Xavier Stinson 5-9 215 pound 3 Star RB committed to Pittsburgh over schools that offered like Auburn, Tennessee and Wisconsin. This looks like one hellva pickup and I offer my congrats to the Panthers. Dave Wannsteadt is really incresing the talent level in the Steel City.

http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=16&p=2&c=574728

We are also in the running for last years #1 ranked RB LeSean McCoy who is in prep school. He broke his leg last season and had some work to do in the classroom. He committed to Miami but never signed a LOI. Say what you will about Wanny, he can recruit. It looks like his system is starting to take hold. It is nice to see us pound the Toledos of the world again.

Shannon Panther Wrote:We are also in the running for last years #1 ranked RB LeSean McCoy who is in prep school. He broke his leg last season and had some work to do in the classroom. He committed to Miami but never signed a LOI. Say what you will about Wanny, he can recruit. It looks like his system is starting to take hold. It is nice to see us pound the Toledos of the world again.

Just don't pound us too bad with all that talent you guys are bringing in.

It appears Petrino is not doing to bad himself with now being involved in 4/5 Star recruits like D'Angelo McCray, Luther Davis and Mark Barnes and already getting Matt Simms and Doug Beaumont with the recommitment of 4 star players Josh Chichester Tabby Francis and 4 Star DT Kareem Crowell, Crowell and Francis are at Hargrave and Chichester is at the Prep School near Cincinnati.

Wanny was recently quoted as saying that next year is the year we will start to make some noise in the conference. It would be nice to get there a game or 2 early with an upset of WVU or Louisville in the last 2 games of the season. We better be ready next year. We are at Louisville, WVU, Rutgers, and either Mich State or Virginia next year.

Quote:We better be ready next year. We are at Louisville, WVU, Rutgers, and either Mich State or Virginia next year.

Pitt plays BOTH MSU and UVa away (including as you mentioned AT UL, AT WVu, and AT RU). That's 5 tough away games while breaking in a new QB. Pitt is also home to Navy.

Shannon Panther Wrote:Wanny was recently quoted as saying that next year is the year we will start to make some noise in the conference.

Wannstedt is bringing in some great talent to Pitt. The question is, can he coach them? Sorry to sound cynical but as a Dolphin fan I'm not a big fan of his. Hopefully for Pitt he'll be like Pete Carroll, mediocre NFL coach but great in College.

Also, has Pitt thought about bringing back the helmets they wore in the 70' and 80's? Growing up I always thought those were the coolest uniforms in college football.

Wanny has a better QB in Palko than he ever had in Miami. Another advantage he has is that he s the defacto general manager of a college team in that he can recruit players to fit his system. Wanny's biggest sin in the NFL was that he wasn't Jimmy Johnson.

I think that Pitt will be fine with Wanny at the helm. 8 or 9 wins this year will keep the recruiting mo going. Walt Harris was enamored with skill players, but ignored the lines. Wanny has said he considers the lines to be the bedrock of the team. Next year Pitt should have 5 4* OL in the 2 deep. That is a drastic change from the Harris days when we had mostly 2* linemen. All this is going on while the skill positions are still being looked after.

Due to injuries and lack of depth, the freshmen are being used extensively and are gaining valuable experience. That experience will be invaluable next year when we have all the current top BE teams on the road.