Here are some small PITT football issues that have been in the media lately. The one I saw first and am personally most concerned about is the possibility of WR Juwann Winfree sliding from Maryland, where he had gotten suspended twice, over to PITT.
The move comes just nine days after Maryland Coach Randy Edsall suspended Winfree indefinitely for violating the school’s student athlete code of conduct. It was the second time in eight months that the troubled Winfree had been suspended by Edsall, who also banned the freshman wide receiver for two games last November for violating the same policy.
He played in eight games as a freshman, catching 11 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. His best game came against Michigan State shortly before he was suspended last November, when he caught four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Everyone will have different opinions on this ex-Maryland kid coming over to PITT if indeed Narduzzi allows him on the team. Nothing has been determined yet and Winfree himself may be jumping the gun just a bit regarding being allowed on the team:
He declined to elaborate on his issues at Maryland, other than to remark, “I felt it was best for me to depart and look for a new opportunity elsewhere.”
That could be at Pitt, although Coach Pat Narduzzi hasn’t offered him a scholarship. Winfree, who initiated the contact with Pitt, said he has spoken on the telephone with offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman.
One of the things I really felt was positive and important for PITT was the way the administration and the head football coach handled discipline and the recruitment of kids who didn’t get in trouble over the last three years.. I think there hasn’t been more than two or three of Chryst’s players who have had to be disciplined.
Aside from the latest problem with Tyler Boyd I believe we have to go back to 2013 for player’s suspensions and even then those were 2010 & ’11 recruits who were either dismissed from the team or suspended. Drew Carswell and Eric Williams were 2010 recruits and K. K. Smith was a Graham kid.
Here’s what I think about this sensitive issue. I would like to see Narduzzi take a strong and hard line in the area of allowed transfers of dismissed players and the discipline of our PITT players. I know this kid was a 4*, was recruited by Chryst two years ago and that he could help the team starting in 2016.
But at the same time I feel if Narduzzi is the great coach fans think he is then he should be able to be successful without taking on another university’s problem player. As for giving PITT giving these young players ‘second chances’, which I’m sure is the first reaction of many fans, well, this one’s already had two chances and he blew both. We’ll see what transpires.
Here are some local college ball players in line for the coveted Maxwell award, the only that should concern us are Boyd and Conner. Although, as with many other things Hackenberg it is a mystery how this QB who choked big time last year can get all this positive publicity.
This award is dead to me anyway since they chose A. J. McCarron over the great Aaron Donald for the 2013 winner of the coveted Player of the Year. At least “The Club” got it right with Aaron Donald as the Chuck Bednarik Defensive Player of the Year.
Here is an article by Jerry DiPaola of the Trib on a kid I’ve been touting on The Blather since last year’s fall camp. SO LB Quintin Wirginis has spent the last year getting ready to compete for the middle linebacker position playing time with Matt Galambos.
“I spent a lot of time on the playbook and watching game film,” Wirginis said. “I feel I’ve gotten stronger at learning where I’m supposed to be and when. I’ve improved as far as getting to where the ball is before the offense knows I’m there.”
Wirginis, who played at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds at Fox Chapel, now stands at 6-3 and 245.
“I’ve gained the weight without losing speed,” he said. “There’s a lot of 300-pound offensive lineman in college, and I feel better going up against them with the added weight.”
What really got me about Wirginis was the pure closing speed and hitting power this kid had through the camp, like a freaking heat seeking missile. The media guys on the sideline at the first few practices last year were scrambling around trying to figure out who he was and what the deal was.
I wondered then if he wouldn’t get up to at least the two deep at MLB in ’14 but reading the article it sound like his learning the system accounts for his not doing so. This is true especially at MLB where a player really needs to have the cerebral stuff down pat.
Man, if he can keep that speed and quickness he had last season now that he’s at 240 (up from 220) we’ll see big hits this year.
On an aside Quintin Wirginis is a true son of Pittsburgh as his family owns the Gateway Clipper Fleet…can’t get more Pittsburgh blood than that.
I have a bit in common with his dad also, in a nice long conversation last camp it turned out that we had a lot in common as I was the Team Leader for rewriting the Coast Guard inspection policies which covered the Gateway Fleet. Nice guy and he has no doubt at all we’ll be happy with his kid’s play.
The new 2015 PITT Roster has been put out and included are all the 2015 recruits and transfer in. There aren’t a lot of surprises in it except for some of the weight gains the kids had over the offseason. Like Wirginis above these other kids benefitted in the weight room, from the P-G’s Sam Werner’s Red Shirt Diaries:
Lastly, there are a couple of interesting weight changes to note. RB James Conner is down to 240 pounds after being listed this spring at 250. WR Elijah Zeise put on 20 pounds to go from 195 to 215. DB Jalen Williams went from 180 to 205.
Two stood out to me, though. The first is DL Darryl Render going from 275 to 300. Render’s going to be a big factor in the middle of Pitt’s defensive line this fall, and if he can play with the same speed at 300, that extra bulk is only going to help him.
The other one is WR Jaquaun Davidson, who has the honor of the biggest weight change from spring roster to now. He was listed at 170 this spring, and is now at 205. Davidson redshirted last year, but could be an intriguing depth option for Pitt at receiver this year.
Now maybe because I have never written about weight gains over the off-season before but it seems to me that those gains are pretty dramatic and really should help, especially on defense. Werner also has some uniform number changes for those fans who are interested.
Not too many changes jumped out at me although my eye did catch that Jaymar Parrish was switched to TE. I hope we see him at FB on some plays still, he excelled at that last season and we may need RBs not named Conner to have a hole-opener in front of them when they carry the ball.
Whitehead is listed on defense and with 14 roster WRs that kind of makes sense… but then again we have 16 DBs so that means Whitehead should just sit on the bench in 2015 and learn what both positions require to be successful at this level. Also, wbb is listed as the new team psychologist and QB apologist.
We also might have the college football player with the most vowels in only two names (none of that liberal hyphenated crap).
Here are the kids we will be losing after this 2015 season. Hey, we can play who’s going to be ‘asked to get on with his life’s work’ eight months before it even matters. Oh Joy! I’ll start the game with … Chad Voytik.
86 SR TE J.P. Holtz
91 SR DL Darryl Render
22 rsSR LB Jameel Poteat
3 rsSR LB Nicholas Grigsby
57 rsSR C Artie Rowell
97 rsSR DL Mark Scarpinato
95 rsSR DL Khaynin Mosley-Smith
67 rsSR LS David Murphy
6 rsSR DB Lafayette Pitts
5 rsSR DB Ejuan Price
…and lastly here is a new piece of good news…
From today’s press release
PITT’S HOLTZ AND OFFICER NAMED TO NATIONAL AWARD WATCH LISTS
Holtz is a Mackey Award candidate and Officer is up for the Rimington Trophy.
PITTSBURGH—Pitt senior tight end J.P. Holtz and sophomore center Alex Officer are considered players to watch at their respective positions according to two prestigious national awards committees.
Holtz was named to the watch list for the John Mackey Award, presented annually to the nation’s top tight end. Officer is on the preseason list for theRimington Trophy, which honors the country’s best center.
Holtz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) has played in every game the past three seasons (39) and owns 36 starts. He finished second on the team in receptions (21 for 199 yards) and touchdown catches (four) last year.
For his career, Holtz has compiled 57 catches for 581 yards (10.2 avg.) and seven touchdowns.
Officer (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) moved into a prominent role as a redshirt freshman last year when original starting center Artie Rowell sustained a season-ending knee injury in September. Officer went on to start 10 games for an offense that averaged 435.4 yards per contest, the Panthers’ highest average since 1992. On the ground, Pitt churned out 249.5 rushing yards per game, its highest average since 1988.
Holtz and Officer are the latest Panthers to be named to preseason award lists. Previously, junior running back James Conner and junior wide receiverTyler Boyd were named candidates for the Maxwell Award, which honors the College Player of the Year.
Season tickets and mini-plans for the 2015 Pitt football season are now on sale. The Panthers will be led by new head coach Pat Narduzzi, who joined Pitt in December after an accomplished tenure as defensive coordinator at Michigan
Fans have a new seating option at Heinz Field this fall with the debut of the South Plaza Champions Club. For more information, call the Panthers Ticket Office at (800) 643-PITT (7488) or log on to PittsburghPanthers.com. Click here for the Panthers’ 2015 schedule with announced kickoff times.
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