So, if you were one of those hoping Pitt football head coach Paul Chryst was going to name a starting quarterback at the end of spring practice, think again. Chryst provided a bit of a sarcastic answer when asked the question today at spring practice. From the Pitt Athletics Department:
“No, we’ll name him by Labor Day.” (laughs)
Despite the laugh, it sounds pretty clear that Chryst is in no hurry to name a starter. And that makes sense for a lot of reasons.
Mostly, because Chryst would like to avoid any back and forth situations, I'm sure. When he names a starter, he'll want that guy to be the guy the entire season. What if someone has an unbelievable spring, Chryst names him as the starter, and he really falters in the fall? There's little doubt Chryst doesn't want a flip-flopping situation.
Also, if one guy outperforms the other, it doesn't make good sense to allow him to get comfortable. You don't want him looking over his shoulder to the point where he's worrying about every single throw he makes, but it also doesn't hurt to take a bit of competition into the fall. By the end of spring, you could have a favorite step into training camp as the guy getting the bulk of the first-team reps, but that doesn't mean he has to be named as the starter.
Plus, it just doesn't appear to be Chryst's nature to make a snap decision. Case in point was the long wait in naming a defensive coordinator. I don't know how long he'll drag this decision out, but a quick decision just doesn't seem like it's in the works - and really, that makes sense.