Panthers ready to pick up pace
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A new era of Pitt football will begin today when the Panthers take the field for their first official practice under the direction of head coach Todd Graham.
And while coaching changes almost always signal a new direction for a program, this one -- from former coach Dave Wannstedt to Graham -- figures to be as dramatic as any given the fact the philosophies of the two coaches are so different.
The pro-style offenses and defenses are long gone and have been replaced by Graham's self-proclaimed high-octane, no-huddle schemes on both sides of the ball.
"We want to snap the ball every fifteen seconds on offense," Graham said. "Defensively, we want to apply pressure on every down and make the momentum-changing plays that win football games.
"We're a no-huddle football team. We're going to operate extremely fast on offense. We're going to be high tempo, high octane and explosive. Our goal is to be the most explosive team in the country."
Graham, who came to Pitt from Tulsa, certainly has delivered that in recent years. The Golden Hurricane has annually been among the nation's leaders in total offense as well as forced turnovers.
Last year, Tulsa averaged 505.6 yards per game to rank fifth nationally and averaged 41.4 points per game to rank sixth. And defensively, the Golden Hurricane forced 36 turnovers to rank third in NCAA Division I-A in that category.
But therein lies the greatest challenge facing Graham this spring and in fall training camp -- change the culture of a football team and players recruited to play an entirely different style.
Graham said that while he will obviously implement his system this year, he will also make sure that he puts the current players in positions to succeed and utilizes their strengths to give the Panthers the best chance to win games.
"We will be adaptive to the skills and talents of the players we have," Graham said.
Graham also has some big holes to fill as the Panthers lost a lot of talent, to graduation and early NFL defections.
Among the major losses for the Panthers are two starting defensive ends, Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard, safety Dom DeCicco, kicker/punter Dan Hutchins, starting center Alex Karabin and starting left tackle Jason Pinkston to graduation.
First Published March 15, 2011 12:00 am
