How ACC went from one of most successful in college sports history to uncertain future
RALEIGH, N.C. — In an instant late last week, the ACC went from a period of relative stability — yet one not without significant questions about its long-term future — to prognostications of doom and visions of worst-case scenarios. Pick a related metaphor and they all fit the perception that...
Tim Benz: College football conferences may have to die for the sport to rediscover why they were important
I’ve long had a theory about how the shifting landscape of college sports conferences would end. Pretty close to how it started. I consider the constant conference expansion and contraction to be college football nihilism. The existence of conferences as we know them today is unfounded, senseless and useless. Objective...
Pitt lands commitment from Cincinnati offensive tackle Phillip Daniels
Pitt added a fourth offensive lineman to its 15-man class of 2023 verbal commitments Saturday when Phillip Daniels of Cincinnati pledged to enroll. Daniels made the announcement on an Instagram video when he picked up and donned a Pitt baseball cap that was sitting among two others representing Minnesota and...
Pitt senior tackle Carter Warren, teammates hang out with little ones at Millvale’s Boys and Girls Club
When you stand 6-foot-5 and weigh 320 pounds with thick arms and a muscle-bound chest, it might be difficult to look welcoming. But Carter Warren and four of his similarly sized buddies on Pitt’s offensive line pulled it off Tuesday. They greeted, mingled with and even played a game of...
Former Pitt star Dorin Dickerson to join ‘Fan Morning Show’
For the first time since the retirement of Pittsburgh sports radio personality Jim Colony last January, “The Fan Morning Show” has a permanent trio of co-hosts. Former NFL player and Pitt star tight end Dorin Dickerson is joining Colin Dunlap and Chris Mack as a regular host of the weekday...
Pitt lands Florida 3-star DB Jesse Anderson for class of 2023
Defensive back Jesse Anderson announced his plans to enroll at Pitt next year in a unique manner. He wrote an article for USA Today Network. Anderson (6-foot-1, 175 pounds) plays wide receiver and defensive back at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but he will begin his Pitt...
Pitt secures services of wrestling coach Keith Gavin through 2027
Pitt achieved the stablity in its wrestling program that it seeks across all sports when coach Keith Gavin signed a contract Tuesday that carries through the 2027 season. In five seasons at Pitt (his alma mater), Gavin coached 27 NCAA championship qualifiers, 10 ACC champions and seven All-Americans while recording...
ACC eliminates football divisions starting in 2023, allowing each school to play all 13 opponents in 4-year cycle
Pitt and every other school in the ACC has one last chance this season to grab a division championship in football. The ACC announced Tuesday a significantly modified scheduling model that will run at least from 2023 to 2026. The main point is that the Coastal and Atlantic divisions will...
Pitt receives commitment from 3rd offensive lineman
Pitt received a third verbal commitment from a high school offensive lineman when Tai Ray of Apopka, Fla., announced Monday morning on his Twitter account that he plans to enroll next year. 1000% committed!! @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachBorbs @CoachTimSalem @Pitt_FB #H2P ???????? pic.twitter.com/q5psYpzFze— Tai Ray (@67TaiRay) June 27, 2022 Ray (6-foot-6, 280...
Pitt scheduled for return date with Northwestern in ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Pitt will play Northwestern in the 2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge, with a visit to Evanston, Ill., scheduled for Nov. 28 when Jeff Capel will compete for the third time against former Duke teammate Chris Collins, the Wildcats’ coach. It will be the Panthers’ second game at Northwestern in three seasons....
First Call: Dan Marino honors Tony Siragusa; Andrew McCutchen’s big night; Pirates position player’s outing on the mound
Thursday’s “First Call” shares memories of former Pitt Panther Tony Siragusa. A Pirates position player has an interesting experience on the mound. Andrew McCutchen has a big night in Milwaukee. And we check in on a few former Pirates who had up-and-down starts with their new teams. Brutal day in...
As Title IX turns 50, Pitt’s 1st women’s basketball star celebrates its impact
Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in schools, turns 50 on Thursday. While the law was in its infancy, Debbie Lewis was experiencing equality — in a painful way — on the playgrounds of suburban Philadelphia. And it didn’t bother her a bit. Lewis, the...
Former Pitt, NFL defensive lineman Tony Siragusa dies at age 55
Tony Siragusa, a free-spirited Pitt defensive lineman who went on to play 12 NFL seasons before launching a career as an NFL sideline analyst for Fox Sports, died Wednesday at age 55. Siragusa’s broadcast agent, Jim Ornstein, confirmed the death Wednesday. The cause of death was not immediately available. “This...
SirVocea Dennis said his ‘love for Pitt football’ made him spurn transfer suitors
SirVocea Dennis looked across the green turf of Gateway High School’s field Tuesday afternoon, pleased to see young boys playing seven-on-seven with unbridled joy at the Nike Football Camp. Yet, Pitt’s senior linebacker, a counselor at the camp, understands the game he plays on a much higher level has turned...
Still-growing Leechburg senior Braylan Lovelace commits to Pitt
Randy Walters saw the flash plays on defense, the long runs on offense. And that athleticism — it was a sight to behold. But a little more than two years ago, Leechburg’s football coach noticed something else about Braylan Lovelace, who made a verbal commitment Saturday to enroll at Pitt...
Pitt adds ex-Notre Dame running back C’Bo Flemister
Operating under the assumption that a team never can have too many running backs, Pitt added another player to that position group when C’Bo Flemister, a transfer from Notre Dame, committed to the Panthers. Flemister announced his commitment Sunday morning. At 5-foot-11 1/4, 201 pounds, Flemister was the Irish’s leading...
Pitt receives pledges from 5 H.S. seniors, including Florida RB Montravius Lloyd
At the conclusion of its second June weekend of official visits, Pitt received verbal commitments Saturday from five rising seniors — players eager to lay out plans for the future before the start of their final high school season. Let’s Go !!! #H2P Commited ????????. @Pitt_FB pic.twitter.com/OkX827Jxhn— Montravius (Trey) Lloyd...
Pitt makes it official: Highly touted point guard Dior Johnson joins Panthers
Dior Johnson is looking for a challenge, and Jeff Capel is eager to give him that opportunity. Johnson, ranked No. 35 in the 2022 ESPN Player Rankings and No. 38 by Rivals.com, signed his letter of intent, making the four-star guard the highest-rated prospect under Capel and Pitt’s highest in...
Baltimore guard Carlton Carrington commits to Pitt basketball
Pitt coach Jeff Capel added a second member to his class of 2023 when rising high school senior Carlton Carrington pledged to enroll next year. Carrington, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 13.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game last season for St. Francis Academy in Baltimore. He also shot...
Basketball vs. Kentucky? Football vs. Florida St. and WVU? Why — and how — Duquesne has stepped up its scheduling strategy
Duquesne football coach Jerry Schmitt was at Pittsburgh Steelers practice at the UPMC Rooney facility on the South Side last week. He saw Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi hanging out in front of his team’s side of the building. “I said, ‘Hey, Pat! Guess who opens up the ACC Network schedule...
Fifth-year players Warren, Alexandre ready to take leadership role for Pitt football
Inside Pitt’s UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, a video screen displays the final score of Pitt’s Sept. 18, 2021, game against Western Michigan, which the Panthers lost 44-41. The loss didn’t cost the Panthers the ACC title, but it serves as a reminder of what happens when...
Pitt lands well-traveled point guard Dior Johnson for Class of 2022
Jeff Capel’s efforts to resurrect Pitt’s basketball program yielded a potentially big catch Monday when four-star Dior Johnson, one of the top point guards in the Class of 2022, announced plans to enroll this year. Johnson is ranked 38th overall in his class and the No. 7 point guard, according...
Tim Benz: Based on minicamp, some of the narrative on why Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett has already changed
Based on how offensive coordinator Matt Canada laid out the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback competition, we should trust our eyes as to what we were seeing during last week’s minicamp practices. “Mitch (Trubisky) is No. 1, working with the ones and doing a really good job with that,” Canada said last...
Pitt officially announces signing of guard Cashius McNeilly
The Pitt men’s basketball program officially signed shooting guard Cashius McNeilly on Friday, adding a seventh new player to the Panthers’ roster. McNeilly had committed to Texas A&M in 2019 and TCU before last season, but never played for those schools before enrolling at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa. During the 2021-2022...
Pitt lands Dartmouth transfer Derek Kyler to improve depth at quarterback
Three quarterbacks weren’t enough for Pat Narduzzi, who continues to add supplements to Pitt’s 2022 roster. Faced with a thin depth chart at quarterback, Narduzzi landed a verbal commitment Wednesday from former Dartmouth star Derek Kyler. I'd like to thank @CoachDuzzPittFB for this incredible opportunity I have been granted. With...
