The Sports Monitor

Heralded running back Rushel Shell wanted to leave Pitt in the spring. So coach Paul Chryst let him go. Shell supposedly was going to enroll at UCLA, but it didn't happen. Last week, Shell wanted to return to Pitt. Chryst said no. Great move. I'm stunned that there are people saying Chryst should allow Shell back. Some are saying give him a second chance. Hey, if Shell wanted to enroll at Pitt, he's free. He has no right to be on the football team, however. What Chryst did will help more in the long run than the Panthers might experience in any hurt this fall. I applaud Chryst. There are other options for Shell close to Pittsburgh. West Virginia immediately comes to mind.

Is it possible that Rushel Shell is not the next Tony Dorsett? It seems that there was a lot pressure on Shell to take the Pitt Panthers to the national championship like Dorsett. Shell rushed for 641 yards as a freshman last year, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. That's pretty darn good. Is it irreplaceable? I guess we'll now never know what Shell would do after he announced he's transferring. With all the buzz around Shell, I expected more from him, especially that 79-yard effort in the BBVA Compass Bowl on 25 carries in a loss to Ole Miss. Maybe that's why he's leaving. Maybe he wants to carve out his own path somewhere else. Who knows? I'm not convinced it's a huge blow to the team. There are other running backs on the roster. Maybe an incoming freshman, McDowell's James Conner, for example, can fill the roll in Paul Chryst's offense. Conner rushed for 1,680 yards on 155 carries (10.8 per carry average). It's disappoint ne...

Just when you thought it was safe to celebrate another Pitt football bowl berth in the BBVA bowl, signs are pointing in the direction of a coaching change. Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema resigned as coach of Wisconsin to take the job at Arkansas. So there were immediate links of Pitt coach Paul Chryst leaving for Wisconsin before you could even finish the thought, why would Bielema leave Wisconsin for Arkansas? (Probably money and the allure of the SEC.) Chryst was the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin and he played for the Badgers, so, naturally, everyone began connecting the dots. I think Pitt and Chryst tried to sever some connections with this statement, but I'm not so sure: I understand the speculation surrounding my name given today’s developments. I am committed to the Pitt football program and the University of Pittsburgh. I am focusing all my time and energy on our team’s bowl game preparation and recruiting a great group of young men to join our program and this ou...

The Pitt football team still has a shot at a bowl game. While I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, I'm pretty sure it's a sign of how watered-down the bowls have become. But, if the Panthers (5-6 overall, 2-4 in the Big East) beat South Florida (3-8, 1-5) on Saturday, they should be on their way to the prestigious BBVA Bowl or the granddaddy of them all, the Beef 'O'Brady's Bowl. It's a game Pitt should win. Which means it's very likely they'll lose. I'm not sure how a losing record in the Big East should qualify any team for a bowl berth, but it does. But I guess we should look at the bright side: a season that started with an embarrassing loss to Youngstown State could end up with a bowl trip, no matter what bowl it is. At least that's some momentum to bring into the ACC.

The Pitt football season started with an ugly loss to Youngstown State. I guess you could say my enthusiasm for the season left before the Panthers left the field that night. I think Paul Chryst can be a good coach and I think the move next season to the ACC should be good for the program. I'm not sure Tino Sunseri is good for the program, however. After nearly pulling off the upset against Notre Dame last week , Sunseri threw kicker Kevin Harper under the bus, backed up, drove over him again and tossed him in the garbage. Harper, you see, missed a field goal that would have won the game. "We missed a field goal; that's why we lost the game," Sunseri said after the game. "It came down to a special teams play, we didn't make the play. Give credit to Notre Dame for being able to finish it off." Maybe I'm being too harsh. I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Sunseri has cost the Panthers a game or two in his career. He certainly ...

The Pitt football team lost to Youngstown State 31-17 Saturday. Let that sink in for a minute. The Panthers, in the first game of the Paul Chryst era, lost its home opener at Heinz Field to Youngstown State. 31-17. And it wasn't that close. Youngstown State did what it wanted on offense. Pitt couldn't do much on offense or defense. An ugly loss? It was worse than that. An all-time loss. In their last season in the Big East, the Panthers didn't even look ready for Division III football let alone the ACC. There's no way to erase the stink and stench of this loss. It almost makes you yearn for the days of Todd Graham, who just happened to win his team's season opener 63-6. But Pitt fans have to live with the fact that their team lost to Youngstown State. That's not the way to start a season. On the bright side: It can't get any worse.

The Pitt football team scored six points in its spring practice game Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. The defense, however, gave up 28 points at Legion Field. OK. It wasn't Pitt's spring practice. It easily could have been. It was Pitt's BBVA Compass Bowl loss to SMU on Saturday, and it certainly wasn't any more entertaining than a spring practice. The Panthers gave up 21 straight points before you knew it and had to go through the motions for three more quarters to secure a 6-7 record. The highlights of the game included a blocked punt, a field-attempt hitting the post, a lost fumble by quarterback Tino Sunseri and a pass bounce off the helmet of one player and into an SMU player's hands. Yep. It was that kind of a day for Pitt. Actually, it was a fitting ending for a season that spiraled out of control, highlighted by former coach Todd Graham bolting before the bowl game. Now the Panthers can look forward to the future with new coach Paul Chryst. T...