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Pitt

To add context, Pitt lost their top recruit, Tony Butler, yesterday. He decommitted and is "no longer considering Pitt". Nardouchie not getting it done on the recruiting trail.
 
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To add context, Pitt lost their top recruit, Tony Butler, yesterday. He decommitted and is "no longer considering Pitt". Nardouchie not getting it done on the recruiting trail.
And, to add insult to injury, the kid indicated that the his new #1 is coached by one of their numerous former HCs.
 
It is a bad sign for Pitt that their new coach is recruiting so poorly in his first year.

New coaches usually see a first year recruiting bump and then it decreases a little from there. In Pitt's case Narduzzi is laying an egg right off the bat.

Even the one decent recruit they have in terms of stars has a weak offer list from the big boys in his area. They didn't offer him. The rest are all unrated guys with mostly MAC level offers.
 
No worries. They will replace Butler with a 1 star Youngstown State or Toledo reject.

Franklin much be thanking his lucky stars for Narduzzi.
 
It must be a sad miserable life being a pitt fan... Oh yeah, that's right, there aren't any pitt fans
 
To add context, Pitt lost their top recruit, Tony Butler, yesterday. He decommitted and is "no longer considering Pitt". Nardouchie not getting it done on the recruiting trail.
Pitt fans have not considered Butler a 'commit' even though he was. He has taken other visits, and even though maintained his commitment, has vacillated almost daily. His tweets apparently ticked off the staff recently, and when he proclaimed that he was considering ASU, Rutgers and Md, the staff severed ties. He was a talent, but his seeking attention constantly from other schools and fetish with twitter was a red flag from Day 1. Pitt has many offers out to DBs, so no one is panicking this early. Narduzzi is trying to set a foundation with HS coaches, and they seem to be positively responding. PSU should hope to have a B1G guy do well Lol.
 
And there it is. He is gone, so suddenly he really wasn't a commit.
Missed the point. He was a commit, but even Pitt fans were skeptical. Wasn't diminishing the loss, wasn't saying he wasn't Pitt material, wasn't saying he wasn't good enough academically, just saying he gave vibes of not really being a commit.
 
Pitt fans have not considered Butler a 'commit' even though he was. He has taken other visits, and even though maintained his commitment, has vacillated almost daily. His tweets apparently ticked off the staff recently, and when he proclaimed that he was considering ASU, Rutgers and Md, the staff severed ties. He was a talent, but his seeking attention constantly from other schools and fetish with twitter was a red flag from Day 1. Pitt has many offers out to DBs, so no one is panicking this early. Narduzzi is trying to set a foundation with HS coaches, and they seem to be positively responding. PSU should hope to have a B1G guy do well Lol.
Haha riiiiiiiiiight. I am sure they tell miles sanders to stop taking visits, and using Twitter. What goes around comes around
 
Don't understand the need to mock Pitt all the time. Every coach has different strengths. Clearly recruiting is not Narduzzi's top strength. But before we get on our high horse over this - does anyone actually believe that Franklin is a better football mind than Narduzzi? I believe that Franklin is the better recruiter, but I also believe Narduzzi is a better football coach. I'm glad we have Shoop on the staff.
 
Don't understand the need to mock Pitt all the time. Every coach has different strengths. Clearly recruiting is not Narduzzi's top strength. But before we get on our high horse over this - does anyone actually believe that Franklin is a better football mind than Narduzzi? I believe that Franklin is the better recruiter, but I also believe Narduzzi is a better football coach. I'm glad we have Shoop on the staff.
Can't win without talent.
 
It is a bad sign for Pitt that their new coach is recruiting so poorly in his first year.

New coaches usually see a first year recruiting bump and then it decreases a little from there. In Pitt's case Narduzzi is laying an egg right off the bat.

Even the one decent recruit they have in terms of stars has a weak offer list from the big boys in his area. They didn't offer him. The rest are all unrated guys with mostly MAC level offers.

Well we have given a lot of schools tons of ammunition. Mediocre at best, five coaches in what six years. Its going to be tough recruiting until we finally win some games on the field.
 
Don't understand the need to mock Pitt all the time. Every coach has different strengths. Clearly recruiting is not Narduzzi's top strength. But before we get on our high horse over this - does anyone actually believe that Franklin is a better football mind than Narduzzi? I believe that Franklin is the better recruiter, but I also believe Narduzzi is a better football coach. I'm glad we have Shoop on the staff.
 
It's not Narduzzi. That's not the problem. It's Pitt, the school. What is exciting about Pitt? When you visit, what exactly wows you? It certainly is not the campus. It's not the rich football history unless you go back 30-50 years. It's not the facilities no matter how many times Pitt fans tell you how great it is to share facilities with the Steelers. Pitt plays second fiddle to the Steelers at Heinz field. I doubt very seriously whether they care about the Pitt program at all. A matter of fact, if I had to venture a guess, I'd bet that the Steelers coaches, staff, and players probably wish they didn't have to share their facilities with anyone. I know I wouldn't want to share facilities with any CFB program, whether it's Pitt or Alabama. When you visit Heinz field you see the history of the Steelers, not the Pitt football program. It's certainly is not the fanbase, which is one of the most apathetic in all of CFB. It sure as heck is not the game day atmosphere, either.

What exactly is going to wow you about Pitt as a football player? The academics are very good at Pitt. It's a great school on that front. So, yes, there will be players who commit based on the academics, but that will never sustain a major football program when it comes to putting consistent winning teams on the field every year. A lot of the top talent are not concerned with the academics as much as they are with a lot of the other things. All things being considered, these kids can go to any number of schools and get a great education. So when comparing them all the other stuff I mentioned matters.
 
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It's not Narduzzi. That's not the problem. It's Pitt, the school. What is exciting about Pitt? When you visit, what exactly wows you? It certainly is not the campus. It's not the rich football history unless you go back 30-50 years. It's not the facilities no matter how many times Pitt fans tell you how great it is to share facilities with the Steelers. Pitt plays second fiddle to the Steelers at Heinz field. I doubt very seriously whether they care about the Pitt program at all. A matter of fact, if I had to venture a guess, I'd bet that the Steelers coaches, staff, and players probably wish they didn't have to share their facilities with anyone. I know I wouldn't want to share facilities with any CFB program, whether it's Pitt or Alabama. When you visit Heinz field you see the history of the Steelers, not the Pitt football program. It's certainly is not the fanbase, which is one of the most apathetic in all of CFB. It sure as heck is not the game day atmosphere, either.

What exactly is going to wow you about Pitt as a football player? The academics are very good at Pitt. It's a great school on that front. So, yes, there will be players who commit based on the academics, but that will never sustain a major football program when it comes to putting consistent winning teams on the field every year. A lot of the top talent are not concerned with the academics as much as they are with a lot of the other things. All things being considered, these kids can go to any number of schools and get a great education. So when comparing them all the other stuff I mentioned matters.

Im very good friends with one of your former coaches and he summed it up best. some kids like urban settings and I will never get those kids. Some kids like a more of a campus like setting and Pitt will never get them. Each school has its appeal. To each his own. Case in point. I graduated and Played at Pitt, my brother on the on the other hand a Penn State grad..and we are night in day. Engineer v. Sales Manager....
 
Chrystal doing the typical workman effort at wiscy so far as well. The Pitt contingent inducted doozy into the hall of fame before he could find his office.
 
Im very good friends with one of your former coaches and he summed it up best. some kids like urban settings and I will never get those kids. Some kids like a more of a campus like setting and Pitt will never get them. Each school has its appeal. To each his own. Case in point. I graduated and Played at Pitt, my brother on the on the other hand a Penn State grad..and we are night in day. Engineer v. Sales Manager....
Some kids want to compete at the highest level and like a great game day, other kids are content playing in front of an empty rented stadium getting dominated by Akron.
 
If they dont get Hamlin their recruiting class is going to be extremely mediocre. Like outside top 50 bad.
 
Some kids want to compete at the highest level and like a great game day, other kids are content playing in front of an empty rented stadium getting dominated by Akron.

Look, I am being respectful. There is mud on each of our programs. I was simply relaying a conversation I had with a friend who happened to coach at Penn State. To date both programs are not at the level of what they used to be. Both programs are mediocre at best right now. I hope we get to another level, just like I hope you guys do as well. It makes football on Saturday's a little more interesting
 
Pitt is dead to me!
Wow. I would not say that about any program, as all have good people that will be good citizens and contributors to society. It is a shame that people hate over friggin football. I just hope no one in your family ever needs an organ transplant or dire need of medical help that Pitt can provide, because I have a niece that had a liver transplant at one year, and is a vibrant individual and wonderful person and a junior at Penn State.
 
Don't understand the need to mock Pitt all the time. Every coach has different strengths. Clearly recruiting is not Narduzzi's top strength. But before we get on our high horse over this - does anyone actually believe that Franklin is a better football mind than Narduzzi? I believe that Franklin is the better recruiter, but I also believe Narduzzi is a better football coach. I'm glad we have Shoop on the staff.

You should work for the UN and world peace!!
 
Im very good friends with one of your former coaches and he summed it up best. some kids like urban settings and I will never get those kids. Some kids like a more of a campus like setting and Pitt will never get them. Each school has its appeal. To each his own. Case in point. I graduated and Played at Pitt, my brother on the on the other hand a Penn State grad..and we are night in day. Engineer v. Sales Manager....

This is always the response Pitt fans give regarding the Oakland campus. "Some kids like the urban setting." Sure, some might. Those kids aren't going to sustain the program, though. They just aren't. When kids go to visit other campuses for other schools it's like night and day. When you're selling the "urban campus" to recruits you're looking for niche recruits who want to spend their time in Oakland. I grew up outside of Pittsburgh and I've been to Oakland countless times. When you go to Oakland you have no idea you're actually on campus at Pitt. It has no identity. That's the problem with the "urban campus" at Pitt. It's the problem with not having their own facilities, too.

Pitt doesn't have an identity. That's why it doesn't bring in great recruiting classes. You can be standing on campus at Pitt and have no idea you're on campus at Pitt. When you go to Heinz field you feel like you're at Heinz field, you know, where the Steelers play. Nobody ever goes to Heinz field, or looks across the river at the stadium and says, "that's where the Pitt Panthers play!" Pitt asks players to take a hometown discount and play for Pitt so they can represent their hometown team, only their hometown team is really the Steelers, not Pitt. That's the pitch to western PA talent.

Pitt desperately needs their own stadium. At that point they would have a semblance of their own identity instead of trying to trade on the name of Pittsburgh Steelers. And that would only be a start of building their own identity. A start.

Just look at the difference between a recruit visiting Pitt and a recruit visiting PSU. At PSU, a recruit is taken to Beaver Stadium. They're told, "this is where the Penn State Nittany Lions play!" and they walk out of the tunnel like players have for decades upon decades.

When a recruit visits Pitt and they're taken to Heinz field, they tell a recruit, "this is where the Pittsburgh Steelers play!"

When you mention Pittsburgh, Pa to somebody, what immediately comes to mind? The Pittsburgh Steelers. Or the Pittsburgh Penguins. Or the Pittsburgh Pirates. Or maybe even something else.

When you mention State College, Pa to somebody, what immediately comes to mind? Penn State University.

When you mention Columbus, OH to somebody, what comes to mind? When you mention Ann Arbor, MI to somebody, what comes to mind?

Do you see the difference?
 
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It's not Narduzzi. That's not the problem. It's Pitt, the school. What is exciting about Pitt? When you visit, what exactly wows you? It certainly is not the campus. It's not the rich football history unless you go back 30-50 years. It's not the facilities no matter how many times Pitt fans tell you how great it is to share facilities with the Steelers. Pitt plays second fiddle to the Steelers at Heinz field. I doubt very seriously whether they care about the Pitt program at all. A matter of fact, if I had to venture a guess, I'd bet that the Steelers coaches, staff, and players probably wish they didn't have to share their facilities with anyone. I know I wouldn't want to share facilities with any CFB program, whether it's Pitt or Alabama. When you visit Heinz field you see the history of the Steelers, not the Pitt football program. It's certainly is not the fanbase, which is one of the most apathetic in all of CFB. It sure as heck is not the game day atmosphere, either.

What exactly is going to wow you about Pitt as a football player? The academics are very good at Pitt. It's a great school on that front. So, yes, there will be players who commit based on the academics, but that will never sustain a major football program when it comes to putting consistent winning teams on the field every year. A lot of the top talent are not concerned with the academics as much as they are with a lot of the other things. All things being considered, these kids can go to any number of schools and get a great education. So when comparing them all the other stuff I mentioned matters.
made valid points but there are some players who prefer an urban setting, with good academics.. Football team certainly has been average at best. What has helped though is Pitt has turned out great individual players which very few universities can match.. Shady, Fitz, AD, Revis are current ones and it can be argued they are at or near the top of their positions in the NFL.. Historically it is even more impressive but no need to go back any farther... Fan base is there just dormant due to years of mediocrity.. In a city that wont get you fans... Hopefully for us Pitt folk Narduzzi can help the program turn around... I will say this forgetting all the BS it will be nice to rekindle the rivalry on the field... Teams aren't that far apart in on field performace which doesnt say much for PSU either... Both programs should be better... Pitt has an easier go in the sense of establishing itself in the ACC coastal against weaker competition. PSU has the Buckeyes, UM, and most recently MSU... thats not easy to be any better than second or third annually...Time will tell
 
made valid points but there are some players who prefer an urban setting, with good academics.. Football team certainly has been average at best. What has helped though is Pitt has turned out great individual players which very few universities can match.. Shady, Fitz, AD, Revis are current ones and it can be argued they are at or near the top of their positions in the NFL.. Historically it is even more impressive but no need to go back any farther... Fan base is there just dormant due to years of mediocrity.. In a city that wont get you fans... Hopefully for us Pitt folk Narduzzi can help the program turn around... I will say this forgetting all the BS it will be nice to rekindle the rivalry on the field... Teams aren't that far apart in on field performace which doesnt say much for PSU either... Both programs should be better... Pitt has an easier go in the sense of establishing itself in the ACC coastal against weaker competition. PSU has the Buckeyes, UM, and most recently MSU... thats not easy to be any better than second or third annually...Time will tell

You're right, Pitt has produced some fantastic individual NFL talent. There's no disputing that. Fitz, Shady, Revis, and the others are (or were) elite NFL players. They were great players at Pitt as well. The only problem is that one guy isn't going to win you conference championships or vault you into the NC picture. Those individual guys, while exciting to watch, can't sustain the program. Will Pitt bring in a top guy every other year, or every coupe of years? Yes, they will. Most program will bring in those guys. Boyd will play in the NFL and Connor will, too. You need a team, though. You need to build something around those guys in order to win. It's not an individual game, so to use Shady, Revis, and Fitz as examples of Pitt's recruiting is irrelevant. Pitt didn't win anything with those guys because they had nothing around them. Pitt can't build teams that compete for conference championships outside of maybe once every 10-15 years because it's not a destination a lot of top talent wants to go to and it's due to the fact that Pitt doesn't have its own identity. They trade on the name of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If Pitt truly wants to compete they need to find a way to build their own identity and that starts by getting their own facilities. I really think that's a huge part of why Pitt loses out in the recruiting game. That's where the university should start rebuilding the program. It's not going to fix everything, but it's where they should start.
 
When you mention Pittsburgh, Pa to somebody, what immediately comes to mind? The Pittsburgh Steelers. Or the Pittsburgh Penguins. Or the Pittsburgh Pirates. Or maybe even something else.

When you mention State College, Pa to somebody, what immediately comes to mind? Penn State University.

When you mention Columbus, OH to somebody, what comes to mind? When you mention Ann Arbor, MI to somebody, what comes to mind?

Do you see the difference?[/QUOTE]

Been there, done that too many times -- UMich, MSU, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisky, Northwestern and of course, Penn State '66.

Actually, Ann Arbor is no picnic to any future recruit or academic student. The downtown is crowded with no college atmosphere, the campus is divided into 'North' and 'South' and all athlete and football facilities are separated into a section of the South 'campus' with large 'M' emblems to alert anyone to where the stadium is with 12 inch seats for fans.
Even East Lansing can compare positively with Ann Arbor.

Neither one will compare to State College.
 
Disagree fully. My kid went to Michigan, and I think Ann Arbor is a wonderful town. It is a whole lot different than SC, primarily because it is older and far wealthier. East Lansing and SC are similar, though.
 
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