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If you spend any time on Twitter, you no doubt have seen people posting certain Pitt players wearing uniform numbers that correspond with the number of days left until the football season kicks off. Jim did it last year and this year, Pat Narduzzi has been doing it.
I know we have a lot of younger readers here and also some folks that may not have spent their entire lives following Pitt sports. For that reason, I thought it would be cool to not only do the countdown here, but also give a brief writeup on the player to potentially help fans connect a little more with some of the all-time greats.
Quick disclaimer - this isn't necessarily about picking the best player for each number. Not only is that disputable in many instances, but it's not really the point of the exercise. So don't be offended if your favorite player doesn't make the list here. I'll probably mirror Narduzzi's list for the most part but may go off the board in a few instances.
These will also be brief, folks. It's the offseason and we all use this time to wind down a bit. These won't be theses or anything, but we'll cobble together a few facts for each guy.
Finally, feel free to add on to a player's accomplishments in the comments section. Some I'll leave out due to space/time and some I may not even know about. But this will be a good learning exercise for all of us.
Continuing our countdown today is linebacker Scott McKillop.
After redshirting in 2004 under coach Walt Harris, McKillop played as a key backup in 2005 and 2006 as an underclassman. Starting as a junior, he led the nation in tackles per game with 12.58. His senior year saw him achieve All-American honors and he was named as the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year. McKillop finished his career in the top ten in tackles at Pitt.
After his standout career, he was taken by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Drat and after playing in all 16 games during his rookie year, seemed to have a promising future. But a 2010 knee injury ended his career and McKillop is now trying to make a future in coaching. He served as a volunteer assistant at Pitt and this year, became the new linebackers coach at Concord.
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