Jack. The guy is a neverbeen. 18 years at Vandy and didnt do . Herman will have to give tickets away to witness that carnival. Hire a Dogdick AD and get coche like Kevin “Oreck/Rockport Stallings. Brokedick AD and Brokedick coach. Won’t win 15 games this year after buying 9 from botton of D1 barrell.

    Upitt called Barnes gone in less than 2 years.

    A new AD will
    Send Geritol Stallings to Belks or Bon Ton or Brissel. That loser is gone by 2019. Vandy was firing him but Herman Pumpkin Head 🎃 paid a buyout. Cant make this up.

    Congrats UPitt, you have been the first poster I censored… Which means I have to do even more work on this blog…

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  44. Listen to Fat head 🎃 press conf. The noise. LOL. There is no noise at Pete with 4500 people there who think they are at a mens wearhouse suit convention led by Geritol Gerry Stallings

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  45. I think Paulina had concussion and shoulder injuries coming out of high school. Pitt took a flyer on him in the hopes he would get healthy. Tough luck for him as he was a center/guard.

    Grimm was different. A road grader in high school. College game was too fast for him and injuries/shoulder and hips caused an early retirement. Bad breaks for those two.

    I like Drake and Carter Warren this year and believe Carrigan ends up there. Drexel looks like Officer. Jared burger Jones Smith will have a breakout year along with Bookser and O’Neil.

    Abraham played in bowl and looked slow on special teams to me. Tough injuries and a nice career for the Rachid!!

    I like Pinnock. Puts us in mid 30’s. close strong Narduzzi.

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  46. I just finished watching some highlight film of Pinnock. Frankly, I can’t say I was overly impressed as he seems pretty ordinary to me. Let’s hope he proves me wrong when he puts on the Pitt uniform. Also his offer sheet didn’t impress me much either.

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  47. Staliings was given no center or point guard. At around the 8 minute mark, Pitt extended their lead to 69-62. The only FG they got the rest of the game was a putback by Jones about 3 minutes. laster. Otherwise, it was one and done … no offensive rebounds.

    If this team cannot make its outside shots, they are finished … no rebounding, nob post-ups, nobody driving to the hoop

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  48. Pitt in the first 12 minutes of the second half: 14 of 18 for 35 points.

    Pitt in the final 8 minutes of the half: 1 of 11 for 5 points

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  49. Auburn: Closely related to recruiting is the Tigers search for a new offensive coordinator. As Jay Coulter wrote in his Monday column more attention will be given to National Signing Day in the next couple of weeks, but, “the offensive coordinator hire Auburn makes will be much more important.”

    The latest rumor as we go to press is that Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich is at the top of Malzahn’s list. Could he be wooed away from what seems like a good spot on Mike Gundy’s staff? No one knows the answer, but we do know that he is one of the best in the business.

    In his four seasons in Stillwater, OSU averaged over 450 yards and 36 points per game. In addition, the Cowboys were one of only two teams from the big five conferences to have a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards while producing both a 1,000 yard receiver and a 1,000 yard rusher. If Yurcich were to make the move to the Plains, he could be just what the doctor ordered for Auburn’s anemic passing game.

    Pulled this from Track’em Tigers…

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  50. jrnpitt – the film you watch was for a 2 star rated CB.

    That should answer your viewing concerns.

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  52. Sorry Reed

    When we lose 10 in a row with basically same team as last year maybe folks will care we hired a bad coach for cheap.

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  53. Dixon’s team didn’t shoot very well, for the most part … but what they always did was rebound. Last night, Pitt was again outrebounded very bad badly … Pitt got 6 offensive rebounds, NCS got 18… and overall had 14 total rebounds more than Pitt. If Pitt is not hitting its shots, its done … can’t defend, can’t rebound, can’t post up, can’t drive. One dimensional

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  55. Pinnock fits the type of corner Narduzzi wants. Taller with athletic ability and length. Recruiting will be a nice close in the last furlong. Pitt has really good shots with Twyman, Proctor, Carter, Garbutt,and Smith. Add in G Thomas and Kofi W at DE as possibilities although Thomas is pretty sold on Nebraska. Pitt if they can land the top 5, Pitt is in the high twenties as to ranking.

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  57. If Pitt can land Cam Carter, he would be immediate help for the D-line. He would get his chance for a little payback early in the year.

    Nice to have great depth in the backfield, now need to close with some big men.

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  58. Dixon needed to go but you replace him with someone better. Not a Turd.

    JR sucked as PG.

    Dixon won and made the tourney with these guys. Pappy sits and collects a check.

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  59. This team has two really good players who will get a look at the NBA, yet we cannot win a game. The last time I remember two good players was in 1988 and we did fine then. Something is not right.

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  60. There is no point guard or center on this roster. It’s a poor roster thanks to Dixon but Stallings’ offense is garbage also. The four seniors should have willed the team to a win, but these seniors are SOFT. Senior day will be awkward with only three ACC wins at that moment.

    For sure Baker, Reese, Poker, Grimm and Challingsworth are gone.

    I’ve heard nothing official on Paulina and Ibrahim, but some are certain Alex is gone.

    Not counting the true freshmen coming in and who certainly should redshirt, I count nine linemen available next season. Nine! recruiting under Peterson has been suspect for sure and frankly unacceptable.

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  61. This brand of hoops – jump shots, no D, no rebounding, nobody getting to the rim – it’s just hard to watch… which is incredible to say with 2 guys at 21+ ppg…

    No identity – just jack up another 3…

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  62. Hey Tx, incoming. Not a bad draft class if they can get another stud to finish it off.

    Drake 6’7″
    Warren 6’6″
    Houy 6’6″
    Vann Lynn 6’7″
    Drexel 6’2,5″
    Carraoigan 6’7’…………….TE
    Sear 6’5″…………………….TE

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  63. I also love the talk of Stallings gets guys to the NBA, well, who are these guys? None of them must be standouts or else I would have heard of them. Dixon got guys to the NBA also, and if I wasn’t a Pitt fan I’d know who Steven Adams would be regardless. One guy from Vandy was on the Warriors last season and screwed up big in Game 6 or 7 by fouling LeBron on a three pointer. Eziell might be his name.

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  64. I count 14 available O-Lineman for next year not counting incoming recruits. 8 of those guys were recruited by JP. That means that Hueber only has 6 of his recruits left on the team. I don’t agree with your assessment of the last two Line coaches…….and Those 3 leaving? It may have not been entirely up to them.

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  65. Austin — the Warriors lost the NBA finals because (in part) Bogut got hurt and the coach gave a ton of minutes to Festus Ezeli (who played for Stallings at Vandy). Ezeli couldn’t hang with the Cavs at either end of the floor.

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  66. ike, only four of these guys will be linemen unless a tight end is moved, which is possible. This class looks good. I think Lynn is moving to the defensive line at end. I meant more the prior two classes. The JuCo from Lackiwanna CC would be a nice late addition to the class. I just feel Pitt should never have less than 10 linemen available for use if the true freshmen intend on being redshirted. It’s entering Tom Freeman territory, and I never want to relive those days again.

    Drake 6’7″
    Warren 6’6″
    Houy 6’6″
    Vann Lynn 6’7″ …….. DE
    Drexel 6’2,5″
    Carraoigan 6’7’…………….TE
    Sear 6’5″…………………….TE

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  67. What JuCo from Lackawanna CC are you talking about? I haven’t seen nor heard of any JC recruits that Pitt was after.

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  68. Here’s my count of available lineman, so I may have this messed up some, correct me if I am, it happens

    Benbrook
    Britton
    Ford
    Hargrove
    Morgan
    Morrissey
    Pilato
    Z Williams
    Bookser
    Officer
    O’Neill
    Gaylis
    JJS
    Dantino

    I’m guessing some of these guys have been moved or not around anymore? Thanks…..ike

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  69. ike,

    I didn’t count the walk-ons and Zach Williams and Pitt parted ways. Ford, Hargrave, Morgan, Pilato, Bookser, Officer, JJ-S, Dintino and O’Neill are the only scholarship linemen available not counting the incoming guys.

    The JuCo from Lackiwanna CC is Anthony Mayes. No visit planned to Pitt and I don’t think he’ll end up a Panther.

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  70. Has anyone heard what Blair’s deal has been? Seems like since the incident and Narduzzi’s hiring he’s been on the dog list and his play and number of chances represent he is on the downward chart. This is before the coaches decision in the bowl from my observation..

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  71. Hey fellas, you want good OL prospects, here you go ..

    Jim Hammett @JimHammett
    Pitt’s two offensive tackle commitments, Jerry Drake and Carter Warren, have been upgraded to four stars on ESPN.

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  72. Yeah wwb, I liked them as mentioned in the late night post yesterday. Good to see them upgraded, but once you watch the video, you know why it happened. I think Carrigan is the next oneill project or even on the DL if we don’t get reinforcements there. I hope he likes peanut butter sammiches.

    I like Sear to stay at TE with Reeves. Clark gets the nod as a starter and Reeves should be his backup to start the season. RS Sear to work on speed. I like his size as is, maybe a plus 10 pounds would be okay.

    Hoping we get a few more flurrrridians to join the program too.

    I can’t talk bball because it makes me ill. In fact I just puked a little in my mouth typing bball. Can’t teach desire. Rebounding is desire, period. That is why Denise Rodman, Chas Barkley and J rome lane could ball. Desire! They wanted the ball and they went and got the ball. I wish Darius Kaspareitis could coach desire to these kids. Easily would account for 3-4 more wins on the court.

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  73. That’s good news as the class is being upgraded well before national signing day. That’s the 3rd recruit upgraded by someone to 4 stars this week. Our TE recruit from Ohio was upgraded to 4 stars earlier.

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  74. 56 Brandon Ford 6-5/300 OL FR
    67 Jimmy Morrissey 6-3/295 OL FR
    71 Bryce Hargrove 6-4/300 OL FR
    77 Justin Morgan 6-6/365 OL FR
    59 Tony Pilato 6-5/320 OL RS FR
    64 Aaron Britton 6-5/280 OL RS FR
    68 Kyle Benbrook 6-3/295 OL RS FR
    55 Jaryd Jones-Smith 6-7/325 OL RS JR
    63 Alex Officer 6-4/335 OL RS JR
    72 Carson Baker 6-5/320 OL RS JR
    70 Brian O’Neill 6-6/300 OL RS SO
    76 Connor Dintino 6-3/310 OL RS SO
    77 Alex Galiyas 6-2/290 OL RS SO
    78 Alex Bookser 6-6/315 OL RS SO

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  76. Update: Got better about 50% then regressed. My Boss said you are going to ER. So at Joe Dimaggio Hospital waiting. Catscan coming. Ugh. So a prayer for old Upitt.

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  81. UPitt – you are correct – this team minus JR made the dance last year – the other teams got better – we didn’t – and this team was picked 12th ((I think) in the ACC preseason poll. Last night was winnable – but they were ice cold in the 1st 8 minutes and the last 8 minutes of the game.

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  85. Prayers out to you Upitt. A MRI should be scheduled as well. Good luck with that, Then we can share stories and have a good laugh about it all.

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  86. 2 hours later still
    On a gurny in Hallway. They took my blood in a hallway and gave me an iv. Probably as clean as an alley behind Peters Pub. People parked like cattle. Man is Healthcare in America bad and needs fixed. Thanks All. Catscan first supposedly.

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  87. I swear I will be positive if I can just get back to normal. I feel like George from Wonderful Life.

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  90. Hang in there UPitt. You have 2 things in your favor…your youth and feistiness. Prayers out for you, young man.

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  91. Anonymous – No problem. I deserve it sometimes. Godbless.

    Nurses are all beautiful in South Florida at least. 😉

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  94. UPitt – hope everything turns out OK. Feel free to post some pics of those sexy nurses. I learned the hard way @ age 40 that I wasn’t indestructible. God Bless.

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  100. Anonymous … anyone can be anonymous.. you need a handle/call sign… glad you and UPitt made up… lots of ❤️ on the POV today and a couple of new recruits to boot

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  101. speculation is that there is another commit with HCPN tweet of a bout an hour ago

    at Narduzzi ‏@CoachDuzzPittFB 1h1 hour ago
    PITT IS IT! #H2P #SteelCity17 #SilentAssassin

    The first part is the Pat Signal … but not sure

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  102. Anonymous is my Dear Buddy Doc. As a side note. Catscan wait was 5 hours. Catscan 3 mins. 😂

    This is literally how fast my Doctor walks.

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  105. Possibly Jaylen Twyman 6’2″ 310lbs from DC. Supposedly cancelled his visit to Mizzu. He would be another good one.

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  107. UPitt – I will continue to pray for you – have been for weeks. You have a good and caring boss.

    Louisiana-Lafayette: With the addition of Will Hall as offensive coordinator, previous OC / quarterbacks coach Jorge Munoz will move to wide receivers, previous WR coach Michael Desormeaux will move to running backs, previous RB coach Marquase Lovings will move to defensive ends, and defensive line coach Levorn Harbin will move to defensive tackles.

    Cal: Eastern Washington wide receivers coach Nicholas Edwards will join the Cal staff in the same role, according to multiple reports. Edwards spent two years at EWU and becomes the fourth EWU coach to move to the Pac-12 this offseason. He will join former EWU head coach and new Cal OC Beau Baldwin.

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  108. Things come into focus a bit when our health is threatened, but we don’t necessarily want you to be positive. Most of us have accepted you, negativity and all, despite some dust-ups. 🙂

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  110. UPitt, did you see an ENT like I suggested?
    Hell, no.
    When they do the rectal exam, make sure the docs hands aren’t on both shoulders.

    Get better, dude.

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  111. UPitt….don’t let them remove your wallet either.

    I thought sure that sloth was our new AD for a minute…..

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  114. Just catching up on the comments from today,,,er yesterday(now),

    Upitt my son….are you alright and getting a knob job from a nurse ?

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  116. UPitt – I hope your night got better since the last we heard from you. You are a big contributor to the POV Spring golf outing – we need you to be healthy.

    LSU: Offensive coordinator Matt Canada (and former Pitt OC) will earn $1.5 million annually on a 3-year deal, according to The Advocate. That makes Canada the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the country.

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  117. Can’t wait to hear the comments like “need more players from wpa” since we have 6-7 Florida guys and 5 from Ohio.
    Unless it an ic light or a Primanti’s sammich, Florida and Ohio usually have better to offer.

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  119. Gotta be Twyman. That is one of his nicknames. Should put us in low 30’s. close strong and flip one or two and we get to mid 20’s in my opinion.

    Gotta hold Reeves and Carter Warren.

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  122. Fact is that, except for Ford, we didn’t get any of the 4-stars from WPIAL. A handful went to ND, D Jeter to Michigan and CJ Thorpe to PSU … although he is visiting both Mich and UCLA the next 2 weekends.

    Thorpe’s dad, Chris, is a former PSU player, and told Urban Myer early last year not to not bother recruiting him .. and didn’t tell anyone about this, including CJ. This story came out just a couple of weeks ago .. maybe CJ is rebelling. I assume CJ grew up in an extreme anti-Pitt environment.

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  123. I just watched Smith’s highlights. What I like best is how he just does his job and doesn’t showboat, pound his chest or show off.

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  124. Yes Twyman appears to be the silent verbal. Thorpe gong to Michigan for a visit can’t be a bone to a former PSU player who coaches at Michigan. At this time of the process, I think he may have some serious interest.

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  125. @ JJ, I think that Michael Smith is going to be a gem in this recruiting class, not immediately though, only because guys like Weah, Ffrench, Mathews & Flowers are ahead of him and have earned playing time in 2017 already. But come 2018, this Smith guy is going to have a Boyd like impact on this Pitt football team. Big prediction, I know, but just remember this kid’s name when he begins making waves come Spring ball 2018.

    Why such lofty predictions over a middle of the pack 3 Star recruit? First, the kid just began playing organized football a year ago in his Junior year of HS. Second, in light of the above, Smith in his Senior year literally takes over games all season long producing a record breaking performance in both receiving yards gained & TDs for his high school (27 TDs!). Third, this was all accomplished in the hotbed of recruiting FLORIDA where the football is played at a high level to begin with.

    Now onto Smith’s physical assets and skill set. Watch the HUDL highlight video that Reed posted above until the 3rd snipit, that sideline one handed snatch of a reception while shielding the defender off with good body position was typical “Boyd like” technique. The rest of the video demonstrates that Smith possesses soft hands, the speed to run under the long vertical pass and the ability to see the pass trajectory early & adjust to it accordingly. There were multiple “underthrown” balls that Smith halted his route on so early as to lose his defender at the very time that he was accelerating to keep up with Smith. Meanwhile Smith stops on a dime and catches the ball as the CB overruns the route. This makes a bad pass by the QB a big gainer. So Smith makes his QB look better than he really is. The last two things are 1) his physical stature, already 6’2″ 205lb at the ripe age of 17. That is an impressive physique, 2) acceleration, once again “Boyd like” acceleration with an even a higher top-end speed.

    Michael Smith, he’s going to be a great one.

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  126. Smith looks like a steal. Pinnock a little bit of a project. Hope you are right about Twyman, need more depth on the D-line and linebacker.

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  127. I agree this Smith young man looks like a real sleeper and a good player. This is a great find for the PITT coaches and shows how recruiting is more than a little different with these guys. I like it.

    Question, a few years ago PITT found a WR from Texas somewhere who Smith is reminding me about. He was also new to football with all the skills needed in D-1 football but I believe he was more raw than MS. I’m not comparing the two just similar scenarios and circumstances. Problem is that the Texas young man never made it to PITT. Anyone remember his name? Just throwing that out there, hope Smith and all the verbals come through on LOI….ike

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  128. Love to see Kam Carter because he would provide immediate depth th the D-line, as long as he has moved past what caused the problems at PSU.

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  129. Thayer Mundford looks like he is going to end up at OSU. He doesn’t have an offer from them as of yet, but expect them to offer and him to accept in the next 3-5 days. I thought he would fit in perfectly with our group of OL this period, but again, I think he is heading to OSU. Glad to see two of our OL recruits upgraded to 4 stars by one of the services.

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