Former Pitt coach Johnny Majors, who led Panthers to 1976 national title, dies
Johnny Majors, a devoted son of the South whose single act of reviving Pitt football endeared him to a very northern city, died Tuesday night in Knoxville, Tenn. He had turned 85 on May 21. Jackie Sherrill, who followed him from Iowa State to Pittsburgh and became his eventual successor...
’Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 89: Mike Ditka came to Pitt to be a dentist, left a legendary football playerVideo
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. 89: Mike Ditka Mike Ditka forged his reputation on toughness, running over defenders as a tight end and challenging his players as a Super...
Pitt commit Malik Newton’s coach calls him ‘unique kind of kid’
Hank Sawyer has seen dozens of running backs come through his program while winning three state championships in 22 years as coach at Lake Taylor (Va.) High School. With all that experience, you would think he understands what makes Pitt commit Malik Newton such a successful high school player. “I...
Pitt leaders use Twitter to condemn killing of George Floyd, 2 others
From the Cathedral of Learning to Petersen Events Center to the football team’s training facility on the South Side, some of Pitt’s most high-profile officials and coaches have expressed sadness and outrage at the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. Football coach Pat Narduzzi said in a...
Love of basketball, family carries Jennifer Bruce Scott into Pitt hall of fame
Jennifer Bruce Scott began her AAU and high school girls basketball coaching career more than two decades ago, hoping to pass along the same passion and dedication to the game that drove her to four standout seasons at Pitt in the early 1980s. The Monroeville resident started in high school...
Former Upper St. Clair heavyweight Jake Slinger transfers from George Mason to Pitt
As a kid, Former Upper St. Clair wrestler Jake Slinger frequently attended Pitt wrestling matches at the Fitzgerald Field House. He remembered the atmosphere, the energy in the arena and the reaction of the crowd after a Panthers victory. “I loved the atmosphere, wrestling in the Fitzgerald Field House,” Slinger...
With health safeguards in place, Pitt football players returning June 8 for voluntary workouts
Pitt football is returning to the South Side next month in the form of voluntary workouts. For the first time since March, when spring drills were canceled after three days in the wake of covid-19 concerns, Pitt’s football players will be welcomed back to campus June 8, athletic director Heather...
Marketing consultant Jeremy Darlow helps Pitt athletes prepare for day they ‘take the jersey off’
Like many people, Jeremy Darlow has played sports, read about them and enjoyed virtual experiences through video games. Beyond what most people have encountered, however, Darlow has talked to the participants about their futures. A former director of marketing for Adidas who has worked with celebrities from Snoop Dogg to...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett eager to resume preparing for the 2020 season
Kenny Pickett is home in Oakhurst, N.J., fishing with his dad, walking the dog, working out in a buddy’s garage and binge watching “Game of Thrones” and “The Office.” He is doing all the things he probably wouldn’t be doing in late spring if not for covid-19 and the pandemic...
Pitt’s recruiting class ranked No. 20 after Florida prospect gives verbal commitment
Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class bumped up to No. 20 in the nation — and No. 4 in the ACC — Thursday when cornerback Noah Biglow, a three-star prospect from Seffner, Fla., pledged to enroll next year. Coach Pat Narduzzi flipped Biglow, who had committed to Iowa State last month. Seven...
Pitt cancels sports camps through August
In an attempt to help curb the spread of covid-19, Pitt canceled its sports camps scheduled for May, June and July, plus all its residential camps through August. Many of the camps were avenues for football prospects to be seen by coaches. The Pitt Sports Camps office will provide a...
Pitt lands commitment from 3-star RB Malik Newton, 4th prospect from Virginia
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi continued to bolster his 2021 class of verbal commits Tuesday night when running back Malik Newton of Norfolk, Va., pledged to enroll next year. Newton made his commitment on Instagram live. Newton, ranked a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, is the second running back in Pitt’s class...
Pitt football partners with branding expert Jeremy Darlow
In response to the NCAA Board of Governor’s vote to allow athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), Pitt football announced Tuesday a partnership with marketing consultant and best-selling author Jeremy Darlow. Pitt’s football players will have access to Darlow’s online course, The DARLOW Rules, which is...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 97: Aaron Donald tops an impressive groupVideo
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. 97: Aaron Donald Other than a devastatingly quick first step and the brute strength forged by hours in his Penn Hills basement, nothing defined...
Mark Madden on ‘superficial’ Steelers, ‘cowardly’ Pitt, ‘creep’ Vince McMahon
This week’s “Madden Monday” podcast comes at you a day later than normal because of the Memorial Day weekend. But that just gives us more content to unearth. We start with Mark’s column over the weekend. It examines the Steelers’ locker room culture. Mark believes it has become too superficial....
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 99: Pitt’s Hugh Green was devastatingly dominant
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. 99: Hugh Green A “Sports Illustrated” cover called him “The Baddest Cat in the Game” in 1980, and no one who lined up opposite...
Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman, Patrick Jones prepare virtually, hoping for the real thing
By strict definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word virtual means “very close to being something without actually being it.” Tell that to Pitt junior defensive lineman Jaylen Twyman, who confronted a dose of reality during a recent virtual workout on the bench press by recording 33 reps of 225...
Curtis Martin on Pitt Hall of Fame, advice for James Conner, beating Steelers in playoffs
Curtis Martin’s relationship with football has always been complicated. Especially since it seems like the sport chased him more than he pursued it. Martin’s mother, Rochella, essentially dragged her son onto the field to keep him occupied and out of trouble. So, for his senior year at Taylor Allderdice High...
2 Pitt softball seniors will return after pandemic interrupted spring season
Pitt softball seniors Walker Barbee and Connor McGaffic will take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted to spring sports student-athletes by the NCAA, ACC and Pitt and return to school next season. Spring sports ended prematurely this year in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. Barbee, a 2019...
Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne athletes beat national averages in classroom progress
Student-athletes from Penn State, Pitt and Duquesne surpassed national averages in academic progress over the past four years, according to data released Tuesday by the NCAA. At Penn State, a school-record 20 teams earned perfect APR scores of 1,000 during the 2018-19 academic year, an increase of seven from the...
Controversy, intensity, sharp elbows marked previous chapters of Pitt/Duquesne rivalry
The Pitt/Duquesne basketball rivalry has cooled over the years. In 2020, for the second consecutive season, it won’t appear on the Pittsburgh sports calendar. Yet there are several moments that made it the most intense rivalry in the city’s history. Duquesne’s Andy Sisinni played in nine of the 87 games...
Pitt may sport new, more athletic look in Jeff Capel’s third season
Jeff Capel was disappointed with how his second season as Pitt’s coach ended, with losses in seven of the last eight games and losing records overall (16-17) and in the ACC (6-14). It was especially distressing because he believed as late as Feb. 8 that Pitt was on the brink...
Mark Madden: Pitt basketball should stick to its word, play Duquesne
Pitt should play Duquesne in men’s basketball for any number of reasons. But the main reason is because Pitt said it would. In March 2019, a statement released by Pitt quoted athletic director Heather Lyke thusly: “The City Game is a time-honored basketball tradition in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, our scheduling dynamics...
Jackie Sherrill: ‘A lot of mistakes I’ve made in my life. Leaving Pitt was one of them.’
It’s been 39 years since Jackie Sherrill’s last game as head coach of the Pitt Panthers. After three straight 11-1 seasons, four bowl victories and a career record of 50-9-1, he now sounds like someone who wishes he had never left. “There’s a lot of mistakes I’ve made in my...
Covid-19 forces ACC commissioner John Swofford to prepare for Plans ‘B, C and D’
ACC commissioner John Swofford is an optimist — but also a realist — about the immediate future of intercollegiate athletics in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. “We have to prepare for a somewhat normal return to play,” he said Thursday in a conference call with reporters, “and we have...
