Speaking of Todd Sibley – Rivals.com has an excellent series going with some of the incoming freshman who will be arriving on the Southside in August. This one is about our (semi-) transfer from OSU’s class of 2017.
Here are two quotes from that article – one is rather funny and the second is very serious. Here is the first:
What was the craziest thing a coach said to you?
“I don’t know if this is crazy or not, but it’s coach Harbaugh. He said that I looked just like Frank Gore. I still don’t know how I feel about that [laughter]. He said I looked like Frank Gore and I didn’t know what to say after he said that. It’s just that my friends had told me previously that I look like Frank Gore and I run like Frank Gore. When he told me that, I instantly told my friends ‘Yo, you won’t believe what he just told me.’”
Well, Gore is 5’9″ and 217 – Sibley is 5′ 10″ and 211 so there is a similarity there. let’s hope this is the case because with him and A. J. Davis I think we have a bright future at RB.
And this next issue is one we talk about a lot on The POV. I have written before and maintain that what the recruits and their parents (and grandparents in some cases) weigh just as heavily, if not more in some cases, are the positives of a university external to the football program when deciding on a school…
What shocked you most in the process?
“I guess how serious it is. For a young kid, it’s something that you’re not really used to. You don’t really understand the value of the decision you’re going to make – I didn’t really understand the value of it. You know, this is where you’re going to spend the next three to four years at and possibly where you find your wife at and develop into a man and achieve your dream, so this is a really tough decision. Once it sets in for all of the kids, they’ll understand it too.”
Many times I have spoken to current and alumni players and their parents and have been impressed with how level-headed their decision to come to Pitt was – focusing on the off-field and external issues from football.
Players may dream about the NFL and some have a better shot at it going in, but the majority of them realize that Pitt is going to be the school where they grow from an 18-year-old into mature into a young man. That getting ready ‘for the rest of their lives‘ is paramount in a lot of cases.
I’ll have another article tomorrow then I’ll do a Sunday Podcast but will take a longer break afterward for a family vacation.
pittpov.com 
As my investment portfolio suggests, I am often wrong, but I am optimistic about TS.
Looking forward to watching him play.
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Could not agree more with Mr. Sibley’s opinion. And it goes even further than just considering the institution of higher learning to attend. No college exists in a vacuum, the entire environment needs to be evaluated in the decision making process as well.
Pittsburgh, the city, is an invaluable asset to be appreciated by all Pitt students. The parks, the museums, the professional sports teams, the cultural events, the community festivals & the young vibrant urban social scene are all aspects of a student’s maturation process during their years as an undergrad that cannot be duplicated when attending a large land grant university located in the middle of nowhere like the rival dairy college out in butt )*)* to the East is.
The University of Pittsburgh has so much to offer! Hail to Pitt!
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Good guy to root for .. seems very level-headed for a 17 / 18 yr old.
The RB position is the least of my worries as history has proven it is one of the few positions that a natural freshman can readily adapt to … in addition to incumbents Moss, Hall and Ollison.
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I put together a poor choice of words at the end there about a lackluster career. I should have said a bit of a downward ending for Danny. I did say he’s my third all-time favorite though..
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I’ll take a Frank Gore likeness in the backfield any time. I can see either one of these two making a quick impression on HCPN and thus getting much playing time very early at Pitt.
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A.J. Davis is gonna be a Slasher, 6 foot Ray Graham back there (and will stay healthy and make “The Show” in his due-time 🙂 )…. Todd Sibley is gonna be a 5’10” (vs. 5’6” lol), 30 pounds heavier Dion Lewis cuttin’ and punishin’.
But This Year IS —— The Triumphant Return of 6’2”, 220 pound Lean, 4.5 speed, Qadree (No ‘U’!!!) Ollison!!
Max Browne earnin’ his 5*, Top 10 Overall Rating and getting his name up there after his 10-3 season with his ol’ mate Sam Darnold (a la Nate Peterman vs. Josh Dobbs very close — except this battle wil play-out in the Early-Rounds)**
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DK, you are a creative thinker and I like your style.
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Great job as usual by the round participants! My 5 favorite all time in the years since my student days: Hugh Green with runner-up Zeke Gadson at the position both undersized but tremendous players, Tony Dorsett ,Bill Fralic, Matt Cavanaugh- who would most likely delivered back to back national championships barring a wrist fracture vs ND and James Conner! It amazes me how much talent
PITT has put on the FB field.. wish the talent level in the decision makers would improve… hard to name
5 top business leaders as it pertains to PITT athletics…
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That would probably be pretty darn close to my Top 5 … although Gadson would be 4th or 5th. Gerald Hayes, Ramon Walker, Brian Guzek, Scott McKillop and Nate Byham would be my recent (post 2000) picks
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Sounds like a good kid. Can’t wait to root for him.
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DK, QO may get the same amount of carries he did last season if either of these freshman get onto the field early.
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Reed – I have tried to post the link to stats on SB Nation Football Study Hall site at least three times. No Link & no comment except for yesterday.
Once again, great hour with you & Ike.
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Well, it’s not Reed blocking me after he reviewed my effort on the round table and decided to make me a free agent poster.
Must be the SB Nation website. It’s changed since yesterday & maybe they are still working out the kinks.
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Pitt cocks fan … love your accent.. your Pittsburgh accent… no matter how long we have lived away from western Pa that Burgh twang remains a part of us who were raised there.
??? TS is that Sibley or Sunseti you aren’t referring to.. joking of course…
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Auto correct. !$(:)$
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Regarding the article about coaches salaries last week. This was in the Baltimore Sun about the Terrapins’ staff coaches and the top three earners there…
Randy Edsall was the highest paid state employee in Maryland in 2016, despite not coaching a game in the state, The Sun’s salaries database reveals.
But it also pays to be an assistant coach for the Terps.
Former interim coach Mike Locksley — who filled Edsall’s role after his firing in 2015, but wasn’t retained as the coach thereafter — was paid $460,000 in 2016.
Three of the assistant coaches under new head coach D.J. Durkin earned notable salaries in 2016. Offensive coordinator Walt Bell ($507K), defensive coordinator Andy Buh ($483K) and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Pete Lembo ($362K) earned more than a head coach at another Division I program in the state.
So – under Pat Narduzzi Pitt pays a total of around $700K for 10 staff coaches and Maryland pays their top Three $1.352M
Right there is the difference between being an ACC member vice a Big Ten member. Big Ten schools made $27.6M in 2016 and ACC schools made $22.1M
http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/the-5-most-valuable-conferences-in-college-sports.html/?a=viewall
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Check this out
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/pages/2016-pittsburgh-advanced-statistical-profile
Notice Weah’s catch rate of only 56.2% and Orndoff’s of only 58.3%
Funny that the RBs were by far the best with Aston’s 27 catches for a 81.5% and Conner’s 25 for 84%
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There you go Reed. That’s your stats for you… Would like to see the degree of difficulty involved with the pass attempts between Weah and Georgie Aston. Some of those fullback misdirection plays were in fact shuttle passes of all around 3 feet in the air..
% are difficult to categorize on paper alone. Downfield passes will generally deflate the % of passes completed and swing passes will generally inflate a QB’s ratings…. but who didn’t know that.
What I really want to know is, when did PITT target Tyrique Jarrett with a pass attempt?
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“There is nothing inherently wrong with a student enrolling in a reputedly ‘easy’ course whether the purpose of taking the course is to balance the student’s schedule, remain academically eligible to be a full-time student, meet academic scholarship requirements or to simply boost one’s GPA,” the letter states.”
This is from UNC in its challenge to NCAA investigation ..http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/19463858/north-carolina-responds-3rd-notice-allegations-ncaa-case
And many of you are OK with NCAA usurping the transfer restriction for Cam Johnson. Shame on you. SHAAAAAAME on you! for 6 months
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Seems your beef has more to do with the fact that it is UNC.
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Absolutely wwb I agree whole heartily. What’s so ironic with Johnson’s request to enroll there considering the NCAA investigation with UNC, is that Johnson graduated in 3 years at PITT. He really doesn’t need to cheat but on the other hand, he really doesn’t need to associate with cheaters either.
I totally agree with blocking his moving there. It’s a standard procedure practiced throughout college sports.. ike
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Reed, can’t believe 10 coaches for Pitt football average 70k/yr
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Yeah – that is kind of hard to believe also – maybe that is for the coordinators and some unit coaches.
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Oh gee, Pitt is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. No, a football player didn’t get into trouble causing an uproar from some of fans and that it might be time to drop football. No, a Pitt administrator was arrested for child pornography. So Pitt in recent years has had a professor kill his wife with cyanide and now some freak for child pornography.
So this is the same school that held a press conference after the SI article came out in 2010 due to be afraid of the repercussions from the national media, when in reality nobody gave a damn about it because Pitt football is a Mickey Mouse operation. So what does Pitt do to extinguish this story? How do parents send their child to this university when they can be in danger from untrustworthy faculty? We can’t have bad seeds in football because they are a danger to the rest of the student body I’ve read from some fans on message boards, so what gives here?
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calm down its one dude and he’s being brought to justice
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I am calm and I could care less about Pitt’s perception academically. That means nothing to me as a non-Pitt grad. All I want is a good football program regardless of the means it takes to get there.
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Enjoying the Roundtable as I listen at work gents.
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Here’s the upcoming Penguins final schedule:
Monday, May 29
Wednesday, May 31
Saturday, June 3
Monday, June 5
Thursday, June 8
Sunday, June 11
Wednesday, June 14
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^^^^ Ohhhh…..wowwwww : “I am calm and I could care less about Pitt’s perception academically. That means nothing to me as a non-Pitt grad. All I want is a good football program regardless of the means it takes to get there.”
Lol — when you say, “Regardless of the means”, I think this:
^^^ 🙂 🙂 haha Nick Saban Style!!!!!
— I’m not really on that team — Pitt Alum / Human with Principles haha.
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^^^^^ YOU WILL NOT HANG-UP THE PHONE….TIL THE RECRUIT COMMITS…..OR FUC*KIN DIESSSSS!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 haha c’mon now.
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