Pitt's Spring football practices are officially underway with new head coach, Todd Graham.
Jobs are up for grabs, but the one position battle everyone will have their eyes on is at quarterback. Graham has already said that incumbent starter, Tino Sunseri, is in the driver's seat. But it's hardly an open-and-shut case:
Let's talk about the quarterback position. How much of an edge does Tino Sunseri have after starting all of last year?
TG: Of course, going into the spring, he started last year, so he's the guy to beat out. But we feel really good about [Mark] Myers. The guy can really throw the football, is a true passer, a drop-back pro-style type quarterback ... And then the [Anthony] Gonzalez kid is an athlete. The guy can run and was big time playmaker, and we're excited to see him because we have no film on him other than high school.
We're excited about what we've seen with all three guys. Then Kolby Gray, who played defensive back last year after a shoulder injury, we put him there to have a fourth guy. And that's where his heart is, and we've been impressed with him. So we've got four guys there we feel good about. Tino, I feel really good about how he'll adjust to his system.
I've said over at Cardiac Hill that while Sunseri's experience is nice, it's probably not going to be a deal-breaker for Graham. Graham is starting over at Pitt and I expect him to get the best guy in there at all costs.
While Gonzalez and Gray will be given some consideration, the battle will likely come down to either Sunseri or Myers. Myers is the name you hear the most about after Sunseri and Gray was switched over to safety last year before making the move back to QB this year to give Pitt a fourth option. Gonzalez may still be too raw, so I think he would have a hard time winning the job.
The QB job may not be settled after Spring practices, but we should have a better idea of where everyone stands.