Quick Spring Update

Hey everyone, I thought I'd just pass along some news here before I head out to Charlotte tomorrow.

The John Bachman experiment at center is not going well. Originally he was on the first team and was having difficulty snapping to Billy Stull. Just as the Cat Basket predicted, Robb Houser was bumped up to the first team and there were far fewer problems.

One of the players doing well in the few days we have been practicing is Aundre Wright. He is absolutely killing people with his speed and making a big impact on the field. While he is going to be held back by the depth we have at Wr, he is really proving that he deserves a shot to see the field. I still believe Kinder/Turner will be the starting 1,2 but with Porter, Wright, and Baldwin all waiting right behind them, any flaws in their game must be quickly addressed or they could be out of a starting spot very quickly. Hopefully we will play the best players and don't let the player's year in school impact how much they play.

Pat Bostick is doing his best to make me lose my bet with Brian Ising. He is in very good shape, he has improved his footwork, he has added distance to his long bomb, and has been more impressive than expected in camp. He has worked on correcting his throwing motion, so as of right now you will see a modified version of how he passed last year. He hasn't lost the hitch completely, but it isn't as significant as it was last season.

Lastly, I spoke with one of the coaches who is ready to call Elijah Fields the best player on the team. Thats right, even better than McKillop, better than Shady, better than Romeus. The belief is that with Elijah's super-human ability we can use him (get ready to smile yinzers) as a Troy Polamalu type. He is a superb blitzer for a defensive back, he has great closing speed, and he has arguably the best hands of anyone in our secondary. He is the type of player that will really impact how teams prepare for us. This is the first time I can remember that we have had a superstar on the DLine (Romeus), Linebacker (McKillop), and Secondary (Fields).

It might only be due to the Pitt basketball season ending, but I'm getting very excited for the football season.

We should have our recording equipment by next week, so when I return from Charlotte, look for the regular podcast updates.

Lastly, I want to give mention to our Pitt Women's basketball team. They will tip off here in about 30 minutes. Agnus has done a great job in her short time here. Stevie P, when you get into the office on monday and read this I have 2 jobs for you to do. 1st, give Jamie Dixon a long extension with a super huge buy out. Secondly, do the same thing with Agnus.

~ DPJ ~