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Pitt suspends tackle Hollins for season
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The thinnest position on the Pitt Panthers depth chart just got a whole lot thinner as Paul Chryst announced Friday that starting tackle Juantez Hollins will be suspended for this entire season for violation of team policy.
Hollins, who is a junior from Aliquippa, played in 13 games last year and started seven and was slated to be one of the two starting tackles this season.
He will continue to be a part of the program according to Chryst, but with him out of the mix the Panthers now have only one tackle with significant game experience, sophomore Matt Rotheram, and almost no margin for error.
Senior Justin Virbitsky, junior Zenel Demhasaj and redshirt sophomore Tom Ricketts as well as incoming freshman Adam Bisnowaty (Fox Chapel) will all battle for the starting job but coaches will also look for some alternatives from the guard spot or perhaps even defense.
"Even though he will not play in any games, Juantez will remain an active and valuable member of our program and be accountable every day in practice and in the classroom," Chryst said.
Pitt also announced two other personnel moves Friday -- as expected sophomore quarterback Mark Myers, who was slated to be the back-up this year, will transfer to either John Carroll or some other Division III school and freshman receiver Chris Davis (Austintown Fitch, Ohio) will be suspended for the first week of preseason training camp for disciplinary reasons.
Myers transfer is not a surprise and has been rumored for months as he has not been an active participant in Pitt's summer workouts.
With Myers out of the mix sophomore Trey Anderson, a former walk-on, will start camp as the back-up to senior Tino Sunseri and will likely battle incoming freshman Chad Voytik (Cleveland, Tennessee) for the position.
First Published August 3, 2012 6:00 pm
