ACC’s medical adviser says football season can be conducted safely
The ACC is proceeding with the intent of starting the football season on time, and the conference’s top doctor said Tuesday it can be done safely. Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke and chair of the ACC’s medical advisory team, told Sports Business Daily he recognizes the...
Pitt gets commitment from IMG tight end Jake Renda
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi continued to build his class of 2021 on Monday night when tight end Jake Renda flipped from his commitment to Michigan State and announced on Twitter his plan to enroll at Pitt. The Panthers have 19 players in next year’s recruiting class, which is ranked 26th...
Pitt has work to do on 2 fronts: Safety, moving the footballVideo
Jimmy Morrissey lives on the South Side. Temptations that most 22-year-old Pitt seniors can’t resist are on every corner. Morrissey barely notices, however, as he moves between his apartment and Pitt’s Duratz training facility only a mile or two away. Every day it’s a straight line back and forth, with...
Pitt players join national plea to play football this fall
Monday was a regularly scheduled day off for Pitt football, but while the practice fields on the South Side were silent, players’ voices were not. Several of them went on Twitter — using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay — to join players from around the nation in pleading with Power 5 officials...
Report: Canceling or postponing fall college football appears inevitable
Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman and Penn State’s Micah Parsons, who decided to opt out this season, soon might be joined by the entirety of their college football brethren. ESPN reported Sunday night that sources told the network postponing or canceling the football season appears inevitable. Power 5 commissioners held an emergency...
Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates ready to pump up players
Randy Bates is a cancer survivor who spent quarantine “sitting in my living room thinking about weird things I’m going to do” when Pitt opens training camp. So why wouldn’t you expect the Panthers’ 60-year-old defensive coordinator to use a water pump that looked like it came from the Civil...
Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman opts out, returns home to ‘be with my family’
A day after Pitt defensive coordinator Randy Bates said he would be shocked if one of his players decided not to play this season out of respect to covid-19, All-ACC defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman revealed Saturday his plans to return home and skip the 2020 season. “This past year has...
Mid-American Conference cancels fall football due to virus
The Mid-American Conference on Saturday became the first league competing at college football’s highest level to cancel its fall season because of covid-19 concerns. “I’m heartbroken we are in this place,” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said. With the MAC’s 12 schools facing a significant financial burden by trying to maintain...
Pitt opens training camp with no opt-outs
The question made Damar Hamlin chuckle. He considered it for a moment and gave an answer that said a lot about what will push Pitt through a season overflowing with expectations. Athletes and their coaches don’t usually like to play the what-if game with reporters. They prefer to deal with...
First Call: Pitt, Notre Dame ACC odds, Big Ten coaches exchange barbs, Gerrit Cole vs. Tyler Glasnow
Friday’s “First Call” gives us gambling odds for Pitt football in the ACC. And for Notre Dame, too. We also try to scout the Pittsburgh Pirates’ next opponent. A pair of former Pirates pitchers square off this weekend. And an epic Big Ten rivalry just got more salty. Irish odds...
‘Burgh’s best to wear it, No. 24: Barry Bonds leads a strong group of all-time greatsVideo
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 24: Barry Bonds The first remarkable fact that comes to mind about Barry Bonds — other than his all-time record 762 home runs, an...
Pitt brings high hopes into the start of training camp
Pat Narduzzi won’t admit it. More to the point, he doesn’t want to admit his team can be exceptionally good this season. What coach wants to put undue pressure on his team, especially one at Pitt, where the Panthers have only one double-digit victory total (10 in 2009) since Jackie...
Pitt opens season with 4 consecutive home games; Clemson road trip set for finale
The ACC released dates for its 11-game, reconfigured football schedule Thursday, giving Pitt four home games to start the season, including the opener against nonconference opponent Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 12 at Heinz Field. There are two open dates, but they don’t appear on Pitt’s schedule until the eighth week...
Pitt head trainer Rob Blanc retiring after 32 years
When head trainer Rob Blanc walked into Pat Narduzzi’s office last week, Pitt’s coach thought someone was injured or ill. Actually, the news was almost that bad. Blanc told Narduzzi he is retiring after 32 years, all of them as Pitt’s head football trainer. Blanc, 60, served eight football coaches....
Pat Narduzzi pleased with Pitt’s 22-day streak without positive testVideo
Even if he felt compelled to criticize the reconfigured ACC schedule that sends Pitt to three southern states, Pat Narduzzi doesn’t have the time. “Give me a team to play. Give me some white lines and green fields and go play,” he said Friday during a Zoom conference call with...
First Call: Notre Dame-ACC football deal not as bad as some conference fans believe
For Friday’s “First Call,” we take a closer look at ACC football’s sudden addition of Notre Dame this year. And we try to dispel some of the knee-jerk, negative reaction to it. Although it’s totally understandable. I mean, c’mon. It’s Notre Dame. Ugh. On Wednesday, a torrent of anti-Notre Dame...
Heather Lyke suggests Miami (Ohio) may be Pitt’s nonconference opponent
With a plan in place to conduct a football season in the ACC this year, next up for Heather Lyke is identifying a nonconference opponent to complete the schedule. Pitt’s athletic director said Thursday on 93.7 FM she likely will honor one of the contracts already in place with either...
ACC reveals revamped 11-game football schedule; Pitt adds trip to Clemson
If state and health officials allow, there will be football in the ACC this season. The conference released its reconfigured schedule Wednesday, trimming each team’s original 12-game slate by one, playing 10 ACC opponents and one outside the conference and welcoming Notre Dame as a member for the 2020 season....
Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 33: Tony Dorsett gave Pitt football fans many ways to say great
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 33: Tony Dorsett To simply say Tony Dorsett is the most decorated player in Pitt football history might be shortchanging him in the same...
‘Burgh’s best to wear it, No. 34: Pitt’s Billy Knight won respect from John Wooden
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 34: Billy Knight When Pitt’s Billy Knight scored a career-high 37 points against UCLA on Dec. 22, 1972, he shared top billing with the...
4-star 2022 guard Jalen Hood-Schifino decommits from Pitt basketball
Jeff Capel’s quest to rebuild the Pitt basketball program hit what he hopes is a temporary roadblock Monday when four-star guard and Penn Hills native Jalen Hood-Schifino re-opened his recruitment. Hood-Schifino, 6-foot-4, verbally committed to Pitt last year as a sophomore. Schifino is ranked as the 33rd overall prospect by...
First Call: Antonio Brown’s new baby, former NBA coach rips Mike Ditka over anthem-kneeling quote
For “First Call” on Monday, former Steelers star Antonio Brown is a father again. A pro sports coaching peer is challenging Mike Ditka on his anthem-kneeling stance. Major League Baseball’s ghost runner rule has already ripped a hole in the space-time continuum. ‘Iron Mike’ is mad Pro Football Hall of...
AP sources: ACC, Notre Dame eye 2020 football membership
The Atlantic Coast Conference and Notre Dame are considering whether the Fighting Irish will give up their treasured football independence to play as a member of the league for the 2020 season that has been thrown into question by the coronavirus pandemic. Two people involved in the ACC’s discussions about...
Central Catholic’s Elliot Donald, nephew of Aaron, says he’ll enroll at Pitt
Surprising no one, Central Catholic defensive tackle Elliot Donald announced Friday he will enroll at Pitt next year, joining a program where his uncle Aaron was one of the most celebrated players in school history. In Due Time ?? | DIRECTED BY @prospectmedia_ ? pic.twitter.com/9xOPMVNACM— Elliot Donald (@ElliotDonald3) July 24,...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett joined by Penn State’s Micah Parson, Journey Brown on Maxwell watch list
Pitt senior quarterback Kenny Pickett and Penn State running back Journey Brown and linebacker Micah Parsons were named Friday to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, presented annually to the best all-around player in college football. Pickett will be a three-year starter this season, but he also started one...
