Somewhere between seeing the new Sports Illustrated with LeSean McCoy of the Eagles on the regional cover, or hearing on NFL Network that the Rams’ defensive coaches are describing Aaron Donald as a specimen unlike any they’ve witnessed in two decades, or reading that Tom Savage might become the Texans’ backup QB, or catching up on the latest regarding Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis, Jabaal Sheard, Devin Street and others … it’s easily reinforced that there’s this immense incongruity between the caliber of player the Pitt football program produces and the caliber of team.
And it borders, in all candor, on the bizarre.
I mean, explain, please, how a program can land the occasional world-class player — and that category comfortably fits McCoy, Fitzgerald, Revis and now Donald — but can barely survive .500 on an annual basis because of its perpetually inferior supporting casts?
How does that happen?
Wait, better question: Will it happen yet again with Tyler Boyd?
Here’s some of my talk Monday with the wonderfully gifted wide receiver after the Panthers opened their training camp on the South Side, in which that very topic was raised …
Boyd’s primary point is convincing: All he did at Clairton was win, win, win as part of the Bears’ state-record 66-game winning streak.
But he saw right away it wouldn’t be like that at Pitt, or even close, with the 41-13 mauling by Florida State at Heinz Field in the 2013 opener. Boyd did his thing. He was supremely athletic, almost singlehandedly responsible for those occasions when the Panthers moved the ball. But this one L stamped on it from front to finish.
I remember like yesterday Boyd’s frozen stare in the media room when he said, “This is different.”
Alas, the rest of the season would be much the same: Despite Boyd’s emergence, the presence of three other NFL draft picks and not exactly the most challenging schedule in the nation, Pitt wound up 7-6 and needed to beat MAC champ Bowling Green in the most anticlimactic bowl game imaginable to tread water.
It was same old, same old: After the season, football experts everywhere sang the virtues of Pitt’s best players. During the season, they weren’t nearly enough.
I asked Boyd how much it would mean if he were to help change that. “It would feel good, especially coming from Clairton, a team that had a lot of success. To try to come to Pitt and do the same thing, that would feel like I’m doing my job. That would feel like I’m doing everything I can to help the team win.”
Paul Chryst is plenty aware of this stigma. He’s 13-13, so he’s lived enough of it.
“That’s the next level for us, to grow together, to grow as a group,” the coach said. “It’s great for the university when an Aaron Donald comes along and gets the recognition he did. We couldn’t be more proud. But the fact is A.D. was so dominant that he could get recognized on a .500 team.”
And Boyd?
“We’re going to have to help Tyler, lift Tyler up, make sure he can do everything he’s capable of.”
That was no knock on Boyd but, rather, a concession to the wide receiver position. If Donald was double-teamed, even triple-teamed, he could still carve out his own response. The receiver needs a diverse attack, a dependable quarterback and other receivers to deflect some of the attention.
Pitt should have all that, but I’m not sure.
The running game should be there, given James Conner’s ability and a shored-up offensive line. For sure, Conner thinks so: “I know we’ll run the football, and I’m confident we’ll do a lot to keep defenses off Tyler. They’ll have to meet us at the line of scrimmage.”
The quarterback should be there, given Chad Voytik’s pedigree, his athleticism and the four games in which he appeared behind Savage last season. I’ve got grave doubts related to his size — he’s listed at 6 feet 1, for the record — but it’s easy to appreciate the enthusiasm he expressed after Day 1: “It feels awesome to get back out there again and compete.” The kid just oozes energy.
The rest of the receivers should be there, given Manasseh Garner’s 6-2 frame, senior experience and power style, as well as newcomer Adonis Jennings, a 6-3 specimen of a freshman. But it’s hard to imagine either having the immediate impact Street did.
And all that’s to say nothing of a defense that’s lost Donald to the NFL, safety Jason Hendricks to graduation, and now end Ejuan Price for the season to injury. If answers don’t develop there — and I’m talking about well before the Aug. 30 kickoff vs. Delaware — one can safely anticipate that Pitt victories will look a lot like that 58-55 caper at Duke last season.
This is why, no doubt, the Panthers were picked in the ACC preseason poll to finish sixth in the seven-team Coastal Division. And why expectations everywhere else aren’t a whole lot higher.
And it’s why they’ll continue to occupy such depths until the recruiting adds some serious quantity to the existing quality. So far in Chryst’s tenure, I’m not seeing it: Pitt’s recruiting has been ranked by Rivals.com as 47th for the class of 2012, 35th for 2013, 44th for 2014, and it’s currently 46th for 2015. There are 65 schools in the NCAA’s five power conferences, and that’s either the lower half or lower third all the way through.
For now, all concerned are talking a good game. They like their ability to identify and secure quality players regardless of the stars assigned to their names. They like the stability that’s finally in place in the post-Dave Wannstedt era. They like the discipline that’s finally in place unlike the Wannstedt era. They speak in passionate tones about what’s being built.
“We know what’s happening here, and we’re going to prove that,” Conner said. “It’s coming, too. You’ll see. Not in a couple years.”
He motioned to a bracelet with the inscription, “THE TIME IS NOW.”
“That’s our mentality.”
Nice. But until that happens, here’s predicting that Pitt’s best chance at postseason glory remains the Super Bowl.
August 4, 2014
Column: Pitt needs more than NFL legends
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Pitt
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
Somewhere between seeing the new Sports Illustrated with LeSean McCoy of the Eagles on the regional cover, or hearing on NFL Network that the Rams’ defensive coaches are describing Aaron Donald as a specimen unlike any they’ve witnessed in two decades, or reading that Tom Savage might become the Texans’ backup QB, or catching up on the latest regarding Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis, Jabaal Sheard, Devin Street and others … it’s easily reinforced that there’s this immense incongruity between the caliber of player the Pitt football program produces and the caliber of team.
And it borders, in all candor, on the bizarre.
I mean, explain, please, how a program can land the occasional world-class player — and that category comfortably fits McCoy, Fitzgerald, Revis and now Donald — but can barely survive .500 on an annual basis because of its perpetually inferior supporting casts?
How does that happen?
Wait, better question: Will it happen yet again with Tyler Boyd?
Here’s some of my talk Monday with the wonderfully gifted wide receiver after the Panthers opened their training camp on the South Side, in which that very topic was raised …
Boyd’s primary point is convincing: All he did at Clairton was win, win, win as part of the Bears’ state-record 66-game winning streak.
But he saw right away it wouldn’t be like that at Pitt, or even close, with the 41-13 mauling by Florida State at Heinz Field in the 2013 opener. Boyd did his thing. He was supremely athletic, almost singlehandedly responsible for those occasions when the Panthers moved the ball. But this one L stamped on it from front to finish.
I remember like yesterday Boyd’s frozen stare in the media room when he said, “This is different.”
Alas, the rest of the season would be much the same: Despite Boyd’s emergence, the presence of three other NFL draft picks and not exactly the most challenging schedule in the nation, Pitt wound up 7-6 and needed to beat MAC champ Bowling Green in the most anticlimactic bowl game imaginable to tread water.
It was same old, same old: After the season, football experts everywhere sang the virtues of Pitt’s best players. During the season, they weren’t nearly enough.
I asked Boyd how much it would mean if he were to help change that. “It would feel good, especially coming from Clairton, a team that had a lot of success. To try to come to Pitt and do the same thing, that would feel like I’m doing my job. That would feel like I’m doing everything I can to help the team win.”
Paul Chryst is plenty aware of this stigma. He’s 13-13, so he’s lived enough of it.
“That’s the next level for us, to grow together, to grow as a group,” the coach said. “It’s great for the university when an Aaron Donald comes along and gets the recognition he did. We couldn’t be more proud. But the fact is A.D. was so dominant that he could get recognized on a .500 team.”
And Boyd?
“We’re going to have to help Tyler, lift Tyler up, make sure he can do everything he’s capable of.”
That was no knock on Boyd but, rather, a concession to the wide receiver position. If Donald was double-teamed, even triple-teamed, he could still carve out his own response. The receiver needs a diverse attack, a dependable quarterback and other receivers to deflect some of the attention.
Pitt should have all that, but I’m not sure.
The running game should be there, given James Conner’s ability and a shored-up offensive line. For sure, Conner thinks so: “I know we’ll run the football, and I’m confident we’ll do a lot to keep defenses off Tyler. They’ll have to meet us at the line of scrimmage.”
The quarterback should be there, given Chad Voytik’s pedigree, his athleticism and the four games in which he appeared behind Savage last season. I’ve got grave doubts related to his size — he’s listed at 6 feet 1, for the record — but it’s easy to appreciate the enthusiasm he expressed after Day 1: “It feels awesome to get back out there again and compete.” The kid just oozes energy.
The rest of the receivers should be there, given Manasseh Garner’s 6-2 frame, senior experience and power style, as well as newcomer Adonis Jennings, a 6-3 specimen of a freshman. But it’s hard to imagine either having the immediate impact Street did.
And all that’s to say nothing of a defense that’s lost Donald to the NFL, safety Jason Hendricks to graduation, and now end Ejuan Price for the season to injury. If answers don’t develop there — and I’m talking about well before the Aug. 30 kickoff vs. Delaware — one can safely anticipate that Pitt victories will look a lot like that 58-55 caper at Duke last season.
This is why, no doubt, the Panthers were picked in the ACC preseason poll to finish sixth in the seven-team Coastal Division. And why expectations everywhere else aren’t a whole lot higher.
And it’s why they’ll continue to occupy such depths until the recruiting adds some serious quantity to the existing quality. So far in Chryst’s tenure, I’m not seeing it: Pitt’s recruiting has been ranked by Rivals.com as 47th for the class of 2012, 35th for 2013, 44th for 2014, and it’s currently 46th for 2015. There are 65 schools in the NCAA’s five power conferences, and that’s either the lower half or lower third all the way through.
For now, all concerned are talking a good game. They like their ability to identify and secure quality players regardless of the stars assigned to their names. They like the stability that’s finally in place in the post-Dave Wannstedt era. They like the discipline that’s finally in place unlike the Wannstedt era. They speak in passionate tones about what’s being built.
“We know what’s happening here, and we’re going to prove that,” Conner said. “It’s coming, too. You’ll see. Not in a couple years.”
He motioned to a bracelet with the inscription, “THE TIME IS NOW.”
“That’s our mentality.”
Nice. But until that happens, here’s predicting that Pitt’s best chance at postseason glory remains the Super Bowl.