Since allowing Rushel Shell to leave the program and then refusing to take him back, Pitt football head coach Paul Chryst has been a quiet guy. On Monday, though, he broke his silence to a degree, speaking to 93.7 FM The Fan (with audio).
As should be expected, Chryst took the high road on the Shell situation and even wished him well:
“I’m not going to share a lot of information and probably vice versa, so you get part of the truth,” he said. “I truly do wish the best for him, but kind of like in recruiting, you look at fits and what guys fit the place.”
Obviously that's not surprising. Chryst is a pretty low-key guy but the comment about Shell essentially not being a fit for the program was kind of interesting.
I've said it before, but it bears repeating. Regardless of what side you came out on regarding allowing Shell to come back, one has to respect Chryst's strong stance and no-nonsense approach regarding his decision.
Chryst also spoke briefly about the quarterback competition and still insists the job is up for grabs:
“They’ll both get a lot of reps,” he said. “They’ll play out, and on the field it will determine who becomes the starter, but usually those aren’t that hard of calls.”
Sorry, but I'm not buying this one. It's one of the worst kept secrets around that Savage is essentially the starter. My only guess is that Chryst is leaving it open just in case Pitt gets to camp and Savage is a mess. But that's not likely to happen and it's pretty clear that Voytik doesn't have much of a chance to start the season as the starter.
What I will add, though, is that I don't think Chryst will hesitate to go to Voytik if Savage struggles. When looking towards the future, there's really little reason to play Savage. If he's the better quarterback, I've got no problem with it. But if he struggles, there shouldn't be any reason to not give Voytik a look since he's the presumed quarterback of the future.
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