Aug. 28, 2006

Dave Wannstedt

Virginia Preview

August 28, 2006

Opening remarks:

This officially starts game preparation week and two thoughts come to mind. Number one, the opponent that we're playing, I think everyone knows that Virginia is a very talented team. They did graduate some people. Everyone talks about the guys that graduated, who left, who didn't. But all you have to do is go back a couple years in their recruiting manuals and it's real obvious the type of talent that they've recruited. They've come into Pennsylvania and got a couple kids the past couple years. They're well coached. The philosophy is somewhat similar to what we are attempting to do. They are a physical football team, they run the ball, they make plays with their wideouts. On defense, they mix some of the 3-4 and 4-3 and do some blitzing stuff, similar to what Al (Groh) did when he was with the Jets. So, the whole thing of starting off with a very tough opponent leads me to the second thought. Are we farther ahead from where we were a year ago today? Yes. No question. How's that going to influence wins and losses? We'll wait till the end of the year to see that. With opening with an opponent like Virginia, we have to be ready to play and play well Saturday night. I believe that our football team is where we need to be mentally. We're in pretty good shape physically and we've had a very good camp. So our guys will be ready to go and we look forward to the challenge. Like I've said, with some changes and juggling some people around, which happens every year, there's no chance for error when playing an opponent like Virginia.

On the players having a better understanding of the philosophy this year:

I believe that everybody does. I know that I do and it starts with me. I know that our assistant coaches do. Our players do. I believe that the equipment guy does. (We all have a better understanding) as far as what we need to do and how we need to do things to give us the best chance to win.

On the team being more certain of its identity:

It's a work in progress. We have a real clear picture of where we're going and what we're going to become, but it doesn't happen overnight and I think that it takes time. If you called our players in and asked them what is the foundation of this team and what the philosophy is, I think man for man they would know and that's the starting point I think - making sure that you know and everybody understands what you're trying to do and how you're going to go about it.

On who will be Pitt's placekicker:

No decision has been made. It's been tough to really make a final decision because Conor Lee's been hampered a little bit with the injury. He is feeling better. He wanted to kick today. I think I'll hold him another day, maybe two days, (until we) let him kick (to) see where he's at. So there is more involved in this decision other than just making those kicks. We will go down to Heinz Field and kick on Wednesday.

On how many carries LaRod Stephens-Howling will get during a game:

To his credit and our strength program, he is about 10 pounds heavier than he was a year ago. I believe he's stronger. He's plenty tough enough, we know that. I'm optimistic that he's going to be more durable. Will we spell him? Yes. Shane Brooks is going to play some, Kevin Collier is going to play some. There is no question that it's going to be running back by committee.

On the importance of winning the season opener:

There's two ways of looking at an opener when you have a very good opponent like Virginia. It's easier from the standpoint of when you're going through your summer drills, you're running, you're conditioning, your training camp. You kind of got Virginia in your sights. They're an easy team to talk about, they're a very good team. We're playing at home. Obviously the 30-year reunion (of the 1976 national championship team), the '76 team is coming in. There's excitement in the air. We expect to go out and play well.

On the status of T.J. Porter:

He is part of the team. He will practice today. We're just working through some growing pains. It really doesn't have anything to do with football. I mentioned before, with these young kids it's more transition adjustment. I really feel an obligation to the player and just as importantly, his parents and our university to try to do everything we can to help these young kids with the transition, if there's problems, as long as it doesn't compromise anything we're trying to do as a football team. You have to be able to separate the two. It has not been determined yet (whether or not he will dress on Saturday vs. Virginia). I expect him to come out and practice today, have a good practice and we'll go from there.

On the depth of the defensive line:

I was looking at that this morning, just looking at the depth chart and Joe Clermond and Chris McKillop are interchangeable as far as who starts. Right now, Joe is actually working with the first group. He's been a little bit more productive in camp. Chris has done a great job and he'll play equally. Doug Fulmer, who is a redshirt freshman, and the other two guys playing are going to be sophomores or freshmen. (John) Malecki's going to play, Gus (Mustakas) is a sophomore, Rashaad (Duncan) is a sophomore. I like our attitude better, I think we're hungrier. I think we have more playmaking ability with our front four, regardless of who's in there. We're going to rotate guys in there. I expect to play eight defensive linemen come Saturday night. A couple decisions have to be made. McKenzie Matthews, Jason Pinkston, can we get those guys in the mix? Maybe not the first game, but those are guys right there that are close. Once somebody gets hurt, all of a sudden you're right there. I like our hungrier attitude of our defensive line. We're more athletic and that's going to be the determining factor. We can't end the season with our leading sacker having three sacks. That cannot happen or we won't be much better as a team.

On the progress of the receivers:

The receiver position, because of some circumstances (is not as deep as we would like). (That's because we have) young kids, Dorin Dickerson got hurt and issues with T.J. Porter getting adjusted. The Joe DelSardo circumstance. We are not as deep as what I would like to be at receiver with guys that have played or guys that have practice time. Oderick Turner is going to be an outstanding player. He's a redshirt freshman, he's going to grow up fast and he'll make plays Saturday night. He's going to be a heck of a player for us. Derek Kinder is really the old man, the leader of the group. Marcel Pestano has come on, he's going to play some. Cedric McGee has been hurt almost all of camp. So that position, for the reasons I've just mentioned, we're going to be a little bit thin there.

On how quarterback Tyler Palko's experience will help the team:

That's going to be big for us. That will be huge. Nobody has prepared themselves on and off the field more than Tyler has. The kid has really worked hard. I know that he knows that his number one job is to not make `X' amount of great plays but manage the game, give the ball to the right guy and have some confidence in these young kids that they will make plays. Oderick Turner will make a play. Darrell Strong will make a play. Kevin Collier, you give him the ball, LaRod (Stephens-Howling), they're going to make plays. I think we've come a long way from where we started, to where we are right now, with the philosophy of what do we need to do to move the ball and score points. Tyler's the key to that and he's ready for it.

On how the tight ends will contribute:

Darrell (Strong) presents defenses with kind of a double problem from the standpoint that he is big and physical enough to do things that a tight end can do but he's also athletic enough to do some things that a wide receiver can do. Nate Byham is everything that we'd hoped he would be. Steve Buches is probably underrated, so we feel good about where we're at with the tight ends.

On the competition at the cornerback position:

It was close. Either one (Kennard Cox or Reggie Carter) could start. Reggie's been hampered a little bit with an injury but he's back full speed now. He practiced Saturday. They'll both play. They've been consistent. I think both of them can run. They've both been around. They've been in the system, so we have confidence in both of those kids.

On the possibility of a kicker earning a scholarship:

Well, we've talked about that and I think they are aware of the possibility that we could give a scholarship to a kicker. I think we play out the year and see where we're at in January.

On how the opposition will counter quarterback Tyler Palko's strengths:

Well, I'm sure they would like to put as much pressure on him as they possibly could. You're not going to let a veteran quarterback sit back there and pick and choose where he wants to throw it. We're anticipating a lot of pressure, and that would be one way to counter an experienced quarterback.

On opening the season against a strong team:

There are pros and cons to it. I think the majority of schools would like to go the other direction, play a few of the lesser opponents and gain their confidence as a team, make some of the adjustments before they start hitting some of the big ones. But this was on the books, so we play. I think it changes every year. Jeff (Long) and I have had conversations about that and we're going to do things smart, we're not going to go out there and schedule somebody just to schedule them. We have conversations about who we schedule and when we play them.

On the leadership of seniors H.B. Blades and Tyler Palko:

Well, you mentioned two but that's the unique thing about this senior class. It's not a very big class, I think we've got 12 or 14 seniors total. With David Abdul gone now, that's one less. Two of the seniors, Joe Villani and Joe DelSardo, are guys that walked on and earned scholarships. So when you look at this class that originally came in as freshmen scholarship players, I think there's 10 guys left. It's a small number but a very, very solid number. Talented players, great attitude, great leadership. John Simonitis has stepped up. Sam Bryant has done a great job, hasn't missed a thing. He comes in early, stays late. I mentioned (Steve) Buches. Clint Session is going to have a great year. So it's not a real big class but it's a good class. I like our approach. I think that last year we were trying to lead our football team, basically with all these same guys who were not seniors. They were trying to take that role. I was trying to push them that way. Now it is their football team and they've taken ownership.

On Virginia's defensive end Chris Long:

He's their best defensive linemen. Probably one of the three best players they have on defense, in our opinion. We need to know where he's at all the time. They do move him around a lot. They jump in a 4-3 and a 3-4, they do a good job of trying to get him in one-on-one matchups. Very quick. You can tell his dad's been coaching him since he was five years old. He plays that way.