November 18th, 2012 at 7:34 PM ^
Once Urban doesn't want you, you have to go to Pitt.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^
But sometimes those Pittsburgh kids just won't leave Pittsburgh.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:41 PM ^
Very true. I feel like U of Pittsburgh football doesn't have much going for it, except their location. They really had a good lock on Western Pa. football (oh God, please don't take Kugler!!) even before Penn State imploded. It will be interesting to see if they can do anything now being THE program in the state (for at least a few years) and moving to a more reputable conference.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:22 PM ^
Agreed. However theyll be THE program in that state for about 10-15 years.
November 19th, 2012 at 1:02 AM ^
The athletic facuilities, weight room etc are exceptional at Pitt. Some kids may have the misconception that playing in an NFL stadium is cool ie SMU with Eric Dickerson and the Hooker killer that is Craig James.
I doubt that they will continue to improve unless they can win recruiting battles against Ohio and us in the coming years.
November 19th, 2012 at 1:18 AM ^
*Allegedly killed.
Craig James allegedly killed five hookers. Allegedly. Five (5). Dead hookers.
eat that up google search engine algorithm
November 18th, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
Rivals has a visit listed for OSU for 12/7. Unless he cancels that now that he's committed to Pitt, I wouldn't count them out yet unfortunately.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:48 PM ^
Pitts rivals page has it up too,but doesnt say if he will still take visits.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:43 PM ^
clearly, this was because he was scared to play maryland.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:43 PM ^
There is no such thing as a lock when you are talking about uncommitted high school athletes and a verbal doesn't mean much until you've signed that L.O.I. And no one recruit will make or break a program. Those are just some of the things I've learned after following recruiting for as long as I have.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:45 PM ^
Not a bad choice. The whole Paul Chryst brain trust that moved from from Wiscosin really has developed OLs nicely. Just got to worry that they won't be there for your whole career when you commit to any non-premeir program.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:48 PM ^
I can tell you, people at Pitt have believed he was Pitt-bound ever since he decommitted from PSU (which was a big shock at the time). And Pitt fans/experts don't have the unreasoning optimism that OSU fans/experts have (quite the opposite- more of a perpetual sense of impending doom),
I didn't know if Johnson would pull another PSU surprise and go to Alabama, or such, but I can tell you, if he's declared for Pitt, it's over. He grew up a Pitt fan, has spent a LOT of time visiting the Pitt program, and hasn't rushed the decision. I think OSU can kiss him goodbye. ENjoy the shadenfreude.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:50 PM ^
If I were an O Lineman, I would definitely want to be coached by Paul Chryst.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:51 PM ^
It was never a committable offer though, so yeah......
November 18th, 2012 at 7:52 PM ^
Eleven Warriors is taking it pretty well. Not a lot of flaming going on. Mostly just wishing him good luck.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:57 PM ^
Considering how fortunately the season is going for them, I can imagine they'll be taking most things well this year.
November 19th, 2012 at 8:36 AM ^
heh a meaningless 11-1 season
November 18th, 2012 at 8:00 PM ^
Read again. They're startin to get bitter!
November 18th, 2012 at 7:56 PM ^
Ohio sucks
November 18th, 2012 at 7:57 PM ^
After, Bates Diop going to Ohio, I feel a lot better.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:03 PM ^
If we beat them next week, our head to head battles will get much easier. We absolutely need to beat them next week because recruiting against ND will be tough enough. I think Hoke should recruit more toward the end of the 2014 cycle where we stand a better chance because next year we should be an NC contender.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:11 PM ^
By a year or so on the NC contender bit. We will basically have a new OL next year, assuming Lewan moves to the NFL ( and who could blame him?). Just pray for Devin's red shirt.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:28 PM ^
i agree about a year too early,but after seeing ohio and nd run the table(so far) anything can happen.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:11 PM ^
Off topic, but there have been rumors going on lately about LTT wanting to take a visit to TCU and Poggi wanting to visit Bama and A&M. The LTT rumor was from a TCU Scout site, and the Poggi rumor has been going on for a while on the A&M side (there was also a post on their 247 board(
November 18th, 2012 at 8:19 PM ^
LTT has alredy said those rumors are bull shit.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:30 PM ^
The Poggi part would be a real bummer. Maybe adding Maryland will help!
November 18th, 2012 at 11:35 PM ^
Doubt Maryland would help, now Rutgers is a different story
November 18th, 2012 at 8:32 PM ^
LTT rumor has already been put to bed. As for Poggi, man, that would go in the face of pretty much everything he's ever said about recruiting. He's already visited Bama a bunch, and has been on the record saying he wanted to be done with recruiting about as soon as it started. He only stayed uncommited as long as he did to get attention for teammates through the evaluation period.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:19 PM ^
We have an easy schedule next year and if the OL is at least average we could run the table.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:20 PM ^
I don't know about Poggi, but it would shock me if LTT left after burning his Ohio letter and getting upset at Dawson for leaving.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:27 PM ^
Urbie probably likes the info because now he is selling against only 1 school. Easy comparison.
He can bad mouth Pitt just like he raided PSU last year.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^
Haha, come on, you guys can do better than that. Why would he bad mouth PSU when guys like Reeves (who Hoke tried hard to snag, too) already decmmitted from PSU for obvious reasons before Urban established contact.
You guys are rational most of the time on this board, but you guys are pretty irrational about Urban and his recruitment. He's never been cited for any recruiting violations his whole career. He's just really good at it.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:30 PM ^
Just off the top of my head I can recall an illegal texting situation, but don't remember the recruit.
November 18th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^
Perhaps your memory fails on Williams, O'Connor and Schutt who also verballed to PSU before shifting to OSU with Urbie having only weeks to pursue his 2012 class.
He's widely acknowledged as one of the best flippers in the business. It's rational to recognize his recruiting prowess and fun to see if he can steal this recruit from lowly Pitt.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:08 PM ^
Not sure who the OP is referring to when he mocks OSU Fans for thinking Dorian Johnson was a lock to OSU. I'm an OSU fan and I'd love Dorian to be at OSU, but I always understood from major recruiting sites that Pitt was the favorite. I visit 11W a ton, too, and Alex has always put him as a Pitt favorite with the only caveat being that hie had scheduled 2 visits with OSU. One for the Michigan game, and one in the offseason. So the thinking was Urban might seal the deal with two late visits.
By the way before he committed to PSU earlier this year, he told Alex that Pitt was his second choice ahead of OSU, Pitt was always ahead of OSU.
Like most OSU fans I wish him the best. Great kid.