First Call: Antonio Brown is actually 100% right about something. Lyke on gambling. Fitzgerald on Blue Jays.
Friday’s “First Call” tackles three big topics before we hit the weekend. College sports gambling. Why the Toronto Blue Jays were snubbed in Pittsburgh. And Antonio Brown — for perhaps the first time in his life — may have a point. When Himmothy is right, Himmothy is right Here’s something...
Pitt’s Heather Lyke fears covid-19 trends put football season at risk
Only in 2020 would you hear a top university official speak these words about the football season, two weeks before the start of training camp: “Right now, we are not in an ideal spot,” Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said Wednesday morning. With each day ripped off the calendar, the...
Pitt, Penn State, WVU players recognized for community service
The Wuerffel Trophy is known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service.” Apparently, several area players have made their mark on their communities. Players from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia were named to the Wuerffel Award watch list Thursday. Pitt senior defensive end Patrick Jones II, and Penn...
Pitt’s Heather Lyke believes gambling doesn’t belong in college athletics
Heather Lyke is not on a crusade to shut down casinos, crush betting apps or eliminate sports gambling — now legal in 18 states and the District of Columbia. “I think we all recognize that gambling is omnipresent in our country,” Pitt’s athletic director said Thursday on a conference call...
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot ‘having a difficult time’ finishing schedule, swallowing loss of City Game
Pro sports and college football coaches are dealing with the pitfalls of trying to launch a season during the coronavirus outbreak. So are college basketball coaches. But they are also doing so while still coping with the premature ending to their previous seasons as a result of the same pandemic....
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 40: Scott McKillop made one of the biggest stops in Pitt history
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. 40: Scott McKillop Scott McKillop had 344 career tackles as an inside linebacker at Pitt, none of them more famous — or critical —...
8 players from Penn State, Pitt, WVU named to Nagurski, Outland watch lists
Eight players from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia were named Tuesday to watch lists for the Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy, which are given to college football’s best defender and interior lineman. In addition, Pitt, PSU and WVU are three of 15 schools with multiple players on the watch...
Former Pine-Richland, Pitt QB Ben DiNucci agrees to terms with Dallas CowboysVideo
Former Pine-Richland and Pitt quarterback Ben DiNucci agreed to terms with the Dallas Cowboys to a four-year rookie contract. DiNucci, a seventh-round pick, led James Madison to the FCS national championship game last year. DiNucci was at Pitt from 2015-17, playing in 12 games and making six starts. Prior to...
Pitt’s Paris Ford named to Thorpe watch list
Pitt safety Paris Ford’s reputation continued to grow in advance of the 2020 season when he was named Monday to the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award. The award is handed out to the nation’s top defensive back. Ford, a junior from Steel Valley, previously earned selection to the...
Report: CAA cancels fall sports competition, including Pitt’s game against Richmond
The Colonial Athletic Association will cancel its fall sports seasons to avoid covid-19 issues, likely leaving Pitt without an early-season nonconference opponent, FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman has reported. An official announcement is expected later Friday. SOURCES: The CAA conference is expected to announce tomorrow that the league will not be...
’Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 45: Schenley’s DeJuan Blair stayed home, almost led Pitt to Final Four
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. 45: DeJuan Blair DeJuan Blair stood 6-foot-4 in eighth grade when he was first spotted dunking a basketball. That feat occurred at the Ammons...
With Virginia high school football canceled, Pitt prospect Malik Newton plans to enroll early
After the Virginia High School League canceled high school football in the fall, Pitt running back commit Malik Newton announced Thursday on Twitter his intention to skip his senior season and join the Panthers for the winter semester. With VHSL canceling all fall sports, and most likely to play football...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi eager to begin ride on college football’s wave of uncertainty
With the Atlantic Ocean at his back, Pat Narduzzi looked happy and relaxed Monday morning while sitting on the porch of his Rhode Island vacation home. “I feel good about everything this time of year,” Pitt’s coach told ACC Network hosts Mark Packer and Wes Durham during a live interview....
3 Pitt players named to Bednarik watch list
Only three Division I college football programs have three players on the 2020 Bednarik Award Watch List released Monday. Pitt is one of them, joining defending national champion LSU and USC. Selected to the list from the Panthers are safety Paris Ford, defensive end Patrick Jones II and defensive tackle...
ACC postpones its annual football media event
With major decisions pending, including possible reconfiguration of the football schedule, the ACC has postponed until further notice its Media Days event originally scheduled to be held virtually July 21-23. JUST IN: @theACC virtual preseason football media day PPD until further notice. Oh boy. @Sports_Night pic.twitter.com/gxobtnQ1Li— Mike Solarte (@MikeSolarte) July...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster ‘won’t be very good, then he’ll leave,’ Notre Dame should ‘kick rocks’
If you listen to our “Madden Monday” podcasts weekly, then you know Mark Madden’s strong affection for Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Obviously, Mark is JuJu’s biggest fan. So when Smith-Schuster celebrated subscriber No. 1,000,000 to his YouTube channel, you knew Mark would be the first one in line to...
Pre-pandemic schedule might have given Pitt a liftVideo
The first four weeks of the season appeared set up neatly for Pitt to write its name across the college football skyline. For a month, at least. There were three non-Power 5 opponents — Miami (Ohio), Marshall and Richmond — and an ACC home game against Duke, a team that...
First Call: How the Big Ten’s decision may impact Pitt, Notre Dame, West Virginia and others
Sometimes this job requires you to act like you have all the answers. All the time. Immediately. Even if you don’t. Saying “I don’t know” feels like a cop-out. But when it comes to asking what the football ripple effects will be from Thursday’s decision by the Big Ten to...
Pitt, ACC to delay start of fall competitions
Six athletic teams at Pitt will experience a slight delay in the start of fall competition. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Thursday that the season starts for each of its Olympic sports at its 15 members schools will be no earlier than Sept. 1. The delay includes all exhibition and...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 54: Jerry Olsavsky could be counted on to make the stop
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. 54: Jerry Olsavsky No matter what number he wore — and he wore both Nos. 54 and 55 playing football in Pittsburgh — there...
U mad, bro?: Readers emote about fans at games, protests, anti-maskers, Cam Newton and … Dan Marino?
There’s no reason to ask if you were mad this week. Everybody got mad at something at some point. Coronavirus numbers spiked. Bars were shut down again. A partial travel quarantine went back in place. Worst of all, the New England Patriots upgraded at quarterback! Yuck! What a terrible week....
Pitt adds tight end Trey Andersen to 2021 recruiting class
Pat Narduzzi and his staff have been busy over the past year trying to recruit tight ends, and their efforts paid off Tuesday when Trey Andersen verbally committed to the class of 2021. Pitt’s coach has high hopes for tight end Lucas Krull this season, but the transfer from Florida...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 65: Pitt’s Joe Schmidt grew tough playing sandlot football vs. convicts
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. 65: Joe Schmidt Joe Schmidt did not play in the golden age of Pitt football. In his three varsity seasons, the Panthers won 10...
Pitt secures verbal commitment from Florida linebacker, 17th prospect in class of 2021
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi added a third Florida prospect to his class of 2021 when inside linebacker Derrveron Maxwell-Black of St. Petersburg pledged to enroll next year. Maxwell-Black made the announcement Thursday on Twitter. I will like to thank God,my mother,grandfather, and the rest of my family and also my...
Commissioner John Swofford, who ushered Pitt into the ACC, plans to retire in 2021
John Swofford, who watched over the ACC while it expanded from nine to 15 schools, said Thursday he plans to retire after the 2020-21 athletic year. Swofford, 71, is the longest-tenured of the ACC’s four commissioners, serving 24 of the conference’s 67 years. He will continue as commissioner until a...
