As the Pitt Panthers football team prepares to head to the ACC this season, one position on the field that Pitt head coach Paul Chryst didn’t think he would have to worry about is running back.
Following the graduation of Ray Graham, all signs pointed to sophomore Rushel Shell stepping into the feature back role and excelling at it.
Not so fast though, as there are now signs that Shell may not follow in the footsteps of LeSean McCoy, Dion Lewis and Graham as the next great Pitt running back.
There have been reports that the Hopewell native is looking to transfer from Pitt.
The news broke with a tweet from WPIAL Insider:
BREAKING NEWS: Pitt Panthers running back Russell Shell asked for his transfer papers today and is apparently set to Transfer!!!!!
— WPIAL_Insider (@WPIAL_Insider) March 27, 2013
The Fan’s Greg Giannotti also chimed in with a report that Shell is meeting with Chryst on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of transferring.
It’s also worth noting that Shell was not at practice on Tuesday and Chryst did not comment on whether or not he would be there on Thursday.
If the reports are true, and the rumors have Shell looking to transfer out West, this is a big blow to the Panthers. Shell was part of a young group of talented local players who were supposed to lead the Pitt program into the ACC and hopefully make this team competitive quickly. If he does head out West, Arizona State and former Pitt head coach Todd Graham could be the destination, which is mind blowing.
DEVELOPING: Rushel Shell said he wanted to go out West. Hearing Arizona St. is a major team in the mix. Todd Graham is the head coach @ ASU
— WPIAL_Insider (@WPIAL_Insider) March 27, 2013
His apparent transfer is a bit puzzling though.
Kids transfer mainly for two reasons- playing time or to be closer to family.
That’s not the case here as Shell is the starting running back for a team playing in a major conference and being a Pittsburgh native, he would be leaving home, not transferring closer to it.
According to FinestPreps.com, there are problems at Pitt.
Finest Preps reports that problems started when Shell had multiple disagreements with Chryst and his staff. Shell has said that apparently Chryst and his staff possibly have been talking about the players behind their backs. It all seems like things escalated very quickly and came out of no where, but it looks looks like Shell might just be as good as gone.
As a freshman, Shell rushed for 641 yards on 141 carries (4.55 ypc) with four touchdowns as a backup to Graham during his freshman campaign, numbers that would at least double as the starter.
If Shell does leave, that leaves junior Isaac Bennett as the likely starter with redshirt sophomore Malcolm Crockett likely serving as the top backup.
I will have more developments on Shell’s potential transfer as more details become available.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
